Category Archives: NEWS

Cyano-Collage 130

Cyano-Collage Series on Bronze Marks Wu Chi-Tsung’s Debut in Art Basel Basel
吳季璁將帶著全新黃銅製《氰山集》首次參加巴塞爾藝術展

Sean Kelly Gallery Hall 2.1, Booth P2 VIP Preview Jun 14-15, 2022 Public Days  Jun 16 – 19, 2022 Venue  Messe Basel, Messeplatz 10, 4058 Basel, Switzerland This June, the first Cyano-Collage Series created on a bronze panel will be exhibited at Sean Kelly Gallery’s booth which marks Wu Chi-Tsung’s debut in Art Basel in Basel. As the development of the series, the artist has experimentally worked with aluminum panels in 2021 and bronze panels this year as a substitute for wooden baseboards to achieve better durability of the works. The metal quality of the baseboard creates a distinct reflection that leaks through the Cyano-Collage landscape and broadens the potential of the series.  尚凱利畫廊,2.1大廳, P2展位 貴賓預展 2022年6月14日至15日 公眾展期  2022年6月16日至19日 會址  瑞士巴塞爾展覽中心 本月,吳季璁將帶著全新黃銅底版創作的《氰山集》,首次登場瑞士巴塞爾藝術博覽會,展覽將由尚凱利畫廊呈現。自2016年《氰山集》系列發表以來,吳季璁不斷嘗試媒材上的創新,去年他將傳統油畫木板的底版換成鋁製板材,令作品能夠更為經久保存,今年亦實驗於黃銅底版上創作,金屬材料特有的質地,於打磨過後的反光從氰版山水背後的天空透出,為作品帶來了縱深感與更為豐富的意境。  

READ MORE

Cyano_Collage_145

Quadriptych Cyano-Collage Series in Art Basel Hong Kong
《氰山集》系列新作於巴塞爾藝術展香港展會

Galerie du Monde|Booth 1C11 VIP Preview May 25-27, 2022  Public Days May 28-29, 2022   Venue  Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong In late May, new work from the Cyano-Collage Series in a quadriptych composition will be presented at Galerie du Monde’s booth in Art Basel in Hong Kong.   世界畫廊|1C11展位 貴賓預展 2022年5月25日至27日 公眾展期  2022年5月28日至29日 會址  香港國際會議展覽中心 5月下旬,《氰山集》系列新作將由世界畫廊代表亮相巴塞爾藝術展香港展會世界畫廊展位,作品將延續吳季璁自去年以來對鋁製底版的嘗試,並採用四聯屏構圖。 Installation View 展覽現場  

READ MORE

Wrinkled_Texture_118

New Works of Cyano-Collage Series and Wrinkled Texture Series at Taipei Dangdai
《氰山集》系列與《皴法習作》系列新作於台北當代藝術博覽會

Galerie du Monde|Booth A08 VIP Preview May 19, 2022 Public Days  May 20 – 22, 2022 Venue  Taipei World Trade Center  Hall 1  New works of Wu Chi-Tsung’s will be showcased in Taipei Dangdai Art Fair represented by Galerie du Monde. This will be the premiere of the Cyano-Collage Series on aluminum in Taiwan. Speaking of the Wrinkled Texture Series and Cyano-Collage Series that both replace the traditional ink and brush used in Chinese Shan Shui painting with experimental photography, Chi-Tsung once shared that “I started to do Cyanotypes simply because I am not satisfied with digital photography nowadays’, and the process of making the two series ‘really similar to how ink painters do Chinese landscapes: they are constructing a world they want to project themselves inside.” 世界畫廊|A08展位 貴賓預展 2022年5月19日 公眾展期  2022年5月20日至22日 會址  台北世貿一館 世界畫廊將攜吳季璁新作亮相台北當代藝術博覽會,本次將為鋁製底版《氰山集》系列首次於台灣展出。《氰山集》系列與《皴法習作》系列均使用實驗攝影手段置換傳統山水繪畫中的筆墨,吳季璁曾介紹「開始創作的原因是不滿於當代數位攝影」,並表示「作品如同傳統水墨一樣建立起一個可觀、可居、可遊的世界。」    

READ MORE

Cyano-Collage-051

Cyano-Collage 051 will be Presented at Nguyen Art Foundation in Vietnam
《氰山集之五十一》將於越南Nguyen藝術基金會展出

Illuminated Curiosities Opening Reception 18:30, Thursday 05 May 2022 at EMASI Nam LongPublic Days May to December 2022Opening Hours 10:00 ~16:00, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, by appointment onlyVenue EMASI Nam Long and EMASI Van Phuc, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Cyano-Collage 051 will be exhibited in the group exhibition Illuminated Curiosities. Presented by Nguyen Art Foundation (NAF) and Lan Tinh Foundation and featuring 46 artworks from within and outside NAF’s Collection, the exhibition aims to highlight the unique intersection between art and science, especially in today’s world where artistic experimentation and production continue to be ever more diverse, research-driven, and interdisciplinary. Established in 2018, the Nguyen Art Foundation has worked to build an alternative infrastructure for the arts in Vietnam. It was founded by Quynh Nguyen, under the advisory of Cam Xanh and focuses on artists connected in any way to Vietnam.  Chi-Tsung met Cam Xanh in Korea in 2016 at the Asia Young 36 exhibition and was later invited by her for an artist residency at MoT+++ which she co-founded. In May 2020, Chi-Tsung and Cam Xanh co-established a studio in Ho Chi Minh City. Except for the Cyano-Collage 051, Still Life 007 – Daffodil and Still Life 012 – Buttercup Treewere also acquired by the foundation.  The opening reception of the group exhibition will take place on May 5 at EMASI Nam Long where Wu Chi-Tsung’s work will be exhibited. Please RSVP via this link.  For general visiting, please make a  reservation prior to your visit via [email protected]. Illuminated Curiosities 開幕酒會 2022年5月5日18時30分,於EMASI Nam Long展期  2022年5月至12月開館時間 每週一、週三、週五10時至16時,預約制地點  越南胡志明市EMASI Nam Long 與 EMASI Van Phuc 這個5月,《氰山集之五十一》將在群展《Illuminated Curiosities》中展出。該展覽由Nguyen 藝術基金會 (NAF) 與 Lan Tinh基金會主辦,展覽主體為包括吳季璁作品在內的Nguyen 藝術基金會藏品,旨在呈現在藝術創作與實踐走向多樣化、研究導向與跨學科的時代背景下,藝術與科學產生的獨特交集與碰撞。 Nguyen 藝術基金會成立於2018年,由Quynh Nguyen創立、Cam Xanh擔任顧問。基金會致力收藏以各種形式與越南有關聯的當代藝術作品,為越南的藝術生態貢獻了獨特的視角與多元的活力。 吳季璁與Cam Xanh於2016年共同參加韓國Asia Young 36展覽時相識。2018年,吳季璁受邀在Cam Xanh參與創辦的MoT+++空間中進行了為期三個月的駐村。2020年5月,二人在胡志明市共同成立了一個工作室。除《氰山集之五十一》外,《小品之七 水仙》與《小品之十二 彎子木》也由NAF基金會所典藏。 展覽開幕酒會將於5月5日在EMASI Nam Long舉行,吳季璁的作品也將在此展出,請通過此鏈接預約出席。展期內一般參觀,敬請通過[email protected] 進行預約。  

READ MORE

Still Life

Santa Barbara Independent Features: Visual Artists Bring a Gentle Rewiring to Santa Barbara
《Santa Barbara Independent》展評:視覺藝術家們為聖塔芭芭拉帶來思維挑戰

