We are honored to share that Wu Chi-Tsung’s Cyano-Collage 024was acquired by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (AAM), one of the world’s finest collections of Asian art located in the U.S.
Cyano-Collage 024 was the featured artwork for Wu Chi-Tsung’s solo exhibition, presented by Galerie du Monde, at Art Basel Hong Kong 2018, where it made its debut. In 2019, when he was awarded the winner of the inaugural Liu Kuo-Sung Ink Art Award, this work was the piece selected for exhibition.
Scaled 180 x 360 cm, the Cyano-Collage 024 was the artist’s first attempt on such a considerable dimension on a single panel. It took him several months to conduct experiments from selecting papers that involve interesting details to connecting them into a poetic scenery. Besides, it was the first time that he challenged a dual-color composition, which contributed to a deepened depth of field.
On acquiring the Cyano-Collage 024, the Asian Art Museum organized an online event that allows art-lovers to learn more about the production process of the work, as well as the artist behind it.
In conversation with Senior Associate Curator and Head of Contemporary Art Abby Chen, Wu Chi-Tsung presented a virtual tour of his Taipei studio through this video, a brief introduction of his life as an international artist who has studios in Taipei, Berlin and Saigon, and a thorough demonstration of the process and behind-the-scene stories of the Cyano-Collage Series.
Poems about shadow | Interview with artist Wu Chi-Tsung
Recently, Wu Chi-Tsung was interview by the DFUN magazine, a magazine featuring design, architecture, fashion and art based in Taiwan. The report features Wu Chi-Tsung’s unique aesthetic in his works featuring light and shadow, and how the artist has been using them to transform the exhibition space into a poetic world. The report was published on the 2020 Spring issue of the magazine.
The report introduces Wu Chi-Tsung’s exploration of working on various media as an international artist traveling among his studios in Taipei, Berlin and Saigon. Next, Wu Chi-Tsung shares his experience in the installation Edge of Light that he cooperated with Chen Shu-Chiang. Scaled 30 meters long and 10 meters wide, it took great effort to have the work installed in an abandoned train garage. By doing this, the artists have created an immersive experience for the audience allowing them to fully appreciate the magic of light and shadows. In the end, speaking of the relationship of light and shadow, Wu Chi-Tsung states that ‘light is the fundamental fact for us to perceive the world, and shadow metaphorizes or visualizes the substantiality of materials’.
Recently, Wu Chi-Tsung was invited by Sean Kelly Gallery to shoot a short video namedIn the Studio. In this abstract yet frank video, Wu Chi-Tsung presents a poetic dance with one of his favorite materials – light. Employing long-exposures, he is visualising the battles and joys in search of inspiration as he follows the guidance of a beam of light in his once pitch-dark studio.
Let there be light. For Wu Chi-Tsung, light is the catalyst in his art, and time devoted in his darkroom allows beauty to gently appear. British video artist David Hall coined the term ‘time-based art’ in 1972, which refers to the art forms that require a certain amount of time to be fully revealed. While the concept was devised with traditional art forms such as paintings and sculptures in mind, and also emphasized the duration of time and the scale in space, Wu Chi-Tsung tends to interpret it in a reversed way. He deliberately uses time as a tool to blur the boundary between new media art and traditional art and to redefine moving and still images.
The necessity of long exposure is shared in most of Wu Chi-Tsung’s still works, such as the Cyano-Collage Series, the Wrinkled Texture Series, and the Long Time Exposed Landscape. Therefore, these works all contain a considerable scale of time and momentum. They have become a living fossil in which a complete time axis is fused together.
In Chinese, the phrase that represents a long period of time is Shiguang (時光), which is a combination of the words for Time (時) and Light (光). The considerable time that Wu Chi-Tsung spends battling with, adapting to, and coping with time and light is a key feature of his works. He tends to focus on simple techniques and daily objects, still he devotes himself to research time and light and applying his learnings to the original material and turning it into something completely different from, and even opposite to, commonplace perceptions.
As one of the furthest-developed works so far, the Cyano-Collage Series demands a large amount of ‘exposed paper’ for paper-reading and collage. As hours of sunlight reacts with the cyanotype chemistry on the Xuan paper, the ordinary wrinkles on the paper transcend their physical features and gain a similar spiritual quality as in traditional ink painting. After this, the artist observes the textures and folds of every paper, to ‘read’ and contemplate them, and pick the ones that evoke and inspire the artist the most. For this precious ‘decisive moment’, which is almost one in a hundred, processing and storing paper have become a daily routine.
For his installation and video works that are more qualified to be called ‘time-based art’, time seems to be wasted or irrelevant. It moves forward, yet sometimes cycles; it goes by, yet sometimes stalls. As a reversed interpretation of time involving the artist’s understanding of Asian philosophies, these works have contributed to the complicity of the artist’s exploration of temporality. For instance, the Still Life Series, the Landscape in the Mist Series, and the Dust share a similar sense of stillness, in effect an almost nerdy gaze. Although these works last up to ten minutes, the visual message conveyed by the film tends to be relatively monolithic, as if they are a still frame stretched to fit a time axis. Nevertheless, it is exactly the seemingly meaningless gaze and the ostensibly wasted time that reveals the artist’s obsessed fascination and adamant aestheticism towards the object before the camera. Give it time.
近日,吳季璁受尚凱利畫廊之邀,拍攝了短片《在工作室(In the Studio)》。這段抽象而坦誠的影像堪稱吳季璁與光共同呈現的雙人舞,他通過長時間曝光的技法將自己在創作中找尋靈感的過程具象化為獨自在漆黑的工作室中跟隨一線微光的指引摸索前進。
Wu Chi-Tsung shares his daily musings about working and staying motivated during this difficult time from his studio in Taipei, Taiwan as he participates in the #inthestudio program launched by @seankellyny.
In this abstract yet frank video, Wu Chi-Tsung presents a poetic duet dance with one of his favorite material, the light. Together they’ve challenged the boundary between moving and static images. Once again, Chi-Tsung explores how joyful and imaginative the relationship between an artist and his studio could be.
