









Venue : Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1
Gallery Booth:D5
Artists : Xu Bing、Ho Kan、Lee Kuang-Yu
Topic: Silent Void in The Oriental Culture
Curator : Dr. Yang Shin-Yi
Voice of Image Booth:V3
Artist:Chou Ching-Hui
Chini Gallery specially invites esteemed curator, Dr. Yang Shinyi, to curate the gallery’s themed exhibition, The Concept of Silent Void in The Oriental Culture, at Art Taipei 2016. The exhibition showcases the outstanding works of three internationally renowned Chinese and Taiwanese artists, including Xu Bing, Ho Kan, and Lee Kuang-Yu, and explores the unique aesthetics of the “void” in Oriental art. In Chinese art, the “void” contains all things, nurtures all life in tranquility, and encompasses the universe. The “void” does not refer to nothingness, but the primal force that gives birth to everything; it is the origin of abundance and perfection. Through the respective artistic work of the three artists, The Concept of Silent Void in The Oriental Culture elaborates on the various aspects and rich meanings of “the aesthetics of the void,” revealing how oriental art pursues the infinite in a finite world while conveying the concept of silent void through art.
Xu Bing’s Stone Path: Traveling away from Home specially displays in the exhibition. The sculptural installation is comprised of twenty pieces Fangshan stones from Beijing, which are inscribed with a couplet from Li Bai’s “Traveling Away from Home” in Xu’s groundbreaking “New English Calligraphy.” The couplet reads, “if only a host can keep his guests drunk, they will soon forget about their hometowns.” As the hand-carved inscription on the stones symbolizes “nature” and the “calligraphy” represents Chinese culture, a path constructed by them leads to a lasting contemplation on time and space, life as well as one’s journey in life. Across the Water created in 2014 depicts the illusory existence of the body and the meaning of life through unfolding both the interiority and exteriority of a female form. Created in 2016, Shadow of Wind continues the structural approach of mixing the interior and the exterior and delineates a wandering traveler’s carefreeness and unsettled life.Ho Kan’s Abstract 2015-070 and Abstract 2015-081 uses fundamental elements in painting such as dots, lines, planes, and color blocks to construct the image. The composition is tranquil and emotionally charged, unfolding a sense of poetry in minimalistic delineation. The simple texture seems everlasting whereas the geometric composition and changing colors enrich the infinite imagination of the universe, manifesting the reserved and rich culture and essence of Oriental philosophy.
The Concept of Silent Void in The Oriental Culture brings together the three artists, and offers stimulating ideas about the Oriental philosophy and aesthetics through two-dimensional and three-dimensional works. The silent void enriches and propels the abundance, revealing refined and profound inner qualities through presenting a realm of pureness.