Still Life 012 – Buttercup Tree and Still Life 014 – Yellow Mai Flower, both acquired by Santa Barbara Museum of Art, are now on view in the group exhibition Mediated Nature of the museum till December. In an exhibition review in Santa Barbara Independent, it is stated that  the works have “challenged our media consumption habits at a different level.”  “Chi-Tsung enacts a faux-pas in an entertainment landscape where plants are mere mute extras meant to signify exoticism. His shots linger on a stationary plant for more than six minutes. In his work, the medium of video is camouflaged as painting. Although celebrating the mundane can be an oversubscribed concept, the elaborate care in Chi-Tsung’s work — the crispness of the colors, the subtle mist-like atmosphere enveloping the plants — bends time. The viewer wonders, ‘Have I been watching this flower for six minutes or 20’? When the medium changes, so does the message. Chi-Tsung’s “Still Life 012 — Buttercup Tree” carves new depths within our experience of mundanity. A shivering leaf becomes a noteworthy event, and mist traveling slowly along a plant’s wet roots becomes an erotic experience.” 吳季璁的兩件錄像作品《小品之十二 彎子木》和《小品之十四 黃梅》被美國聖塔巴巴拉美術館收藏,並將於美術館群展《媒介化的自然》中展出至十二月。當地媒體《Santa Barbara Independent》對該展覽的展評稱《小品》系列影像作品從不同角度挑戰了人們的媒介使用習慣。 「他戲謔般地設置出了一個人工造景,身處其中的植物不過是無聲渲染著東方情懷的臨時演員,鏡頭就這樣在靜止的植物上停留了六分鐘有餘。在這間作品中,影像媒介被偽裝成了繪畫。雖然作品也許並未刻意落腳於對於平凡的讚美,但是其中卻充滿著精緻的細節,那清晰的色彩、籠罩著植物的氤氳煙霧均模糊了時間的概念。令觀眾不僅疑惑,『我看了這朵花多長時間了?是6分鐘還是20分鐘?』 當媒介改變時,其傳遞的信息也隨之改變。季璁的《小品之十二 彎子木》為我們的日常經驗帶來新的感知可能:一片顫抖的樹葉成為令人注目的焦點,而沿著植物的濕潤根部慢慢遊移的水霧則為畫面增添了調情意味的氛圍。」 Written by 文/ Halim Madi  

READ MORE

Cyano-Collage-078

Financial Times Features: Something in the Water — the Rise of Aquatic Art
《金融時報》報道:水中物——當藝術聚焦於「水」

In a recent article featuring the rise of water-themed art in the Financial Times, Wu Chi-Tsung’s Cyano-Collage Series was introduced in detail as a supporting argument for the potential cultural and philosophical depth of Art of this theme.  It was stated that Wu Chi-Tsung didn’t originally intend his cyanotypes to be about water. He began the works with mountains in mind, but soon saw that his photographic blue spaces resembled tumultuous waves. As the series grew he began to explore ways the works could be interpreted as traditional Shanshui paintings, ocean views and natural landscapes.  Chi-Tsung shares that “I was thinking I could try the possibilities of combining earlier techniques and materials, and hoping I could work with Xuan paper.” Regarding the production process that is direct and analogue, “I’m basically like a farmer,” he laughs, “it’s physical. I crumble the paper, I feel the paper. When the humidity is different it affects the paper. If it’s drier, it’s harder. If it’s more humid, it’s softer. There are lots of coincidences that I cannot control. That’s the best part.”  The writer continued to state that the results are abstract but appear like seascapes. “I cannot say if [the work] is concrete or abstract,” Wu adds. “Chinese landscapes never really represent specific mountains. An artist draws their own interpretation of the scene.” Chi-Tsung’s works are growing ever larger: his recent show at Sean Kelly in New York included a triptych of pieces reaching up to 9m high. The works also reflect the artist’s love of rock climbing in Taipei – “facing a giant wall every day and a sea wave just behind me”. Similarly, his aim is to immerse the viewer in the space. 在《金融時報》近期一篇關於聚焦於「水」的當代藝術的報道中,《氰山集》系列被詳盡介紹以表現該主題作品在文化廣度與哲學深度上的潛力。 報道中介紹道,《氰山集》系列的最初靈感來源於山景而非水景,但藝術家很快就意識到作品的藍色畫面亦形似波濤洶湧的海浪。隨著系列的發展,他挖掘出其多樣解讀的可能性:它們既可以是一幅山水畫、海景也可能是其他自然風景。 吳季璁分享道,「我想嘗試結合早期的技術與材料,並希望能夠使用宣紙來創作」。而談及其直接而手動的創作過程——而談及他在戶外,與化學藥劑與紫外線共同創作的過程——「我就像一個農民」,他笑著說。他創造性地在宣紙塗佈感光藥劑,將其揉皺後曝光兩小時,再將每張相紙在水中清洗,清洗時長取決於他期望達到的效果,最長可達一小時。「這是個物理性的過程。在揉皺紙張時,我能夠感知到它們的狀態。紙張在不同的濕度下會呈現不同質感,在乾燥氣候中會偏硬、空氣潮濕時則柔軟。(製作過程)充滿了偶然與巧合,是我無從控制的,而這正是最有趣的部分」。 作者評論稱這些作品是抽象的,但看起來又仿若海景。「我不願斷言(作品)是具體的還是抽象的」,季璁補充說,「傳統山水畫從來不描繪具體的山,(它們只是)藝術家對於風景的個人性的欣賞與解讀」。季璁在不斷挑戰作品的尺幅,在他最近於紐約尚凱利畫廊舉辦的個展中,最大的一幅寬達9米。對他而言,創作這件作品的體驗與他熱愛的攀岩是相通的,都是「每天面對一堵巨墻,身後就是海浪」。他希望觀眾在欣賞作品時也能夠擁有同樣的沉浸體驗。 Written by/ 文 Francesca Gavin  

READ MORE

still life series

Still Life 014-Yellow Mai Flower Acquired by UBS Art Collection and Exhibited in New York
《小品之十四 黃梅》加入UBS瑞銀藝術收藏並於紐約展出

Reimagining: New PerspectivesDate    January 27 – May 30, 2022Venue 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York We are delighted to share that Wu Chi-Tsung’s  Still Life 014 – Yellow Mai Flower  was recently acquired by the UBS Art Collection and is featured in the latest exhibition Reimagining: New Perspectives in the UBS Art Gallery in New York.  Located in UBS’s Midtown New York Headquarters, the UBS Art Gallery was initially established in 1985 and has been closed to the public since 2009. This exhibition marks the reopening of the gallery and provides an opportunity for the public to once again discover in person works from one of most important corporate collections of contemporary art in the world. The exhibition united new acquisitions of the UBS Art Collection. With over 30,000 artworks by some of the most influential artists of our time, the collection aims to collect the most relevant art made today that both challenges and connects people. In 2020, Cyano-Collage 078 was also acquired by the Collection.  《重塑:新觀點》日期    2022年1月27日~5月30日地址    紐約美洲大道1285號 《小品之十四 黃梅》近日加入UBS瑞銀藝術收藏,並在位於紐約的瑞銀藝術畫廊的最新展覽《重塑:新觀點》中展出。  瑞銀藝術收藏為國際上最重要的當代藝術企業收藏之一,旨在收集最具時代性、富有挑戰精神又能連接世界的作品,現擁有超過3萬件來自最具影響力的當代藝術家的作品。2020年,《氰山集之七十八》也被該機構典藏。 瑞銀藝術畫廊位於瑞銀集團位於紐約中城總部大廈,成立於1985年,自2009年以來畫廊暫停向公眾開放。本次展覽是畫廊時隔十餘年再次開放的首個展覽,集中展示了瑞銀藝術收藏近期典藏的作品。  

READ MORE

cyano_collage_128_s

Works of Cyano-Collage Series and Wrinkled Texture Series will Participate in Frieze Los Angeles
《氰山集》與《皴法習作》系列作品將參展洛杉磯弗里茲藝術博覽會

Sean Kelly Gallery | Stand A8Preview  February 17, 2022Public Days  February 18-20, 2022Venue  9900 Wilshire Boulevard,Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Represented by Sean Kelly Gallery, Wu Chi-Tsung’s new works from the Wrinkled Texture Series and the Cyano-Collage Series will be exhibited at Frieze Los Angeles. Last October, upon Chi-Tsung’s first participation in Frieze London, the fair interviewed him in his Taipei studio and produced a documentary video in collaboration with Sean Kelly Gallery. Titled “Wu Chi-Tsung Reinvents Tradition”, the official website of the Frieze featured this video with an article that introduces how he re-evaluates the tradition and his abiding concern with process, perception and vision. About Frieze  Frieze Art Fair is an international contemporary art fair in London, New York, and Los Angeles.Frieze London takes place every October in London’s Regent’s Park. In the US, the fair has been running on New York’s Randall’s Island since 2012, with its inaugural Los Angeles edition taking place February 2019.[2][3] The fair was launched by Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, the founders of frieze magazine, and is led by Victoria Siddall, global director of Frieze Fairs. Frieze Art Fair features more than 170 contemporary art galleries, and the fair also includes specially commissioned artists’ projects, a talks programme and an artist-led education schedule. Sean Kelly Gallery | A8展位公眾開放  2022年2月18~20日地址  美國加州洛杉磯比佛利山市威爾榭大道9900號,90210 本週,尚凱利畫廊將帶著吳季璁的《皴法習作》與《氰山集》系列新作參加位洛杉磯弗里茲藝術博覽會。在去年10月吳季璁首次亮相倫敦弗里茲藝術博覽會之際,藝博會曾在尚凱利畫廊的協製下前往他在台北的工作室進行採訪與拍攝,製作了名為的《吳季璁:重新定義傳統》影片,並在官方網站中發表專文,介紹吳季璁重審傳統、尊重材料的創作哲學。 關於弗里茲藝術博覽會 弗里茲藝術博覽會是在倫敦、紐約和洛杉磯舉辦的國際當代藝術博覽會,紐約弗里茲博覽會自2012年起在紐約的蘭德爾島舉辦。博覽會由Frieze雜誌的創始人Amanda Sharp和Matthew Slotover發起,並由Frieze Fairs的全球總監Victoria Siddall領導。 弗里茲藝術博覽會擁有170多家當代藝術畫廊,該博覽會還包括特別委託的藝術家項目、會談項目和藝術家主導的教育日程。 Installation View 展覽現場  