HOW ARTISTS ARE DEALING WITH THE PANDEMIC: INTERVIEWS WITH WU CHI-TSUNG AND HSI SHIH-PIN AT THEIR STUDIOS
Recently, Wu Chi-Tsung was interviewed by Artco on ‘how artists are dealing with the pandemic’. He shares that the studio is taking this opportunity to optimize the administrative and production management, as well as start reserving materials and equipment in advance in case there will be a further lockdown in Taiwan. Also, Wu Chi-Tsung is grateful that his studio has been in a healthy financial status thanks to the help and suggestions of their accountant, which ensured the normal operation studio during the special time.
Besides, Wu Chi-Tsung also stressed the importance of health to an artist. He has been working out in his studio during the closure of public gyms.
On May 4th, Wu Chi-Tsung was invited by Taipei Dangdai and held a virtual tour that allows audiences to have a close look at his Taipei studio.
The live stream program is part of the ‘Taipei Connections’, a digital platform launched by Taipei Dangdai in partnership with Ocula aiming to nurture ongoing connections between the Taiwanese arts community and galleries at this time of limited travel and in-person meetings. Bringing together a diverse mix of galleries from Taipei Dangdai’s latest edition, the inaugural Taipei Connections will showcase a series of richly contextualized artworks for the public to explore.
During the 55-minutes-long live stream, Wu Chi-Tsung and Taipei Dangdai Co-Directer Robin Peckham showed people around his studio and talked about Wu Chi-Tsung’s internationally-minded prospects of the studio.
Recently, Wu Chi-Tsung has set up a new studio in collaboration with Vietnamese artist Cam Xanh in Saigon, Vietnam as a significant step of his internationally-minded exploration. Speaking of his third studio after Taipei and Berlin, Wu Chi-Tsung says, ‘I’m curious about the early stage of an art world, such as in Vietnam, everything happens and develops rapidly. I am grateful to witness and be part of this great historical moment as a member of this intimate and energetic community.’
Chi-Tsung met Cam Xanh in Korea in 2016 on the Asia Young 36 exhibition and was later invited by her for an artist residency in MoT+++ which she co-founded. During the residency, the space was presented as superimposition and coincidence of the two sites – Wu Chi-Tsung’s studio and a public art space – that opens to the public and enable the viewers to see the working progress. This year, inspired by this experience, Wu Chi-Tsung’s Taipei Studio managed a residency program for Italian artist Saverio Tonoli and conducted their collaborated event.
Lately, Saverio Toloni is now resides at A. Farm Saigon, an international artist-in-residency space established by Cam Xanh and run by MoT+++ and San Art teams.
Shooting scene of the Still Life Series in 2019 《小品系列》2019年拍攝現場
Besides, Wu Chi-Tsung relates to the context of postcolonial criticism and self-reflection towards its cultural identity in Vietnamese art. Last year, Wu Chi-Tsung shot new Still Life Series in Vietnam inspired by local culture and nature. Among them, the Still Life 012 — Buttercup tree was collected by the Nguyen Art Foundation.
Wu Chi-Tsung’s Wire V is now on view in the group exhibition Password 0~1 at the studio. Due to the restrictions during the pandemic, please contact motplusplusplus@gmail.com for visiting details and to make appointments. Moreover, please visit the online +1 trash to see more MoT+++ collections.
Established in 2018, the Nguyen Art Foundation was born from a desire to better serve the artistic community of Vietnam. It was founded by Quynh Nguyen, under the advisory of Cam Xanh (pseudonym of Thanh Tran Ha), artist and founder of MoT+++. Since its conception, the foundation has worked to build an alternative infrastructure for the arts in Vietnam, and construct the base for what it hopes will form Vietnam’s first museum of contemporary art. The foundation aims to expand the possibilities for contemporary art in Vietnam by facilitating global exchange that enriches not only individual practices, but engages the overall growth of the Vietnamese art scene.
The Still Life 012 – Buttercup Tree was shot during Wu Chi-Tsung’s residency at MoT+++ in 2019, and was inspired by the local culture and nature of Vietnam.
We both found our inspirations from the other side of the world
Installation view of “Beyond the Now, Away from Here” in Wu Chi-Tsung Studio
T= Saverio Tonoli W = Wu Chi-Tsung
How did you know
each other?
T: We met in an opening
studio event, 2017 in Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany. Walking through
the studios, Chi-Tsung’s work caught my eye immediately as I was looking for
someone who also uses Xuan paper like I do. Paper became our main topic for the
rest of the night. The rest came spontaneously: we kept in touch, visited each
other’s studio and did a project in Berlin together. We already had the idea of
this residency program since 2018, and finally managed to execute it now.
W: From the very
beginning, we were talking about Xuan paper. Every time I visit Saverio, I
always bring a different kind of Xuan paper for him to test the material, and
eventually I came up with the idea to invite him to Taiwan so
that he could have a period of time to research more about Xuan paper.
I learned that the
title of this exhibition ‘Beyond the Now, Away from Here’ comes up
from your discussion. How would you two interpret it?
T: Both of us revisit
traditional techniques in our art practice. Other than works on paper, I
developed a variation of the Fresco – mural painting, making it more simple to
paint and install and at the same time to enhance its freedom of movement. This
gave us the input to to transform the studio space through our artworks and
question the “here and now”, working on time and space.
W: We hope to present a detached experience to the audiences that merge the culture of Europe and Asia, and art practices of classic and contemporary. Our idea is to combine all the things to have a new dialogue.
(To Chi-Tsung) Is
this the first time you open your studio to the public for an exhibition?
W: We would like to take
the opportunity of the Taipei Dangdai Art Fair that brings international
audiences and professionals to Taiwan. This year, we want to do something new
in our studio and host a party here in order to directly meet people. Moreover,
I hope that we could show the possibilities of what artist studios could do and
how exhibitions could be to the Taiwanese art world. At the moment, most
artwork you see in Taiwan are completed and displayed in white cubes and
visiting artist studios is always considered to be private. However, I think
that art is about the whole thing and can’t be concluded by the final “art
piece” only. We want to open our studio to let everyone see the art
practice. This time, we will divide the studio into different functions
on different floors during the exhibition, and make this space like an
alternative space with abundant content. It would give people a special
experience of the art-making.
(To Chi-Tsung) How do you consider
the role and possibility of an artist studio in the art world?
