Double Square 双方藝廊

Weibor Chu
Weibor Chu, also known as Chu Wu-Shun, was born in Nanjing in 1929. He entered Liao Chi-Chun’s studio and started learning painting in 1953. Later, after the enlightenment from Lee Chun-Shan, the pioneer of modern art, Chu was devoted to the pursuit of modern artistic expressions. In 1958, he joined Don Fang Group and became a member of the post-war modern art practitioners in Taiwan. He attempted to make use of the form of abstract paintings in the west to explore the traditional Chinese humanism as well as personal inner feelings. The philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi has a profound influence on Chu’s creation, which is known for its being minimalistic and rustic. Such simplicity in painting becomes his unique artistic style. As the third generation of a tailor family, Chu is adept at using scissors rather than brushes to create his artwork through cutting and collaging materials such as cotton, linen and paper. Each cut deconstructs and penetrates through the pure monochromatic fabric or paper, which creates depth in space through layers of materials and goes beyond the two dimensional limitation of paintings. Chu’s work not only displays visual images, but also demonstrates his speculation upon space as well as his appreciation and wisdom toward life.

 

Richard Lin
1933-2011. From 1952 to 1958, Richard Lin went to the UK to study architecture and art, and was enrolled in Regent Polytechnic Institution, which is the antecedent of the University of Westminster today. He was awarded the Institute of Contemporary Arts Award in 1961. He was also the first Asian artist to have been invited to exhibit his work in the third documenta in Kassel, Germany, in 1964. Besides, he won first prize in the Chinese Modern Sculpture Exhibition, Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Many of his works are selected in collection in renowned art museums around the world, including Tate Modern Museum in London, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome, Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, as well as National Palace Museum in Taiwan.
His creation originated from Chinese landscape paintings and Taoist philosophy, and he gradually tilted toward minimalism in artistic style and embraced the aesthetics of simplicity. His representative work, the White Series, best demonstrates his achievement. Inspired by a quote from Laozi, "five colors dazzle the eyes," Lin manipulated the color white of different shades and tones, together with precise geometric lines and shapes, communicating the abstract and indiscernible philosophical concepts through absolute scientific reason. In 1984, Lin made his declaration “Painting is dead” and ceased painting. He decided to practice art through other forms such as sculpture and installation to explore the abstract space further beyond canvas.

 

Chu Teh-I
Born in Korea in 1952, Chu Teh-I graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University in 1976 and from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts de Paris in 1984. Chu has always possessed unique insights to the use of colors and the conflicting beauty of materials, and continued to boldly experiment with the sculptural aspect of colors and the spatiality of images. His painting displays interweaving negative and positive planes, producing a sense of rhythm in the visual space as well as an ambiguous realm formed by merging colors and layering acrylic paint. The special polishing technique he acquired as a working student in France enables him to harmoniously juxtapose different layers of image in a corresponding manner in the two-dimensional space, allowing his painting to be visually stimulating. The artist also attempts to explore the space that exceeds the flat canvas. The combination of emotive, pure colors and a precise, restrained form gives birth to abstract paintings that incorporate his experiences of both the Eastern and Western culture, transcending the limits of color and form.

 

Lin Hung-Wen
Born in Tainan in 1961, Lin Hung-Wen graduated from National Academy of Arts in 1982, which is currently known as the Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts. He was originally a representative figure of New Style Painting Society of Southern Taiwan as well as an active artist in Tainan. He is deeply rooted in Tainan and shows his dedication to contemporary painting in his hometown, which also inspires him a lot in his creation. Lin’s artworks come mostly in the form of abstract painting or metal sculpture, but he also employs natural materials such as sisal, rattan and wood in his work, and tries various techniques including weaving, collage and installation. The materials and techniques together demonstrate his concern and reflection upon nature and environment. His abstract paintings are inspired by his direct contact with nature as well as his contemplation of his current situation in life. Starting his creation from his feeling and impression, Lin freely arranges the elements in his artwork concerning spatial relationship and general appearance through intuitive and spontaneous strokes, indefinite shapes and forms along with impromptu lines and colors. At the same time, he internalizes his experience with nature, realizes his thought into concrete imagery, and reveals certain abstract consciousness to the audience. Through chaos, he paves his way out, a way that is romantic and sentimental as well as exquisite and poetic.