READ MORE

installation view

New York Solo Exhibition jing-atmospheres listed as Editors’ Picks by Artnet
紐約個展《境》被Artnet列為編輯精選藝術活動

Wu Chi-Tsung’s solo exhibition jing-atmospheres was listed in the Editor’s Pick by Artnet News. Each week, the website search for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events, both digitally and in-person in the New York area. Here are editor Sarah Cascone’s introduction to the exhibition: In his first show at Sean Kelly, Wu Chi-Tsung presents his “Cyano-Collage” series, which reinterprets he traditional ink and brush landscapes of Chinese shan shui paintings—which translates to “mountain-water-pictures”—through the lens of experimental photography. The artist crumples up cyanotype paper that has a photosensitive coating, exposes it to sunlight, and mounts it on aluminum to create collaged images that recall mountainous landscapes. 在Artnet於11月2日發表的「本週最佳展覽」推薦版塊中,個展《境》亦被評價為最「激動人心、引人深思」的展覽。網站編輯Sarah Cascone的推薦詞如下: 「在吳季璁於尚凱利畫廊的首秀中,他展示了其《氰山集》系列作品,這一系列通過實驗影像重新詮釋了中國傳統繪畫中使用水墨演繹的山水意象。藝術家將塗佈藥劑的氰版宣紙揉皺、在陽光下曝曬、並將之拼貼至鋁板上,形成令人聯想至山水的圖像。」  

READ MORE

exhibition view

Ocula Magazine: Wu Chi-Tsung’s Xuan paper collages open up many visual possibilities
Ocula展評:吳季璁之「境」

For his first solo exhibition in the United States at Sean Kelly in New York (jing-atmospheres, 5 November–18 December 2021), Taiwanese artist Wu Chi-Tsung reimagines traditional Chinese landscape painting through film, installation, and photography. Within this stunning, formally innovative body of works, his ‘Cyano-Collage’ series (2021) utilises Xuan paper treated with photosensitive coating and hung outside to expose them to sunlight. After developing the papers under liquid, the artist combines and mounts them on aluminium. Each work in the series contains multiple pieces of Xuan paper, seamlessly collaged into unified compositions with no discernable boundaries. Cyano-Collage 120, for example, resembles a monumental painting of the ocean with thunderous, cerulean waves. These five ‘Cyano-Collage’ works range in size, though the largest ones span entire walls. (The artist built a vast studio to produce this series.) To complete their surfaces, Chi-Tsung applies white acrylic as a mist, which lends a sense of depth to the landscapes. Sometimes this spectral white acrylic resembles an intense energy surge. The beauty of these cyanotype collages is that they are both hyper-realistic and indeterminable, resisting any fixed reading. ‘They could be anything, because they are not representing any real landscape’, the artist has explained. ‘This is the spirit of a Chinese landscape.’ The ‘Cyano-Collage’ works are based on Chinese shan shui paintings, which literally translates to ‘mountain-water-pictures’. And like shan shui, which do not follow Western linear perspective, the ‘Cyano-Collage’ works encourage mobile viewing, inviting the eye to move around the work and construct the image in the process. Formally trained in Chinese calligraphy and ink art, Chi-Tsung explores the essence of Chinese landscape painting and what it might offer the viewer. In 2012, he turned to photography to do this. Unsatisfied with the medium’s contemporary formats, Chi-Tsung turned to cyanotype—a method that has been used since the mid-1800s.Various artists, most notably Robert Rauschenberg early in his career, have experimented with the cyanotype process. Drawn to its use of light rather than the dark room, the sun is as important a material to Chi-Tsung as Xuan paper. Developing the images by exposing them to sunlight, cyanotype offers Chi-Tsung a time- and chance-based process,…

READ MORE

Fireze London

Frieze: Wu Chi-Tsung Reinvents Tradition
Frieze專文《吳季璁重新定義傳統》

‘I started to do Cyanotypes simply because I am not satisfied with photography nowadays’ explains artist Wu Chi-Tsung in this video, filmed in his studio in Taipei, Taiwan. A technique drawn from the early era of photography, Wu executes his Cyanotypes by applying chemicals to Xuan paper, which is crumpled by hand and exposed to sunlight on the roof of his studio; the artist then arranges the glacial forms that emerge onto aluminium mounts. The resultant ‘Cyano-Collages’ recalling the landscapes of the traditional shan shuior ‘mountain water’ tradition.  ‘It’s really similar to how ink painters do Chinese landscapes,’ says Chi-Tsung, ‘they are building up, creating the worlds they want to project themselves inside.’ Trained in the traditional idioms of calligraphy and brush and ink Chi-Tsung’s commitment to innovative use of new and historic media and technology has seen him engage photography, projection, installation and moving image in works such as Dust (2006) and Wire VI (2021). Despite this diversity, his practice is united by an abiding, almost spiritual concern with process, perception and vision. ‘I’m helping material to find its own being ’ Chi-Tsung explains, ‘at the same time I open up myself’. ‘Wu Chi-Tsung: jing atmospheres’ is on view at Sean Kelly, New York from 5 November to 18 December 2021. 在吳季璁首次亮相倫敦弗里茲藝術博覽會之際,藝博會在尚凱利畫廊的協製下前往他在台北的工作室進行採訪與拍攝,製作了名為的《吳季璁:重新定義傳統》影片,並在官方網站中發表專文,介紹吳季璁重審傳統、尊重材料的創作哲學。 文中,吳季璁分享道,「《氰山集》的誕生來自於我對於當下的攝影的不滿足」,並介紹「其內核與水墨畫很像。我們都是建立起一個令自己能夠適意棲居世界。」  

READ MORE

still life series

Still Life Series showcased in the group exhibition INK Dreams at Los Angeles County Museum of Art
《小品系列》參展洛杉磯郡藝術博物館群展《Ink Dreams》

Still Life 012 – Buttercup Tree was recently donated to Los Angeles County Museum of Art by Ink Foundation and was showcased in the group exhibition INK Dreams of the museum.  The exhibition featured works from the ink collection of French collectors and philanthropists Gerard Cognie and Dora Cognie, who have lived in Switzerland for nearly 20 years.  In the name of the Ink Foundation, the couple have generously donated nearly 400 works to LACMA, a vast collection of ink-related artworks that will shift the direction of the research on contemporary Chinese art at the museum.  The Ink Foundation’s research is not limited to Chinese art, but focuses on the spirit of ink painting, and includes international contemporary artworks into it. Artists in this collection includes Chinese artists Bing Yi, Gu Wenda, Li Huasheng, Lin Tianmiao, Liu Dan, Liu Guosong, Xu Bing, and Zheng Chongbin, as well as Japanese, Korean, and international artists such as Park Seo-Bo, Lee U-fan, and Hiroshi Sugimoto, Osamu Suzuki, Kitamura Junko, Idris Khan, Shirazeh Houshiary, Ophelie Asch, Irma Blank, and many others. The works in the collection range from calligraphy to ink paintings, sculpture, prints, and installation works, and Wu Chi-Tsung’s Still Life Series is the only video installation in the collection. LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States, with seven galleries and a collection of more than 135,000 objects covering modern and contemporary art, ancient art, American art, Asian art, European art, and more. The Museum is committed to drawing inspiration from the region’s rich cultural heritage and diverse populations, and to sharing a diverse and global-minded art history. 《小品之十二 彎子木》則是由來自瑞士的Ink  Foundation捐獻給洛杉磯郡藝術博物館(LACMA),並於群展《INK Dreams》中展出。 《INK Dreams》展覽呈現居於瑞士的法國收藏家與慈善家Gerard Cognie 和Dora Cognie近20年來的水墨藏品。The Cognies以Ink Foundation為名,慷慨捐贈了近400件作品給予LACMA,這批大量的水墨藏品將會改變美術館的當代中國藝術研究方向。Ink Foundation的關注不局限於中國,而是以水墨精神為主,將國際當代的藝術品都納入典藏範疇,收藏藝術家作品包括華人藝術家冰逸、古文達、李華生、林天苗、劉丹、劉國松、徐冰、鄭重賓,日韓與國際藝術家包括朴栖甫(Park Seo-Bo)、李禹煥、杉本博司、鈴木藏、Kitamura Junko、Idris Khan、Shirazeh Houshiary、Ophelie Asch、Irma Blank等。典藏作品自書法到紙本水墨、雕塑、版畫、裝置作品皆有涉獵,而吳季璁的《小品》是唯一一件錄像藏品。 洛杉磯郡藝術博物館是美國西部最大的藝術博物館,共有7座展館,收藏逾13.5萬件藏品,涵蓋現當代藝術、古代藝術、美洲藝術、亞洲藝術、歐洲藝術等。美術館致力於從該地區豐富的文化遺產和多樣化的人口中汲取靈感、分享多元而全球化的藝術史。  