W: To host an artist residency program as an artist studio ourselves this time, I am inspired by my residency experience in MoT+++, Vietnam, the director of which herself is also an artist. At that time, we turned the exhibition space into a studio-like environment, and the exhibition was more like an open studio. It was a very interesting concept and I received many positive feedbacks.
The position of
artist studios has changed a lot in a few decades. Nowadays you see more and
more artist studios getting bigger with multi-functions. It is not only a space for simply
producing art, but a center to form the networks in the art
world. Compared with institutions, the artist studio could gain more
independence and flexibility in communications and executions. Besides, we are
proud that we are financially independent so as to make things happen.
Hopefully our experience could inspire other people and contribute to the
diversity of the Taiwanese art world.
(To Saverio) We saw on your Instagram that
you’re working on new works for this exhibition. Are they inspired by your
experience during the residency in Taiwan? If so, what are they?
T: Normally I enjoy working alone and consider the status of isolation
essential for me. Finding materials and new providers, joining a talkative
unknown group of artists, having to limit your working space and adhere to
inevitable social conventions makes it challenging to recreate the proper
working conditions. But this one is more of a private collaboration residency:
I get a lot of support from the studio and plenty of isolation! Besides, Taiwan
is beautiful free country with amazing landscapes and fruits.
Parallel
my ongoing development on abstraction in painting, my work brought me here to
study ink tradition and research on paper. With the expertise of FENKO
Catalysis Chamber (www.fenko.com.tw) – one
of the most important material lab in
Taiwan producing paper – I can
push to extreme ways some treatments on paper, with gravity and folds. I am
looking forward to the exhibition to share my journey with international
audiences.
(To Saverio) How
was your cooperation with FENKO?
T: FENKO expands the use of paper in many different fields, one of which is the open collaboration with artists, and they research endlessly new materials and possibilities. FENKO’s expertise has been very precious to me, from consulting wide range of paper materials, packaging to paper preservation. Together we’ve found a perfectly suitable paper for one of my main works in the show, Self-absorbed on the rocks, painted on the cliffs of the Yilan coast of Taiwan. In this work, the large roll of paper is made wet and folded into the structure of the cliff, then ink-washed to extract its structure, volume and essence. At the last stage in the studio the paper is washed and flatten again. It is not hard to imagine that this specific work needs a very strong and flexible paper, due to the extreme treatment it undergoes on sharp rocks and having to be folded, washed and dried several times. The absorbing qualities of the paper is also very important. The paper has been designed for this purpose. My collaboration with FENKO will continue for three other pieces of the series, one of which will be performed in the following weeks on the south Vietnamese coast.
Saverio with Paper & Conservation Consultancy Szuhan Wang and director Lino Lee from FENKO Catalysis Chamber
Clearly both of you
are experts on media and materials, and you both have interests in natural
phenomena and daily objects. However, you reach art through the opposite route:
Chi-Tsung learned painting first and get in touch with photography later in
college; whereas Saverio grew up with photography and later experiment with
painting and other media. How do you think about each other’s art?
What would you say about the similarities and differences between
your art?
T: Our attitude towards
art is similar, nothing strictly political, social or personal but “beyond” and
“away”. Everything in our art is about matter and perception. As we work with
similar materials, we often discuss certain techniques and difficulties we
encounter. For example, we both mount Xuan paper on canvas which differs from
the tradition, so we always discuss how to mount and coat.
W: I think that the most interesting and fundamental part of both of us is that we are both painters, that is to say, our mentalities are both based on paintings. And we are both interested in water-based things. I use western techniques to express eastern sceneries, and Saverio is into eastern materials. We both found our inspiration from the other side of the world. I think this kind of connection is beautiful.
Nevertheless, the
direction of how we approach art is different. I don’t do ‘painting painting’.
My priority in art is media art, but I use
painting as a mentality to meditate on everything while Saverio deals with
painting itself.
T: Yes. My starting point was to work with my dad
in the darkroom in our garage, where he showed me how the image is revealed.
From then I started to substitute light with ink, with Italian materials,
eastern materials etc. I always see the possibilities of painting in
photography. When I work digitally on images with photoshop, I regard it as an
alternative way of painting. )
I suppose it’s going
to be the first exhibition you attend in 2020. Do you have any new year
resolution on art, or to say, what would you like to explore more in the
following year?
T: In this year,
Inspired by my experience here I’m would like to open a second studio in
Taipei, I’m working on it. After joining another residency in Saigon by A.Farm
I will come back to Berlin in June and begin to understand what I have
experienced in Asia during this months. Exploration will go on as usual.
W: It has been 20 years
since I entered university in 1999. I started the studio three years ago and we
have made amazing achievements. I have been focused on my art outside Taiwan
and would love to be considered as an international artist rather than a
Taiwanese artist. I wish this experience of working
internationally with my studio could be a model to share with the art world in
Taiwan in the near future. Moreover, I look forward to launch more collaboration programs and to make use of the
resources we have in Taipei, Berlin and Saigon. We have much to share about our
network and experience in these three cities.