Tung Hsing-Ru
Born in Taipei in 1964, Tung Hsing-Ru graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts in 1988 as an ink painting major, and later completed her master’s degree in Fine Arts, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York in 1994. Her works have been exhibited and selected in collections in major art museums in Taiwan such as National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, as well as Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Tung’s creation centers on her continuous exploration into her mental realm. She cordially expresses her perception and emotion towards nature, and visualizes the world she experiences on her canvas. Her lines, which lie between symbols and objects, resemble ethereal and indiscernible mirages, swaying between the contour of flora and that of fauna. Such ambiguity not only defines her exclusive artistic style but also allows her to depict another massive world. On her canvas where virtuality meets reality, light and shade are mingled together, transcending the physical boundary of shape and oozing out from the frame. With her enthusiasm for art as well as her perseverance to quest for the limit, Tung explores and makes sense of her life experiences and crystallizes her amorphous feelings and thoughts into her masterpieces.

 

Suling Wang
Suling Wang was born in Taichung, 1968, and later moved to the UK to pursue her studies and stayed there for some twenty years since. After her graduation from Central St. Martins College of Arts and Design in 1997, she later completed her master’s degree in painting in the Royal College of Art in 1999. Wang was then invited to exhibit in many art museums worldwide, including the National Gallery in London, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. Moreover, her paintings were selected and accepted in permanent collections of many well-known art institutions: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. Wang is celebrated for her large scale abstract paintings, where she reveals the traditional oriental philosophy of art and culture through her oil paint strokes, which reflects her ambivalence and compromise in identity due to the cultural differences she encounters far away from home. Wang transforms her diverse experiences in daily life into her vibrant tones and energy on her canvas, which becomes her own feature and style in her works. Recently, Wang moved back to Taichung to start over again. She continues her life as an artist there and attempts to explore her relationship with her hometown with her signature vivid colors and rhythmic abstract composition in her painting.

 

Jason Chi
Born in Taichung in 1969 and later moved to the US in 1983, Jason Chi completed his bachelor’ degree in both architecture and fine arts in Rhode Island School of Design in 1993, and he later received his master’s degree in fine arts from University of Pennsylvania. Rational geometry and line has always been a unique feature in his work. Through repetitive application of paint, Chi adds a spatial quality to the flat canvas and thus constructs an intriguing world of sensation within layers of pigments which lingers between reason and unreason. The dialogue between his strokes, such as freehand and straightedge-assisted drawing, floating and oscillation, cutting and boundary, plays a crucial role in the balance between local linear construction and general appearance of the painting. Such juxtaposition creates a dynamic subject matter, sometimes clear and sometimes ambiguous. The subtle transition in tone seems to be an intentional hint from the artist, aiming to recount diverse tales to the audience. Crisp lines together with dusky ambiance of the work represent the artist’s endeavor to depict his sensation experience and deep contemplation of the world. Through his manipulation and mediation of line and plane in his artwork, Chi successfully composes the most beautiful poems in the form of visual art.

 

Wu Tung-Lung
Born in Taipei in 1976, Wu Tung-Lung graduated from the Graduate Institute of Plastic Arts, Tainan National University of the Arts in 2004. Throughout the years, Wu has been exploring symbolic representation of organic forms and rhythmic arrangement of geometric lines in the art of painting. Using elements such as line, color, volume, and space to fabricate his own artistic style and producing unique surface texture through repeated brushing, he constructs solid and compact surface imbued with tension and sculptural quality. Carefully examining the development of his painting, there exists contrast of the opposite and integration of conflicts in different series. His rational images with pure and minimalistic symbols are filled with personal emotions. His canvas, processed by hands, reveals rich layers of monochromatic colors and visual penetration of different color tones. Underneath the tranquil, cold tableau lies a space for the audience to experience the succinct, elegant colors and to discover the corresponding relationships between the inner spirituality and the external world that the artist pursues.