READ MORE

Still Life

Two Still Life Series ACQUIRED BY Santa Barbara Museum of Art
美國聖塔巴巴拉美術館典藏兩件《小品系列》作品

Two of Wu Chi-Tsung’s video works, Still Life 012 – Buttercup Tree and Still Life 014 – Yellow Mai Flower, were acquired by Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The works are now exhibited in the group exhibition Mediated Nature. Located in California, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) was established in 1941, and its building was formerly a post office in the downtown. As a small to medium-sized local museum, the collection of the Santa Barbara Museum of Fine Arts is exquisite and delicate, with a high span of works collected across ancient and modern Europe and Asia, including early Greek and Roman artifacts, Asian art and antiquities from China, Japan and Korea, 19th and 20th century European and American paintings, and international contemporary art. For each collection focus, more than one curator in the museum is responsible for its exhibition and acquisitions plans. It is worth mentioning that the Museum’s Photography and New Media Art is an independent department, currently led by curator Charlie Wylie, and the acquisition of the Still Life Series was carried out by this department. The Museum also has a strong connection to the local community. Many art lovers enthusiastically volunteer to be docents during their leisure time. In addition to private donations as a source of funding, the museum also relies on generous donations from the public, making the museum a place where memories and histories are shared with local residents. The exhibition will run through Dec 1, 2022.  吳季璁的兩件錄像作品《小品之十二 彎子木》和《小品之十四 黃梅》被美國聖塔巴巴拉美術館收藏,並於美術館群展《媒介化的自然》中展出。 位於加州的聖塔巴巴拉美術館(SBMA)成立於1941年,其建築物前身為市中心的郵局,後來透過私人捐助等預算不斷擴建館舍,近期才完成耗時七年的裝修改建。 身為中小型的地方博物館,聖塔芭芭拉美術館的藏品精緻細膩,作品收藏跨度極高,橫跨古今歐亞,囊括早期希臘和羅馬文物、亞洲中日韓三地藝術和古物、19和20世紀的歐美繪畫,國際當代藝術,每個收藏重點皆由一位以上館內策展人負責作品展出與購藏的規劃。值得一提的是館內「攝影與新媒體藝術」是獨立出來的部門,目前由策展人Charlie Wylie主導,《小品系列》作品正是由這一部門購藏。 美術館與地方社群的連結極深,許多藝文愛好者會在閒暇之餘熱心參與館內導覽活動。另外,除了以私人捐贈作為經費來源,館內眾多藏品也仰賴民間捐獻,使美術館成為與在地居民共譜記憶的場域。 展覽將持續至2022年12月1日。  

READ MORE

portrait

Artnet: Chinese Landscape Painting With Video, Light, and a Big Dose of Chance
Artnet專訪: 由影像、光與隨機性組成的水墨畫

Wu Chi-Tsung Is Drawing Global Notice for Revamping Chinese Landscape Painting With Video, Light, and a Big Dose of Chance The Taiwanese artist hopes his journey to the international stage might be an inspiration for other young artists from Asia. When the artist Wu Chi-Tsung decided to take a leap of faith and seek representation outside his native Taiwan five years ago, he might have only hoped that it was the start of a global adventure. His travels have since taken him to Hong Kong, Berlin and now the U.S., where the 40-year-old has his first solo show this week at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York. Wu sees the exhibition as a major breakthrough not only for his own career but also, possibly, for other Asian artists of his generation. “I really hope this journey, one that has been full of trial and error in finding a way out, can inspire more young artists to go out to find opportunities, to see this big world,” Wu told Artnet News, speaking on a video call from the New York gallery where he was putting the final touches on his exhibition “Wu Chi-Tsung: jing-atmospheres“, opening on November 4. The embrace of the unknown not only forms the basis of Wu’s philosophy towards his life, but his artistic practice as well. From the production process to the final outcome, his work is often full of surprises, even to the artist himself. Take his well-known Cyano-Collage series, for example. They might look like traditional Chinese ink landscape paintings from afar, but on closer inspection, the works are an amazing illusion created using cyanotypes on Xuan paper, which is treated with a photosensitive coating and then exposed in the sunlight. The paper is crumpled, forming wrinkles and cracks. Each piece is an experiment, and when they are all put together, they form a collaged image that might resemble a mountain, or sometimes glaciers, or stormy seas. “Most artists have a strong ego. We try to control our work,” Wu said. “But the more you try to control it, the more likely you lose the possibility. Sometimes, we should…

READ MORE

cyano-collage production

Wu Chi-Tsung’s Solo Exhibition Jing-atmospheres at Sean Kelly New York
美國首次個展《境》於尚凱利畫廊

jing-atmospheresDates November 5 – December 18, 2021Opening Reception Thursday, November 4, 6-8pm Sean Kelly is delighted to present jing-atmospheres, Wu Chi-Tsung’s first solo exhibition in the gallery and indeed the United States. Chi-Tsung’s innovative body of work encompasses 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. This exhibition features new Cyano-Collages, videos, and an immersive film installation. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, November 4 from 6-8pm, the artist will be present at the gallery. Wu Chi-Tsung was trained from an early age in the traditions of Chinese calligraphy, Chinese ink painting, watercolor, and drawing, and worked in these time-honored idioms for many years. While those practices still inform his process, Chi-Tsung’s current work seeks to understand how media and technology are manipulated to represent our relationship to the world. In the main gallery, there are new iterations of his Cyano-Collage series, in which he connects Eastern and Western culture and art to integrate traditional aesthetics within a striking contemporary language. His Cyano-Collages replace the traditional ink and brush used in Chinese shan shui paintings –literally, “mountain-water-pictures”—with experimental photography to reinvigorate the traditional landscape language. To create these stunning images, Chi-Tsung prepares hundreds of cyanotype photographic papers—Xuan paper treated with a photosensitive coating—that are crumpled, exposed to sunlight, and then mounted onto aluminum, creating a spectrum of tonalities. The results are collaged images that resemble the mountainous landscapes often found in Chinese shan shui paintings, but which are produced using completely a contemporary process. Utilizing video, installation, and photography, Wu Chi-Tsung discovered in these new media compelling conceptual stratagems that spurred new and dynamic approaches to image making. Featured in the main gallery are two new films from Wu Chi-Tsung’s Still Life series, that conceptually translate motifs of traditional cut-branch flower painting into time-based moving images. Describing these works, Chi-Tsung stated that they are inspired, “by a cherished memory of painting; however, the mourning over this lost memory might not be limited to painting only. Some nameless emotions…

READ MORE

Wu Chi-Tsung portrait

Interview with artist Wu Chi-Tsung: Art is never a blank sheet of paper by Vogue Taiwan
Vogue台灣專訪藝術家吳季璁,藝術從來不是白紙一張的事

Bustling back and forth over cities across the world, Wu Chi-Tsung dexterously shuttled through the art world,  as if it was a natural practice.  This day we came to Wu Chi-Tsung’s new studio in Tamsui, Taipei. Apart from here, he also has studios in Yuanshan in Taipei, Berlin, and  Ho Chi Minh City. These studios scattered around the world are not only for practical needs but also for Wu Chi-Tsung’s strategy of observing the world.  A studio space that can accommodate museum level presentation  “This is the most well-equipped space I have ever had. It’s like working in an art museum.” Wu Chi-Tsung sat in a corner of his new studio, and the sunlight fell through the large glass windows and landed on his shoulders. This new studio is located in the residential area of Danhai New Town. Facing a wide, neat street, it locates on the first floor with high ceilings. Here, Wu Chi-Tsung drives a scissor lift,  ascending and descending in the spacious space, busy making two huge  “Cyano-Collage Series” to be exhibited at Sean Kelly Gallery in  New York. This will be his first solo exhibition in New York– his new studio coming out of a need for this work.  The main exhibition hall of Sean Kelly Gallery in New York is the size of a  basketball court. Two large works are required, which are difficult to be accommodated in his old Yuanshan studio. “In Yuanshan, when you want to see the complete composition of  the work, you have to open the iron rolling door on the first floor and retreat  across the road.” One of the new “Cyano-Collage Series” scales three meters by nine meters in size. “It is unlikely that I would create works larger than this anymore. We have already challenged the limits of the new space by creating it” While standing in front of the large “Cyano-Collage Series” work, people would feel as if they are in a real mountain, and would almost lose control to dive in.  A studio is different from an art gallery. It is a place where the artist…