Interviewed and translated by Wang Tianyi Planning and Proofread by Julian Chu
薩:鳳嬌在許多不同的領域開拓了紙張的用途,他們其中的一個嘗試便是與藝術家的合作,研究新的材料和可能性。本次,鳳嬌身為紙材顧問,為我在選紙、包裝和紙張保存方面提供了非常多寶貴的建議。我在鳳嬌的協助下,為這次展覽最主要的作品之一《Self-absorbed on the rocks》找到了理想的紙材,這幅作品是我將宣紙鋪佈在宜蘭海岸的峭壁上進行創作的。在岩壁上,我將大捲宣紙浸濕,將之按照岩壁的紋理折疊,再用墨水染色令岩壁的紋理、質感與量體在紙面顯現。最後,回到工作室後,宣紙被水洗並壓平。可想而知,這樣的處理工序對宣紙的強韌性與靈活性都有極高的要求,這樣才能受得了尖銳岩壁、多次折疊、浸濕與乾燥等極端技法。紙張的吸水性也非常重要,而這次使用的紙則完美滿足了上述要求。我還會在將來的三件作品中繼續與鳳嬌進行合作,其中一件我將在未來幾周內在越南南部海岸完成創作。
《Self-absorbed on the rocks》創作過程,使用鳳嬌的薄頁麻紙(ABA Lean Natural)
Cyano-Collage 077 is on display in Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong
Date Mar 5 – Apr 18, 2020 Artists Fong Chung-Ray, Michael Müller, Wesley Tongson, Juan Uslé, Wang Gongyi, Wu Chi-Tsung, Stella Zhang Art Basel Online Viewing Room: Mar 18 – 25, 2020,click here to view Venue 108 Ruttonjee Centre, 11 Duddell Street, Central, Hong Kong
The exhibition showcases a diverse group of seven abstract artists, in exploration of the artistic dialogue between the East and the West in the postwar era and the growing acuteness of cross-cultural exchange. Covering multiple generations from the 1960s to the present, Galerie du Monde presents the exchange between Euro-American abstraction and East Asian art and philosophy, featuring the pioneer ink artist from Taiwan’s Fifth Moon Group – Fong Chung-Ray, lyrical abstract painters – Juan Uslé from Spain and Wang Gongyi from China; conceptual artists – Michael Müller from Germany and Stella Zhang from China; and young Taiwanese multimedia artist – Wu Chi-Tsung.
This time, Chi-Tsung’s most recent exploration of the Cyano-Collage Series, the Cyano-Collage 77, will be debuted, in which he challenged himself again to render the composition in round. Embracing the aesthetics of both traditional Chinese still life painting and the Tondo (circular art) that peaked in 15th Century Renaissance Italy, it adventurously broadened the possibilities of the series with its deft interpretation of the East-West nexus.
VIP Preview: Jan 16, 2 pm – 5 pm
Public Days: Jan 17 – 19
Venue: Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1 (4 Floor)
Sean Kelly Gallery|Booth D05
Galerie du Monde|Booth A04
Wu Chi-Tsung’s work will be presented in Taipei Dangdai Art Fair 2020 by Sean Kelly Gallery and Galerie du Monde. During this time, Sean Kelly Gallery will present a debut of a Still Life Series and the Cyano-Collage Series, and Galerie du Monde will show the latest work of the Wrinkled Texture Series and the Cyano-Collage Series.
Work of Saverio Tonoli in Taipei. Using the hemp paper of Fenko Catalysis Chamber, photo credit: Sylvia Lee and Saverio Tonoli
Opening Party: Jan 17, 8:30 pm – midnight Public Open: Jan 17 – Jan 19 Venue: No. 34, Ln. 223, Sec. 3, Chongqing N. Rd., Datong Dist, Taipei City 103 (Wu Chi-Tsung Studio) Paper & Conservation Consultancy: Fenko Catalysis Chamber
Wu Chi-Tsung Studio is delighted to present “Beyond the Now, Away
from Here”, a collaboration between our Artist-in-Residence Saverio Tonoli and
Wu Chi-Tsung.
In the exhibition, Saverio
will be showing his new artworks created during the three-month residency. The
title pays tribute to the shared interest of the two artists that merges the
aesthetics of the East and the West and reinterprets traditional and
contemporary art forms.
“What if art came into being differently…?” The exhibition allows
the audiences to rethink the nature of materials such as Xuan paper, ink,
fresco and cyanotype, to consider its origin, and to discover the possibilities
of fusing styles and cultures.
Differ from typical white-cube exhibition spaces, the exhibition
takes place at Wu Chi-Tsung studio where both artists work. Sketches, materials
and artworks are scattered around the studio from the ground floor to the
rooftop providing a vertical journey that shows the artists’ experiment and
working process to the public.
The exhibition marks the first artist residency program hosted by
an artist studio in Taiwan. Wu Chi-Tsung introduces that ‘Taiwan is an ideal
entrance to east Asia for international artists and audiences because it
combines multiple cultural influences of the region while being easily
accessed. Moreover, as an artist studio, we tend to possess higher flexibility
in hosting another artist. I hope that it could open up more possibilities and
contribute to the diversity of the art world in Taiwan’.
During his residency, Saverio has been working on his poetic imagery
between painting and sculptures, testing local Xuan papers, with the expertise
of Fenko Catalysis Chamber, by generating comprehensive solutions to the
relationship between Tonoli’s needs and exclusive preservation paper materials
for storing protection. Along with the creation of special plasters for his
fresco paintings. Through understanding customer needs and apply this insight
across their works to identify and implement the new ideas and strategies
necessary to succeed.
‘In Taiwan, I’m struck by the landscape and of course by the ink and paper knowledge, I learn and absorb like a sponge. I am finding more extreme ways to treat paper and plaster, and to regulate ink with gravity. I am looking forward to the exhibition to share my journey with international audiences’, says Saverio.
Saverio Tonoli (b. 1984, Italy) crosses different techniques in
his painting practice such as ink brushwork, fresco techniques and processes on
different papers. He grew up in the darkroom where he started observing the
behaviors of liquids and chemicals on images, which he then translated over the
years into painting.
Wu Chi-Tsung (b. 1981, Taiwan) combines traditions and
contemporary art forms from the East and the West. His work transforms daily
objects into poetic images, and spans across different media, including
photography, video, installation art, painting and set design.
Exhibition Planning:Julian Chu Copywriting:Wang Tianyi English Proofreading:Fredrik Nornemark Exhibition Site Assistant:Hao-Yun Dong
薩維里奧・托諾利在台創作作品,使用鳳嬌催化室的麻紙,圖 / Sylvia Lee 與Saverio Tonoli
Cyano-Collage 064, 300 x 600 cm, presented in Art Basel Miami Fair
Art fairs need to continuously stay fresh, even Art Basel in Miami Beach, which has a reputation for being the art world’s favorite party. Looking to add a bit of zest to its exhibition program, this year the fair is inaugurating its new Meridians sector to present large-scale works and performances in the refurbished Miami Beach Convention Center’s 60,000 square-foot Grand Ballroom.
“From what I’ve observed in the past, the curatorial and museum crowd has gotten tired of coming to Miami for only booth presentations, but by bringing more of a curatorial edge to it, I’m hearing that curators are more excited to attend this year,” Ben Strauss-Malcolm, a director at Pace, which has two artists—Adam Pendleton and Fred Wilson—in the show, tells Galerie.
Presenting 34 large-scale sculptures, paintings, installations, performances, and film and video projections by an international group of established and emerging artists, the projects were chosen by a selection committee and have been organized by the show’s curator, Magalí Arriola, the director of Mexico City’s Museo Tamayo.
With a focus on artists and works from the Americas—although its somewhat broader in this initial year because not as many galleries applied—the show addresses issue of race, gender and immigration, which are topics that are floating around the greater art world. “Many of the works are content-loaded, which is an exciting part of it,” Arriola shared by phone from Miami, where she was already working on the installation. “I’m happy with the space and layout and the individual projects. I believe these bigger works give viewers a chance to grasp what’s behind the artists’ proposals. There are overarching themes that echo between the varied works, which makes the whole section quite compelling.”
Chi-Tsung Wu’s Cyano-Collage 064 Sean Kelly
To create this sublime blue mountainous landscape, artist Chi-Tsung Wu employs age-old methods in the most innovative of ways, combining a 19th-century photographic printing process known as cyanotype together with the tradition of ancient Chinese landscape painting. To begin, Wu first coats chemically treated crumpled sheets of thin Xuan (rice) paper with an emulsion that turns the paper a deep blue after being exposed to light, before flattening them and collaging the hundreds of pieces onto linen canvas. With no predetermined design in mind, the artist constructs the imaginative scene, which simulates traditional Chinese mountain water (shan sui) paintings, as he goes—becoming a witness to the making of his work. Having a kind of tie-dye effect on the rice paper allows him to create the jagged rocks and snowy peaks and valleys that lend a modulated look to the layered landscape.
Sean Kelly is delighted to announce that the gallery now represents Wu Chi-Tsung.
Wu Chi-Tsung’s innovative
work features a broad range of media including photography, video, installation
and painting, in which he combines traditional and contemporary forms and methodologies
to explore perceptions of the physical and natural worlds. Trained from an
early age in the practices of Chinese calligraphy, Chinese ink painting,
watercolor and drawing, Wu Chi-Tsung worked for many years in a traditional
idiom. Following a period spent creating experimental ink paintings, he turned
to video, installation and photography, finding in these new media compelling
conceptual stratagems that spurred new and dynamic approaches to making images.
These have included films that conceptually translate traditional cut-branch
flower paintings into time-based moving images and his recent Cyano-Collage
Series, in which he connects Eastern and Western culture and art to
integrate traditional aesthetics with startling contemporary language. On
joining the gallery Wu Chi-Tsung said, “I’m
pleased to be joining Sean Kelly, which has a legendary history and program,
featuring amazing artists from all over the world.
Sean Kelly states, “We are delighted that
Chi-Tsung is joining the gallery. We included him in a group exhibition this summer
and were profoundly impressed by his conceptual and artistic
process, in which he combines contemporary techniques and traditional Chinese
methods to create a unique amalgamation of different cultures, the past and the
present.”
Wu Chi-Tsung currently
lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan and Berlin, Germany.
He was the recipient of
the Liu Kuo Sung Ink Art Award, Hong Kong and Taiwan (2019). In addition, he was
awarded the WRO Media Art Biennal (2013) and Taipei
Arts Award (2003). He was short-listed for the Prudential Eye Awards, 2015; the
Artes Mundi, 2006. His work has been included in international exhibitions at
institutions such as the Mori Art Museum, Japan; National Museum Cardiff, United
Kingdom; the Long Beach
Museum of Art, Los Angeles; the Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art Contemporain,
Luxembourg; the Museo Del Palacio De Bellas Artes, Mexico and the Central
Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Art Museum, Beijing, China; Shanghai Art Museum,
China; Seoul Museum of Art, South Korea; Minsheng 21st Century Museum,
Shanghai, China; the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, China; the Hiroshima
City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan; the Ullens Center for
Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing, China; the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan; amongst others. His work is included in renowned
collections such as Xie Zilong Photography Museum (XPM), the Post Vidai
Collection, M+ Hong Kong, and the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection.
Cyano-Collage 064, 300 x 600 cm, will be presented in Miami
Meridians Opening (by invitation only)
Tuesday, December 3, 2019, 4pm to 7pm
VIP Preview (by invitation only)
Wednesday, December 4, 2019, 11am to 8pm
Thursday, December 5, 2019, 11am to 3pm
Public Days
Thursday, December 5, 2019, 3pm to 8pm
Friday, December 6, 2019, 12 noon to 8pm
Saturday, December 7, 2019, 12 noon to 8pm
Sunday, December 8, 2019, 12 noon to 6pm
Venue
Miami Beach Convention Center, 1901 Convention Center Drive Miami Beach, FL 33139
Wu Chi-Tsung will be participating in the Art Basel Miami Beach represented by Sean Kelly New York. As the first Taiwanese artist that is shown in this art fair, Wu Chi-Tsung will be presenting his new work of the Cyano-Collage Series at the Meridians section, a new section that focuses on sculptures, paintings and video installations of large scales. As is introduced by curator Magalí Arriola, works of this section will provide reinterpretations towards race, gender, and regions.
Magalí Arriola, a curator and critic based in Mexico City, has been named director of the Museo Tamayo in the Mexican capital. According to the Mexican newspaper La Razón, Arriola will take up the role on September 17. The publication also reported that one of Arriola’s priorities will be increasing the international reach of the museum.
Arriola was chief curator at the Museo Tamayo from 2009 to 2011, and during that time she organized exhibitions of work by artists such as Roman Ondák, Claire Fontaine, Adriá Julia, and Julio Morales. After her tenure there, she worked as curator at the Museo Jumex in Mexico City, which opened in 2013 and has since become one of the city’s most important spaces for contemporary art. For the Museo Jumex, she curated a show focused on James Lee Byars.
Between 1997 and 2000, Arriola worked as chief curator at the Museo Carrillo Gil in México City and, in 2006, she was visiting curator at the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art in San Francisco. Some of her curatorial credits include the 2008 Panama Biennial, the group show “Prophets of Deceit” (2006) at the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, and “What once passed for a future, or The landscapes of the living dead” (2005) at Art2102 in Los Angeles.