READ MORE

drawing-studies-001

Drawing Study Series and Cyano-Collage Series in Frieze London
《寫生習作》與《氰山集》參展倫敦弗里茲藝術博覽會

Stand D15, Sean Kelly New YorkVIP Preview days October 13-14, 2021Public days October 15-17, 2021 Venue The Regent’s Park, London, UK Sharing sceneries of mountains and oceans that were either captured in Taiwan or from his imagination to yet another continent,  Works of Wu Chi-Tsung’s will be showcased at Frieze London 2021. They will be presented along with creations of other young artists of Sean Kelly Gallery. The visually dynamic group of works will mark the gallery’s inaugural participation in the show.  It is noteworthy that the Drawing Study Series will be presented overseas for the first time. The Drawing Study 001 – Seascape LongDong captures actual real-time sceneries, the reprocessed videos show visual variations to create a perceptive confusion suspended between moving and static images. Although they originate from reality, what the artist offers are sceneries that can never happen in the phenomenal world. Meanwhile, three aluminum boarded Cyano-Collage Series will be presented. About Frieze London Frieze London is one of the world’s most influential contemporary art fairs, focusing only on contemporary art and living artists, and takes place each October in The Regent’s Park, in the heart of London. Frieze London was founded in 2003. The fair is one of the world’s key contemporary art fairs, focusing only on contemporary art. The 2021 edition of the fair showcases over 160 of the most notable galleries from around the world. Stand D15, Sean Kelly New YorkVIP預覽 2021年10月13~14日公眾開放 2021年10月15~17日地址 倫敦攝政公園內 吳季璁作品即將在本週開幕的倫敦弗里茲藝術博覽會的尚凱利畫廊展位中展出,將來自台灣與他腦海中的山景與海景分享給另一個大陸的觀眾。此次,由吳季璁與其他幾位優秀的年輕藝術家的作品所組成的精心策劃、視覺生動而豐富的展覽將是畫廊於該博覽會的首秀。 值得一提的是,本次將是吳季璁2021年新作《寫生習作》系列在海外的首次亮相。出展的《寫生習作001-龍洞海景》拍攝於台灣北部的龍洞,真實的現實景象通過技術處理而出現了視覺上的變異,製造出介於動態與靜態之間的感知迷惑。儘管本於現實,作品提供的卻是現象界不可能真實發生的圖景。同時,三幅鋁底板《氰山集》新作將在博覽會中展出。 關於倫敦弗里茲藝術博覽會 倫敦弗里茲藝術博覽是世界頂尖當代藝術博覽會之一。會與大多數其他博覽會不同,弗裏茲倫敦和大師展的舉辦地「攝政公園」位於主辦城市的中心地帶,這也構成了倫敦充滿活力的文化結構和國際藝術景觀的一部分。 弗里茲藝術博覽會是少有的幾個聚焦當代藝術和在世知名藝術家的藝博會之一,展現了當今一些最令人耳目一新的藝術家,從新興藝術家到現象級藝術家都有,展會由獨立策展人組成的團隊為特色展區提供建議。 Installation Views 展覽現場  

READ MORE

Cyano-Collage-114

Aluminum Paneled Cyano-Collage 114’s Participation in The Armory Art Show in New York
氰山集系列鋁底板作品《氰山集之一百一十四》將參展紐約The Armory Art Show

Sean Kelly Gallery | Booth 120 Preview  September 9, 10am-8pm Public Days  September 10-12 Venue  Javits Center, 429 11th Ave, New York, NY 10001, United States Represented by Sean Kelly Gallery, Wu Chi-Tsung’s new work Cyano-Collage 114 will be participating in the Armory Art Show in New York. It marks the first time the artist attends the renowned fair. The Cyano-Collage 114 is created on an aluminum panel, which is a main exploration of the Series in 2021.  About the fair The Armory Show is New York City’s premier art fair and a leading cultural destination for discovering and collecting the world’s most important 20th- and 21st-century art. The Armory Show features presentations by leading international galleries, innovative artist commissions, and dynamic public programs. Since its founding in 1994, The Armory Show has served as a nexus for the art world, inspiring dialogue, discovery, and patronage in the visual arts. Sean Kelly Gallery | 120 展位 預覽 2021年9月9日 公眾開放 2021年9月10~12日 地址 美國紐約 11大道429號,賈維茨會議中心(Javits Center) 本月,尚凱利畫廊將帶著吳季璁的的新作《氰山集之一百一十四》參加位於美國紐約的The Armory Art Show ,亦是藝術家首次參與這個藝術博覽會。這件作品延續了吳季璁2021年在《氰山集》系列中使用鋁製底板的探索方向。 關於The Armory Art Show The Armory Art Show是紐約市首屈一指的藝術博覽會,是發掘與收藏世界上最重要的20世紀和21世紀藝術品的極佳舞台,展示著國際領先的畫廊、充滿創新精神的藝術家與特色的公共項目。自1994年成立以來,The Armory Art Show一直是藝術界的一個紐帶,激發了視覺藝術的對話、發現和讚助。  

READ MORE

installation view of the exhibiton

[Exhibition Review by Living and Design] Beyond the Physical Form
[Living and Design 住宅美學專稿] 超脫物形的藝術旅程

Recently, Wu Chi-Tsung’s new solo exhibition “Seeing Through Light” at Tao Art Space was reported by Living and Design Magazine. The article introduces, ‘In this exhibition, Wu Chi-Tsung retraces his initial interests and continues his exploration of visual expressions, and once again develops a different video shooting technique. For Wu Chi-tsung, it is not necessary to pay too much attention to the individual works themselves. What is more crucial is to develop a unique Weltanschauung and to establish the form, language, thinking and perspective of viewing art in the process of developing the works. The value of the artwork as a “thing” is not high, but as a starting point to lead into a certain spiritual journey, in which the artist gives the object to verify the existence of the journey, giving it an “intangible” value. 前言:   在海外發展多年的現代藝術家-吳季璁,除了香港世界畫廊正在進行中的個展-《現》外,回到故鄉台北,由策展人王嘉驥老師在Tao Art Space策劃今年另一個展「照見」,少時在傳統學院派的藝術薰陶浸淫多年的吳季璁,自大學開始才進入當代藝術的領域,發展如影片、攝影、光影裝置等新媒體的創作方法,新舊衝突下的斷裂與拉扯中,成就自身的藝術方向,而場地為去年成立的Tao Art Space,因一張委託的《氰山集》系列作品,經介紹認識業主及收藏家Vicky,而開啟了這次展覽的緣分。 修行即為創作  作品驗證藝術旅程    西方藝術受到東方思想衝擊較大的時期,為佛學禪宗大師-鈴木大拙到美國與歐洲講學開始,影響並啟蒙許多現當代藝術家的創作方向,而日本當時擁有最完整的禪宗傳播系統,教義上相比藏傳佛教更類似哲學探討。    對吳季璁來說,不需要給予個別作品本身過多的關注,如何發展發展作品的過程中,建立其世界觀及形式、語言、思考以及觀看藝術的角度更為關鍵,如只專注在單一作品本身,容易錯失背後更大的思維起點。藝術品做為「物」的本身的價值並不高,而是做為一個出發點導引進入某段精神上的旅程,其中,藝術家賦予物品驗證旅程的存在,使之擁有「無形」的價值。談到外界對於藝術家認知的謬誤,以為作品是創作者自我傲氣與任性下的產物,然而在真實的藝術創作中,需要先放下自我,順勢作品發展。吳季璁在藝術的修行過程,時常面對佛家思想中如何放下「我執」的命題,相信某些材質會因宿命而出現在生活中,過於控制作品容易畫地自限,然自我的執念越輕,而創作的可能性會帶領你到意想不到的境地,以上透過佛家與禪宗談到許多,與創作相關的思維模式。  重現傳統攝影技術  擷取「無常」中的真實    本次展覽《照見》也特別呈現了幾件吳季璁早期作品, 2004年的《自畫像》詮釋人是不斷變動的一種生物,如佛家談到的「無常」,也是時間流中的一部分碎片,利用攝影技法捕捉流逝的「剎那」,在暗室中面對鏡頭,使用手電筒描繪臉部,長曝後呈現不完全的面部狀態,並透過幻燈片與暗房沖洗,反映影像的可能性與有別於傳統自畫像命題的樣貌。當年度正是傳統底片攝影逐漸式微,數位影像抬頭興起的階段,藝術家以作品自身作為一份傳統攝影的紀念,呈現衝突且看似失真的真實紀錄。    實驗攝影的技術發展到2012年,吳季璁感於數位攝影的便利性與單一性,嘗試回到技術本質的探討,在《皴法習作》與其後的《氰山集》系列,運用與攝影術幾乎同時發明的氰版藥劑和無相機攝影方法,在揉皺傳統中國書畫的宣紙後,塗上感光藥劑置放在陽光下進行自然曝曬,充分水洗即顯影出藍色的影像,自然如同岩石山景般的層次,意像呈現傳統水墨千山連綿的壯闊之景。 超脫時間的完美狀態  放下「我執」重新導引   許久未在台北發表作品的吳季璁,經介紹了收藏家及展場業主,Vicky 和父親都熱愛收藏,父親偏愛以佛像和宋元瓷器為主的古美術及台灣現代藝術,而 Vikcy 則是以國內外當代藝術為主。Tao Art 獨有的兩代收藏經歷,揉雜古今正好與吳季璁的創作路線不謀而和,成就了這次吳季璁和 Tao Art 胡不堂佛像收藏的合作。   「照見」在佛典中言意為「指向開悟成佛的透徹與超脫」,佛學中的修行,與藝術創作有極為相似的精神軌跡,雖然其過程有所不同,卻有相同的內化反應,與自我掙扎下的拆解體驗。本次展覽中,吳季璁重新回溯最初的創作思維,延續從自畫像時期開始的影像探索,再次發展出有別以往的影像處理技巧,在新作《寫生習作》拍攝初期,原本想以破碎的形式呈現捕捉胡不堂所藏佛像「剎那」下的真實,當他注視著這經歷千年的佛像,反思面對自己或人皆是變動不定的命數,而佛像卻擁有超脫其中的完美狀態,使他放下了當初設定的詮釋方法,透過光影重新測試、觀察引導,內化佛學與藝術的相互印證,重新理解「照見」的命題。 Written by 文/ Erin Song  