Arriola will curate a new section called “Meridians” at the 2019 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. The presentation will spotlight large-scale works of various mediums, including sculpture, painting, and installation. She has contributed to publications such as Poliéster, ArtNexus, Parachute, Exit, Spike, Afterall, and Manifesta Journal.
「藝匯經線」展區開幕(僅憑邀請)
2019年12月3日(星期二) 下午4時至晚上7時
貴賓預展(憑邀出席)
2019年12月4日(星期三)上午11時至晚上8時
2019年12月5日(星期四)上午11時至下午3時
公眾開放
2019年12月5日(星期四)下午3時至晚上8時
2019年12月6日(星期五)中午12時至晚上8時
2019年12月7日(星期六)中午12時至晚上8時
2019年12月8日(星期日)中午12時至下午6時
地點
邁阿密沙灘會議中心,1901 Convention Center Drive Miami Beach, FL 33139
Exhibited in Photofair Shanghai in last September, Wu Chi-Tsung’s Cyano-Collage 068 was collected by Xie Zilong Photography Museum. Located in Changsha, the museum is prestigious for its symbolic architecture and professional interpretation of photography art.
Xie Zilong Photography Museum (XPM), located at Zone D of Yanghu Wetland Park in Changsha City, was founded by Mr. Xie Zilong, photographer, Chairman of Hunan Photographers Association and President of LBX Pharmacy Chain Co. Ltd., with an investment of 150 million yuan. As the largest non-profit photography museum in China, XPM was officially opened to the public for free since September 16th, 2017.
Designed by the famous architect Mr. Wei Chunyu, Dean of the School of Architecture of Hunan University and his team, XPM has a floor area of 10,600 square meters and was made by a one-off cast in fair bare concrete—it’s a return to the essence of architecture and art and a rejection and subversion of the flashy architectural language prevailing today, allowing the audience to feel the art of photography through the building. Of the four floors, the first one is the Art and Cultural Space with Zhinong Bookstore, Zhinong Café, a Japanese restaurant, a multifunctional hall and a water-viewing deck inside; the second and third floors are professional exhibition halls of 4,000 square meters with display walls as long as 1,000 meters, the tallest of the walls is 10m and the longest 40m and with professional German Erco display lighting; the fourth floor is a full set of a top-class Swedish Profoto high-end photo studio and a gallery.
As a professional and high-end world-class museum of photography, Xie Zilong Photography Museum integrates collection, exhibition, academic research and exchange and is dedicated to building a platform for the art of photography in China and to promoting the development of Chinese photography art.
Wu Chi-Tsung’s video installation works Still Life 011 – Tsubaki and Still Life 012 – Buttercup Tree were recently collected by Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, the first collection in Turkey which is a member of IACCCA (International Association of Corporate Collections of Contemporary Art). The collection, which was established in the 90s, was initially focused on Modern and Contemporary Turkish Art. Yet with the inclusion of international contemporary artists such as Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt and Jim Dine in the 2000s, it underwent a change and eventually shifted its focus towards New Media Arts with the inauguration of Borusan Contemporary as a public museum. Photo courtesy of Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul
吳季璁錄影裝置作品《小品之十一茶花》《小品之十二彎子木》日前被Borusan Contemporary Art Collection收藏。Borusan Contemporary Art Collection是土耳其首家加入IACCCA協會(國際當代藝術收藏集團協會)的當代藝術收藏機構,於20世紀90年代成立,初以收藏土耳其現當代藝術為中心,進入21世紀後,機構正式以公共博物館形式開放,收藏也轉向為關注國際藝術家、尤其是活躍於新媒體藝術領域的藝術家。
Wu Chi-Tsung approaches ink art with experimental techniques of new media art while consistently paying tribute to the traditions, which not only deepens the aesthetics of ink art but broadens it by his unique contemporary style. Therefore, his work has won the favor of the majority of the jury and became the winner of the first “Liu Kuo Sung Ink Art Award” in 2019.
The Ink Society and the Liu Kuo Sung Archives are pleased to present the inaugural Liu Kuo Sung Ink Art Award. The Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the creation of contemporary ink art in the Greater China region.
We are most grateful for the Observers and Jurists. For more information, see: http://www.inksociety.org/award/
Observers:
Shang Hui Raymond Tang Wang Huangsheng Wu Hongliang Philip Wu
Members of the Jury:
Liu Kuo Sung Lesley Ma Pi Daojian David Pong Chun Yee Jason Wang
IN FOCUS: Wu Chi-Tsung | Applying Traditional Practices to Contemporary Photography
photo credit: Yu Tzu-Chin
Taiwanese ‘on-the-radar’ artist Wu Chi-Tsung speaks to PHOTOFAIRS ahead of the Shanghai fair this month, where he will be exhibiting his fascinating works with Sean Kelly Gallery (New York & Taipei).
Interestingly, Chi-Tsung clarifies during the interview that he does not identify as a ‘photographer’, instead, he merges and unifies his extensive knowledge of multiple mediums to create dynamic, tactile-looking, and memorable artworks. The dilemma, the artist states, of distinctly categorizing art forms (such as painting, photography and contemporary dance), results in a ‘trapped’ mindset, thus limiting the potential for artists to develop and challenge themselves. PHOTOFAIRS, as a world-class art fair, aim to promote artists such as Wu Chi-Tsung, who are pushing the boundaries of photography and posing the question of how should photography be defined.
With an impressive portfolio including set-design, ink painting and video works, Chi-Tsung proudly represents what it means to be a contemporary artist in the 21st Century. We speak to the artist about breaking down barriers between mediums, the importance of preserving traditional methods and an exclusive step-by-step feature on how he creates the renowned ‘Cyano-Collage’ series…
“Sometimes it worries me that we have abandoned too many valued experiences and methods in traditional art as we transform too resolutely.”
PHOTOFAIRS: Your works display an exciting range of artistic mediums, such as painting, set design and photography. What is your thought process when deciding which medium to use for a project? What comes first, the idea and theme behind a project or the desire to use a specific medium?
WU CHI-TSUNG: Either way could be possible. Generally speaking, whenever I conceive a new project in any form, the language of painting is always my archetype. Every artist has his/her mentality, and painting is mine. For instance, the idea of ‘randomness’ from the eastern painting tradition (which partly is due to the nature of ink paints) is deeply rooted in me when I create my video installations and photography, like the Cyano-Collage series. I also imagine my art world via the spirit of paintings.
Wu Chi-Tsung photography work, Cyano-Collage 061, 2019, 205 x 205 cm
Part of PHOTOFAIRS’ objective is to explore the dynamic nature of photography as a medium, which includes presenting video works, installations and performance art to our audiences. One focus of the 2019 Fair is performance art and photography. With a career that involved set/stage design in collaboration with various institutions and performances, such as ‘Off the Map’ (2013) and ‘How Long is Now?’ (2017), how important do you think it is to combine performance art with other mediums such as photography, design or installation?
My experience in set design was mainly for contemporary dance. As dance itself might be abstract to many people, I consider it my duty to guide people to step into the world of the dance by visualizing certain elements. To me, what was the most difficult element of my job was to synchronize all the various elements on the stage. Every art form has its own time and space structure, and my duty is to organize everything to ensure they balance. For example, it is particularly difficult to apply videos to theatre, since the nature of the video is in the past, yet the performance is in the present. My experience in dealing with set design is similar to working with video installation; both require careful consideration of the relationship between the image and the space, and thus are more present than merely a single channel video.
Your artistic journey began with painting, where you gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Oil Painting from Taipei National University of the Arts in 2004. What lessons did you learn from studying painting that you can transfer to your photography?
It is an old tune if I talk about my understanding of painting. However, if I transfer it to another medium such as photography, new meanings are created, which is what I aim for when I work across different mediums. I find it odd that people have set categories of mediums due to functional concerns, which eventually become a mindset that has trapped the way we think. I always try to seek the universal relevance of things and create a dialogue to connect them. I would not consider myself to be specialized in photography. I use photography as a tool to contemplate and express my thoughts. In my photography works, a hint of how time flows from the exposure to the manual collage is visible. The work is not static but a record of movements. On the other hand, my video installations are rather static that has few scenarios or changes.
Can you please tell us more about the ‘Cyanotype’ photographic technique, and how you used this technique in your impressive ‘Cyano-Collage’ series, which you will be presenting at PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai 2019. Did you face any challenges working with this medium? Please also inform us on the significance of using this technique to commemorate Taiwanese Artist and Art Critic Mr. Ni Tsai-Chin.
My process follows the format below:
1. Cover the Xuan paper with the photosensitive solution, continually reshaping and crumpling the paper by hand to create the wrinkled effect during the exposure.
2. Leave the wrinkled paper exposed to sunlight for about thirty minutes to an hour and washing the paper to let the image fixed
3. ‘Read’ the papers to choose what could be used from the collage. Normally I choose only a few papers from dozens. I put one Xuan paper on the canvas, using a brush to flatten it. Next, I apply acrylic gel five or six times to seal the structure of the Collage. Every time a new layer of paper is added. I use blank papers to adjust the composition — to bring out the landscape, to create the depth, and to erase part of the image to leave empty space for imagination.
4. Finally, I apply the UV protective varnish to protect the cyanotype from sunlight.
The whole process is a bit similar to working on ‘layers’ in Photoshop, but no computers nor cameras are involved. The Cyano-Collage Series is based on the combination of what I have previously experimented in the Wrinkled Texture Series, experimental photography, and the aesthetics of traditional eastern painting.
The first challenge I met is that the nature of the Xuan paper is very different from the photographic paper that is normally used for cyanotype photography. I gradually learned, from my experience with Xuan paper, the complexity and variability of the material. The paper western painting adopts, for example the watercolor paper, has a coating so that the pigments would remain on the surface no matter how thick they are. However, in the raw Xuan paper (without alum) that is applied in ink painting, the pigments are absorbed. The extent that the ink seeps through the xuan paper can be controlled, creating greater possibilities.
Working closely and consistently with these traditional methods and materials like Xuan paper makes me aware of their limitations in the modern era, but also urges me to think about a way to inherit it by transforming it into contemporary practice. When my works were exhibited in the west, people were very intrigued by Xuan paper and thought that it resembles fabric.
I was deeply influenced by my work as an assistant for professional artist Ni Tsai-Chin, who was an experimental ink painter, conceptual artist, art historian and critic. His value and interpretation of art altered how I used to think about our tradition, and that is the reason why I paid tribute to him in my work.
Your contemporary artworks often integrate traditional methods (such as Shan Shui to depict natural landscapes) into the process and overall aesthetic. How important do you think it is to maintain these traditional artistic techniques in photography today? Do you often notice other artists combining old methods with new in their artworks?
Many contemporary artists haven’t had the training of painting which makes it harder for them to comprehend the history of art from a creator’s point of view. Sometimes it worries me that we have abandoned too many valued experiences and methods in traditional art as we transform too resolutely.
People who only work in the contemporary art world would struggle to really understand what contemporary art is, and same for individuals who only focus on traditional forms. Personally, I appreciate Liu Jianhua and Yu Peng’s art, for they break the limitation of the traditions, whilst working closely with them. For me, working in the contemporary art world with traditional methods gifted me the ability to understand what is shared and what is irreplaceable.
As well as the ‘Cyano-Collage’ series, Sean Kelly Gallery has also incorporated the series ‘Landscape in the Mist’ (2012) into their current group exhibition titled ‘Abstract by Nature’. When did you start experimenting with video? Why did you choose to use video for this project?
I started working with video in 2001 whilst at university. After I was trained in traditional painting for more than ten years before college, I started to explore different mediums from ink painting to video. For about a year I have been taking my video camera everywhere. I film everything to capture contemporary daily experiences. I have been trying to create a dialogue in the language of new media art between video works and the training in painting that I have received. My ‘Landscape in the Mist’ video originates from the ‘Still Life Series’, both of which are my earliest attempt to combine my experiences in video and traditional painting. The ‘Landscape in the Mist’ series was inspired by the impressive landscape paintings of Camille Corot, creating a poetic atmosphere with traditional eastern painting.
What are you most looking forward to at PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai? As an artist that does not work solely in photography, why do you think it is important for your work to be shown at our Fair in September?