READ MORE

poster

“Seeing Through Light: Wu Chi-Tsung Solo Exhibition” Introducing New Work and Technique
台北個展《照見》呈現數位影像嶄新可能

Public Dates  Jul 13 – Oct 2, 2021, Tue – Sat, 11 am – 7 pmVenue  Tao Art Space, 8f, No.79-1, Zhouzi St., Neihu Dist., Taipei city  On Jul 13, “Seeing Through Light: Wu Chi-Tsung Solo Exhibition” opens at Tao Art Space in Taipei. Curated by renowned curator Chia Chi Jason Wang, the exhibition marks the premiere of a series of experimental video works, the Drawing Study Series. Applying a special video-filming technique, Wu Chi-Tsung offers an alternative way of looking at reality through the work. Tao Art Space is jointly founded by art collector Vicky Chen and her father.  Parallel to their collection and presentation of contemporary art, Tao Art Space has also established a remarkable collection of antiques under the name “Hu Bu Tang.” Both believing that Art could transcend time, Wu Chi-Tsung and Tao Art started this collaboration. The artist presents a special feature of ancient Buddhist sculptures from Tao Art’s Hu Bu Tang Collection as part of the Drawing Studies Series,bringinga modern “exposure” to the antiques. Alongside, early works such as Rain and Self-Portrait will be exhibited to ‘pan across’ Wu Chi-Tsung’s artistic journey with video and photography.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tao Art Space is limiting the number of people in the Gallery at any one time and is open by appointment only. Meanwhile, the Gallery has introduced a number of measures to keep the visitors and staff safe. Please click the button below to RSVP and enjoy your visit. Seeing Through Light: Wu Chi-Tsung Solo Exhibition Curated by Chia Chi Jason Wang Once during nightfall, sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) held a lamp and led art critic Paul Gsell (1870-1947) to see an ancient Greek statue of Venus in the dark. With the dim lamplight, the sculptor turned the movable platform that held the statue, and made the critic look closely at the torso of Venus, illuminating the complex and intricate projections and depressions. This way, Rodin helped Gsell to discover the beauty of flesh represented by artists in the Classical period.[1] During his youth, Wu Chi-Tsung was still exploring creative possibilities, and had also seen himself through light. In the dark, he replaced paintbrush with a flashlight, and pointed it at his…

READ MORE

cyano-collage 095

[Exhibition Review by ArtAsiaParcific] BENEATH THE SURFACE: WU CHI-TSUNG
[ArtAsiaParcific展評]表面之下:吳季璁個展專稿

At the entrance of Wu Chi-Tsung’s exhibition “Exposé” (2021), curated by Ying Kwok at Galerie du Monde, stood a six-part folding screen depicting blue mountain peaks. The work was made from cyanotype-treated Xuan paper (Chinese rice paper), a laborious process derived from early photography whereby Wu translates the markings of light and time into shades of blue. The folding screen ushered visitors into the main exhibition space, where the eye-catching, three-part Cyano-Collage­­ 095 (2021) evoked a great mountain range across an entire wall. Its wrinkled texture mimics the contours of majestic slopes and valleys, while the contrast between its deep indigo shades and its misty white layers recall the subtle ink-control seen in Chinese shanshui painting. Wu is heavily inspired by traditional Chinese landscapes, although he eschews the traditional medium of ink in favor of cyanotype. Trained from a young age in Chinese calligraphy, ink painting, and watercolor, Wu turned to cyanotype as a way to simultaneously pay homage to and reinvigorate classical ink aesthetics.  Wu started experimenting with cyanotype in his Wrinkled Texture (2012– ) series as a means of reinterpreting the cun fa (texturing method) of Chinese landscape painting. Wu’s creative process is a strenuous one. To start, he soaks Xuan paper in a photosensitive solution. Then, he crumples the paper and exposes it in the sun for 30 minutes. Strong sunlight results in dark indigo hues, while cloudier days bring lighter blues. The paper is subsequently washed and flattened in a water tank for an hour to set the final image; it is during this step that Wu first sees his work. After selecting a section he finds interesting, he crops and mounts it on a canvas or scroll. “My creative practice is filled with endless experimentations. Every step along the process, I am constantly exploring the possibilities within, and always failing too,” Wu said in an interview with Obscura magazine. Even with limited control over the final image, Wu still manages to capture the essence of shanshui painting through his strategic cropping and framing of the work. In Wrinkled Texture 107 (2021), for instance, the placement of darker blues at the bottom of the frame grounds the image against its overexposed counterparts, and…

READ MORE

creation process

[Critique by Heyshow.com] On the Limitless Imagination in Wu Chi-Tsung’s Interdisciplinary Arts
[黑秀網專稿]不藉筆墨畫山水,巧以陽光曬山色:聊創作跨域的無限想像,吳季璁專訪

Recently, Wu Chi-Tsung’s intriguing application of Cyanotype photography was introduced by Heyshow.com, the biggest Taiwan designers’ website with updated designing news and articles. The article reviews the creation process of the Wrinkled Texture Series as well as the Cyano-Collage Series. In the article, the writer Hsu Szuying introduces: When we look at the Cyano-Collage Series, we can’t help but be brought into the time in the picture, as the author invites the viewer to feel a juxtaposition of the past and the future tenses. In “Another Way of Telling” by John Berger and Jean Mohr, it is mentioned that “Imagine if time is cut in photography, that the time of a photograph is a state of interlaced events, then it can be expressed in a frontal, circular way, and the diameter of the circle depends on the amount of information contained in the image.” In the Cyano-Collage Series, the viewer can feel a great deal of information, including the deconstruction of traditional landscape painting methods, the study of paper materials, and the repeated testing of visual effects. These contents enrich the work itself and expand the viewer’s thinking, which is the spirit of art and the most valuable part of being a creator. 不藉筆墨畫山水,巧以陽光曬山色:聊創作跨域的無限想像,吳季璁專訪 在我們既定的印象中,「山水畫」應該是白紙黑墨的視覺舞動,在墨色的深淺間展現筆觸的豐富性。有一位藝術家結合攝影中的氰版攝影法(藍曬法),在「無筆無墨」的狀態下,創作了一系列令人動容的藍色山水《皴法習作》(Wrinkled Texture )與《氰山集》 (Cyano-Collage)。運用浸、揉、曬、拼的手法,畫中的山嵐與稜線,磅礴中卻不失雅韻,這是他長達十年的材質研究的成果,他是吳季璁,在跨域過程裡尋找無限可能的藝術實驗者。 吳季璁,1981年出生於台北,2004年畢業於國立台北藝術大學美術系,目前居住、創作於台北及柏林。致力於攝影、錄像、裝置、繪畫與舞台設計, 其創作媒體媒材多元,發想自日常生活中平凡的材料與現象,轉換出充滿詩意的想像空間。關注影像及觀看本質的探討,並融合東西方傳統與現當代藝術形式。 曾獲台北美術獎首獎(2003)、波蘭媒體藝術雙年展(WRO,2013)藝評與藝術雜誌編輯獎、劉國松水墨藝術大獎(2019),並入選英國世界藝術獎(Artes Mundi,2006)、英國保誠當代藝術獎(Prudential Eye Awards,2015)。 《氰山集》水墨與攝影的交錯 走進吳季璁的工作室,有種莫名的震撼,為製作《氰山集》,吳季璁與工作團針對能容納長兩公尺的作品量身打造了烘乾箱、洗紙台,並擬出一套完整的工作流程,例如選用哪種紙、曝曬、水洗的時間。有趣的是,即使有一套“製圖標準”,他還是能保持創作一定的偶然性,例如在曝曬過程中揉紙的方式、陽光曝曬的時間,接著以撕與拼貼的方式,建構了既能呈現材質特殊性又保有視覺美感的山水圖。 藍曬法(Cyanotype又稱氰版攝影法)誕生於1842年,以檸檬酸鐵氨與鐵氰化鉀為感光原料,在陽光曝曬下,使之產生變化,並經過水洗顯影後呈現出藍色的視覺效果,未曝曬到的則無任何顯色,也有人稱之為無相機攝影法。 Q1.當初選擇用氰版藍曬結合水墨創作的靈感來自哪裡呢? 季璁:選擇氰版攝影源於對數位攝影的不滿足。使用數位相機或電腦修圖能便利的產生各式各樣的影像,但生成影像方式只剩一種,也就是說只有一種方法做攝影。於是我想回到攝影的本質去紀錄光線,讓材質與技術更開放,並結合不同紙張去實驗,於是使用了氰版的技法。至於水墨題材,則是因為從小學習傳統書畫,對山水有很強的連結。然而,由於當代生活經驗與日常生活使用的物品已經和以前不同,現在的觀眾已經很難直接理解什麼是「筆墨」,所以我思考的是如何將其轉換成這個時代大家較能接受的影像,來傳遞水墨的美學與精神。 Q2.您是如何理解「山水畫」的呢?與其他畫類相比有何特殊之處? 季璁:比較東方傳統水墨與西方傳統風景繪畫,它們其實反映了東西方思考方式的差異,西方的繪畫追求「再現」,例如油畫便是追求高度控制的媒材,但東方繪畫始終來自個人想象的投射,雖然北宋時期的山水風格相對寫實,然其也並非再現特定的山,而是畫家飽覽群山後自行歸納、總結出此地山水紋理之特色,再發展出一個筆法來描繪,投射自己想像的世界,是觀察、歸納、理解、再創造的過程。再往後期發展,畫家則更多的是基於前人的創作去發展山水意象,離自然寫實就更遠了。 東方的繪畫材料也是順應著這個特質發展。無論是宣紙、墨還是毛筆,均開創出非常複雜的工藝高度,紙與墨是極為敏感的材質,筆墨與筆觸可以細膩地反映出人在創作時的精神狀態。《氰山集》與《皴法習作》系列中納入了高度的隨機性與對於自然的投射延伸出來的水墨系統,並用無相機攝影法呈現出來。 Q3. 除了現在的創作模式,您是否有計劃將藍曬做其他材質或主題的探索呢? 季璁:《氰山集》系列經過多年的發展,已經開展出許多不同面向,例如表現山、海等自然風景,或更為抽象的內容。利用氰版無相機攝影的隨機特性,畫面的可能性極為多元,我希望能夠順其結果探尋更多表現空間,尤其希望能夠深入研究使用宣紙成像這件事。宣紙種類繁多,每種宣紙的屬性大異其趣,氰版在其上可以有很多的色彩和變化,是很隨機又很有機的。例如,如果使用水彩紙成像,其色度很可能乍一看很鮮亮,卻缺乏變化與餘韻。然而,宣紙卻能顯現出非常細膩的階調,如同山水中的墨色墨韻,這種細膩度是其他紙張無法比擬的。 可惜的是,宣紙這種非常細膩精緻的傳統工藝,因使用者變少、時代變遷而遇到發展危機,工廠也漸漸減少了生產紙張,人們缺乏認識它、探索它的機會。所以我還是想做更多宣紙結合氰版的實驗去探索不同紙張,也希望可以啟發其他創作者注意到宣紙種種特性及其背後悠久的歷史與複雜的工藝傳統。也許可以通過這樣的努力,讓世界上更多人開始認識並使用宣紙,使這門古老而細膩的技術重振生機。 在當代藝術世界,很多人在討論與追尋能夠反映這個時代的作品,但我對於藝術的信仰卻有些保守。我在思考的是什麼可以超越時代、超越時間性,反覆思考從所謂的「傳統藝術」到「現當代藝術」之間,始終不變的是什麼。 如果說當代藝術的潮流在於對新技術與精神的捕捉,我卻熱衷於反向而行,專注於材料學、技術,以及與自身所在區域文化的歷史及美術史的對話,用一種看起來不那麼激進或是前衛的方式創作,也許這反而是我對於當代藝術的批判性貢獻。 氰山之美 如果用攝影的角度去看《氰山集》,會發現一些很有趣的事,當我們看照片時,我們會不由自主的被帶入畫面中的時間,是作者邀請邀請觀者感受一段過去與未來的脈絡。在John Berger 與Jean Mohr所寫的《另一種影像敘事一個可能的攝影理論》曾提到:「假如攝影中的時間切割,想像照片的時間是種事件交錯的狀態,那麼就可以從正面、圓圈的方式來表達,而圓圈直徑大小則取決於影像中所蘊含的資訊量。」在《氰山集》的畫面中,觀者能感受到大量的訊息,包含了對傳統山水畫法上的解構、對紙性的材質研究以及對視覺效果的反覆測試。這些內容豐富了作品本身,同時也拓展了觀者的思考維度,這是藝術的精神,同時也是作為創作者最可貴的部分。 作者/徐思穎 圖/吳季璁工作室  

READ MORE

cyano-collage 106

Cyano-Collage on Aluminum Panels will be Premiered at Art Basel Hong Kong
鋁製底板《氰山集》將於巴塞爾藝術展香港展會首次發表

Date May 21 – 23 Venue Convention & Exhibition Centre, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong From May 21 to 23, First Cyano-Collage Series work applying aluminum panels will be premiered at Galerie du Monde’s booth in Art Basel Hong Kong. As a substitute to wooden baseboard, aluminum panels create a distinct reflection that leaks through the Cyano-Collage landscape. The revealed base board, a.k.a the blank-leaving(留白), embraces traditional aesthetics of Chinese painting and enhanced the sense of space hence created new possibilities of interpretations.  日期 2021年5月21日 – 23日 地址:香港會議展覽中心,香港灣仔港灣道1號 本月21日至23日,首次應用鋁製底板創作的《氰山集》系列作品將於巴塞爾藝術展香港展會的世界畫廊展位首次發表。相較於之前使用的木製底板,鋁製底板獨特的金屬反光從氰版山水中透出,照應了傳統繪畫中「留白」的概念,為作品帶來了縱深感與更為豐富的意境。 Installation Views 展覽現場  