Usually, I am invited to present my works at an exhibition which is one of three categories: contemporary art (new media art), photography, or traditional ink art. I am very much looking forward to learning how my work will be seen and discussed under the narrative of photography as well as in the context of mainland China.
Artist Talk | Sep 21 5pm, participants: Ying Kwok (independent curator), Lindsay Taylor (Curator, University of Salford Art Collection), Sarah Fisher (director, Open Eye Liverpool), Lu Yang (artist), and Wu Chi-Tsung (artist)
Venue | Shanghai Exhibition Centre, 1000 Yan’an Road, Shanghai, China
For our inaugural appearance at Photo Shanghai, Sean Kelly is pleased to present a carefully curated booth drawn from our internationally acclaimed roster of artists, each of whom works with photography in non-traditional ways. Our presentation includes works by Marina Abramović, who is represented by a stunning self-portrait depicting the artist’s face covered in gold leaf; Julian Charrière, whose images of nuclear testing sites have been exposed to radioactive soil gathered from the locations where his images were taken; Jose Dávila, who appropriates images of famous artworks from other sources, which he then physically alters by cutting out and removing the focal point of the image; Mariko Mori, who creates computer generated photo paintings based on drawings she made standing in front of the ocean on Okinawa Island; Alec Soth, whose captivating multi-layered photograph of Monika is in fact a double exposed image; and Wu Chi-Tsung, whose process includes manipulating light sensitive cyanotype paper to create images of jagged mountain peaks that refer to currents in both traditional Chinese art and western art history.
Please also visit the Spotlight section of the fair which features Marina Abramović’s legendary series, ‘The Lovers’, being exhibited for the first time in mainland China.
Dates | Sep 6, 6pm till midnight
Venue | room 203, building X, Studios ID, Genslerstrasse 13-13a 13055 Berlin
Wu Chi-Tsung will be joining the Lange Nacht der Bilder 2019 to host an Open Studio event at room 203, building X of Studios ID, Berlin on Sep 6. During the event, the working progress of a new “Cyano-Collage” work will be presented and the artist will share those behind-the-scene stories.
In cooperation with the Idolon studio headed by the Taiwanese curator Chun-chi WANG, the Kunstfest Weimar presents four installations that highlight the innovative power and relevance of Taiwan’s current art and performance scene. The first piece «E-Werk Weimar No. 1» by the artist TAO Ya-Lun confronts the viewer with an unsettling 3D borderline experience. His works often feature diverse forms which can range from video, sound and kinetic installations to light shows and shadow play. Most of his pieces are based on virtual reality and adapted to the specific venue where they are presented. Fujui WANG’s sound installation «Hollow Noise» is comprised of several directional loud speakers which produce carefully focused ultrasonic waves. His method creates the impression of a sonic wind blowing from various directions. The result is an absolutely new and surprising acoustic experience. On the stage of the E-Werk, WU Chi-Tsung presents the European premiere of his light installation «DUST». By means of optical tricks, the artist reflects normal ambient dust through the light of a projector, thereby making it visible to the naked eye. The «air» suddenly gains a structure of its own. The performance in this production is the work of the Taipeh-Paris resident artist, performer and musician Liping TING. «Poésie d’action» is how she describes her multidisciplinary approach. She will enliven the installation environment in the two halls of the E-Werk with a three-hour-long performance.
On September 7th, the artist will be delivering an artist talk on ‘The crossover between visual art and performance art in Taiwan’ with Thomas Bruns, manager of the KNM Berlin, and Liping Ting, Taiwan-born artist on performance art, and with curator Chun-Chi Wang as moderator.
For tickets and more visiting information, please click here
The work of Wu Chi-tsung (* 1981 in Taipei, lives and works in Taipei and Berlin) is multi-faceted. Early on taught in ink painting and calligraphy, then in his twenties in dealing with oil painting, media art and architecture, he still works today in various media. Although brush and paint are no longer found in his studio, he nevertheless feels most at home as a painter and retains the traditional arts as a strong reference for his work. Starting from there and working in video, installation, cyanography and other media, Wu creates subtle signs that cross the ages and build a bridge to the contemporary. For his exhibition in Gießen he will combine a selection of existing works with a photographic edition.
‘Landscape in the Mist 001′ will be showcased in ‘Abstract by Nature’
Abstract by Nature, Sean Kelly, New York
Dates|Jun 28 – Aug 2, 2019
Opening Reception | Jun 27, 6 – 8 p.m.
Artists|Callum Innes, Markus Karstieß, Hyun-Sook Song, Su Xiaobai, Wu Chi-Tsung
Venue|475 TENTH AVENUE, NEW YORK NY 10018
Wu Chi-Tsung will be joining the group exhibition Abstract by Nature in Sean Kelly New York. Opening on Jun 28, the group exhibition will be featuring major works by an international group of artists, each of whom engages both traditional and non-traditional methods to produce meditative works that have a distinctly timeless quality. Wu Chi-Tsung’s Landscape in the Mist 001, Still Life 009 – Maple, Still Life 011 – Tsubaki and Cyano-Collage Series 061 and 062 will be featured, all of whom shares the claim of the exhibition, that is to reflect, evoke or transform elements of the natural world into pure poetic forms.
The exhibition will be on view till Aug 2, with an opening reception in the presence of the artist on Thursday, Jun 27.
《氰山集》系列新作將於紐約尚凱利畫廊展出
自然抽象
尚凱利畫廊,美國紐約
日期|2019年6月28日 – 8月2日
開幕酒會 | 6月27日 晚 6 – 8時
藝術家|Callum Innes, Markus Karstieß, Hyun-Sook Song, 蘇笑柏、吳季璁
地點|美國紐約第十大道475號, 10018
吳季璁將參與由紐約Sean Kelly畫廊群展《自然抽象》(Abstract by Nature)。展覽將呈現多名國際藝術家的多種媒介的當代藝術作品,一同展出還有來自中國唐宋時代、日本平安時代、室町時代的古董瓷器,旨在呈現一場傳統美學與當代實踐之間的互文對話,探討藝術的超時空屬性。展覽將展出吳季璁作品《煙林圖之一》、《小品之九 楓》、《小品之十一 茶花》 與《氰山集系列》,這些作品以不同形式映照並致敬自然,為自然的詩意抽象。