READ MORE

installation view

[Exhibition Review by OBSCURA] TIME, LIGHT AND EXPERIMENT
[OBSCURA展評] 時間、光與實驗

現於世界畫廊(Galerie du Monde)展出的《現 Exposé》正是把吳季璁近年的實驗作品《氰山集》(Cyano-collage)向大眾呈現出來。2019年時,他在台北舉行的個人展覽《東橋西照Echo》也有展示《氰山集》系列,同樣是穿越詩意山水的概念,但展示方式卻是截然不同。《東橋西照Echo》把作品展示在一所有歷史感的殘舊大樓裡,部分畫作更是隨意地貼在石灰剝落的牆上或是放在檯的邊緣,任由它懸垂在地上。這次在方正、潔淨又優雅的畫廊裡展出,又是另一種體驗吳季璁作品的方式。「我們刻意地把一幅大型六聯屏作品放置於展場入口,令觀眾必須要繞過這作品才看到其他展品,如行山一樣,攀過一座山才看到其他的風景。我們希望觀眾能夠一層一層地發現和探索,如中國山水畫強調的『可行、可望、可游』;吳季聰塑造他作品中的風景時, 也是懷着這種精神。」展覽的策展人郭瑛說。她在佈展時意外地發現六聯屏的板子間透出了光束,若隱若現光線正是呼應著中式園林中的影壁,讓觀眾開門見山地看到仿若懸浮空中的作品,並擴闊了對空間的想像。 「無論我創作什麼媒材的作品,我的思考方式與投射的世界都是繪畫的、山水的。 只有在傳統與現代、東方與西方之間遊走,才能讓我更意識到其中改變的東西是什麽、共通的地方是什麼,而不變的又是什麼。」吳季璁說。從小喜歡繪畫的他,在大學時代開始嘗試各種媒材,但他始終鍾情於影像本身。今次展覽除了《氰山集》,也有較早期的《皴法習作》(Wrinkled Texture),這兩個系列都是源於吳季璁對數位攝影的不滿足。「數位攝影生成影像方式只有一種,也就是說當代彷彿只剩一種方法做攝影,於是我想回到攝影的本質去紀錄光線本身,讓材質與技術更開放,並結合不同紙張去實驗。因而回到更古典、時間性更強、更不可控的氰版。」他這次的實驗方式使用了古老的氰版攝影法,來創建紙上的紋理——把中國宣紙浸泡於塗布感光藥劑之中,透過直接曝曬於陽光下和過程中不斷調整重塑紙張的皺折,創造了美麗的質感與層次。陽光猛的時候,紙上會呈現深藍色,陰天時藍色會變得淺一點;深淺也會因曝曬的時間而有所不同。在反復的嘗試後,吳季璁挑選喜歡的部分,並放在捲軸上,成為《皴法習作》。《氰山集》則是在這基礎上加上拼貼及繪畫,把雲霧裡的群山峻嶺立體地呈現出來。這不但蘊含著中國傳統水墨畫裡的山水意境,還記錄了當下的時間、光影明暗和身體姿態的表達。 中國的山水畫表現的是情景合一,那麼吳季璁創作時又寄喻著怎樣的情感呢?「《皴法習作》和《氰山集》系列通過將筆墨置換為攝影,探索的是「山水」的可能性,在試圖拓張山水的邊界與想像空間。我們對於創作的每個環節都進行過無數次實驗,這個實驗的過程可能不太是感性與抒情的,而是在辯證地探索。」吳季璁說《氰山集》系列在今年之前都是控制性很強的作品,他一直追求技術上的極致,例如為了處理畫面中的留白與雲霧,在技法上將宣紙的纖維搓到極薄。即使技術已近乎極致,但他卻感到似乎失去了追求的意義。「近期比較大的突破在於創作狀態更為放鬆,更接近『自然而然』。除了構圖時讓氰版相紙自然地發展,也同時讓我的某些內在的東西自然地抒發出來,這與古人繪畫山水的狀態很相似。在創作《氰山集》時,我漸漸地把自己的意識放在他處,例如收聽廣播節目,讓手無意識地動作,越是這樣越能進入到一種類似冥想的狀態。 」吳季璁說創作這兩個系列時,他思考和追求的都是「形似」,像回應某幅經典的山水畫;但現在則進入了不那麼表象的思考,從而展開更多的可能性。「能夠將自己全然投射進入到一個『可觀、可居、可游』的想像空間,反而更契合水墨的內在精神。」 遊歷在眾多的作品之間,眼睛不禁停留在捲軸的《皴法習作》之上,近看時是一張擁有漸變色彩、皺摺了的紙張,遠看時卻浮現出山水的景象。加上,以最經典的東方書畫形式去結合西方的氰版攝影技術,在現代的語境中延續了傳統的美學。打開卷軸時更會有一種如走到大自然裡或行山時所感受到的柳暗花明,是對那未知景色的興奮和期待,難怪吳季璁笑說他也是私心地偏愛捲軸的《皴法習作》呢。 “My creative practice is filled with endless experimentations. Every step along the process, I am constantly exploring the possibilities within, and always failing too. As the saying goes, ‘Successes are coincidental, while failures are essential’,” Taiwanese artist Wu Chi-Tsung said with a laugh. Sometimes the act of creating resembles an experiment, with its incessant attempts and failures after more failures; one awaits a coincidence to create a “successful” work. Amid a sophisticated and fortuitous creative process, Wu’s recent works the Cyano-Collage series struggled against, adapted to and interspersed with time and light to realise one experiment after another. Currently exhibiting at Galerie du Monde, Exposé is a public display of the experimental series Cyano-Collage Wu created in recent years. In 2019, his Taipei exhibition Echo also exhibited the Cyano-Collage series, following the same concept of going beyond shan shui (landscapes), but with a completely different curatorial approach. Echo showed the works in a dilapidated building that exudes heritage. Some of the works were attached arbitrarily on walls with lime peeling off it, or lying around the table edge in suspension. Exhibiting the works in a four-square, clean and elegant gallery this time presents another way to experience Wu’s works. “We deliberately placed a large 6-part work at the entrance of the exhibition space, so that visitors must make their way around this work to see other exhibits, much like hiking, where one must overcome one mountain to see other scenery. We hope that visitors may discover and explore layer through layer, as Chinese shan shui paintings often emphasised in the quality of being ‘passable, discernible, navigable’; Wu shaped the landscapes in his work in the same spirit,” said Ying Kwok, the curator of the exhibition. While setting up, Kwok chanced upon the light that seeps out of the spaces between the panels of the 6-part work. The obscure rays echo the ying bi (screen walls) in Chinese gardens, such that visitors are given an uninhibited view of the work that appears suspended, and imaginations about space expand. What Chinese shan shui painting presents is the union of sentiments and scenery. As such, what kinds of…

READ MORE

installation view

[Exhibition Review by *CUP] Art of chance and coincidence
[*CUP展評] 世界畫廊與吳季璁 ——偶然與巧合的藝術

Rently, writer and artist Cyrus Lambrecht has published an exhibition review on *CUP on Wu Chi-Tsung’s solo exhibition EXPOSÉ at Galerie du Monde.  In this article, Lambrecht discusses on chances and coincidences in Wu Chi-Tsung’s art. Curator Ying Kwok introduced during the press preview that the aim of the exhibition is to unveil the production process of Wu Chi-Tsung’s works that applies cyanotype photography. After being able to see the behind-the-scenes, Lambrecht quoted John Locke’s theory named Tabula Rasa to describe the exposure process. The term literally means ‘blank board’ as a comparison to human’s mind before experiences, which resembles blank Xuan paper, while the wrinkles and sunlight exposure resembles experiences in a person’s life. Hence, the whole process as well as what finally emerges and remains on paper, the landscape-like imagery, are interesting metaphors for life. Photos credit to the writer 若世界上所發生的事情,都只是一種偶然與巧合,人們所堅持的一切,會否也只是一段徒勞無功的過程?我們可能因為無法控制一些事情的發生,而感受到一刻的脆弱和無力感 —— 但就是當中一份偶然發現的驚喜,讓我們堅持自己的信念和執著。台灣多媒體藝術家吳季璁,在世界畫廊(Galerie du Monde)以「現」(Exposé)為主題,展出一系列採用了氰版攝影和宣紙的畫作。透過獨立策展人郭瑛重視空間劃分的策展風格,呈現出時光荏苒與物是人非之間的一刻旖旎景象。 宣紙與氰版藍曬法 在「現」的展覽中,共有 8 件同樣運用了氰版攝影手法的作品。其中以「氰山集」為題的畫作,在處理上增添了壓克力膠塗層,讓宣紙固定在畫布上。氰版藍曬法是一種傳統的顯影技術,透過製作負片、曝光及水洗的過程,進而產生化學作用,在紙張上顯現圖像和紋理。由於現今大多的紙張會以化學藥劑進行漂白,影響顯影效果,因此吳季璁在紙張的挑選上,以被譽為「紙壽千年」的宣紙進行創作。「氰山集」和「皴法習作」的創作靈感,都取材自中國水墨畫中的「皴法」概念,一種傳統以水墨勾勒山巒與石塊嶙峋質感的畫法。吳季璁反覆將宣紙摺疊與揉捏,使其形成獨特的紋理,再透過陽光與藥劑的化學反應,在紙張的纖維裡,交織出一種大自然與山水的意境。 柳暗花明又一村 佇立在畫廊門口的「氰山集之九十四」,為吳季璁在 2021 年所創作的六聯屏作品,每一幅彷似懸在半空的畫作,都經過氰版藍曬的處理。根據策展人郭瑛在開幕當天對場地策劃的闡述,她希望是次展覽可以給予觀賞者一種「柳暗花明又一村」的感覺,配合著場地的設計,展現出畫作當中涵蘊的層次。在走進了畫廊以後才驀然察覺,郭瑛特意保留了「氰山集之九十四」背面的原始面貌,無遺地展現吳季璁最真實的創作過程。她這一個策展決定,是為著大眾可以看到吳季璁更多創作背後的實驗和經歷,所以她亦在畫廊的角落,放置了不同藍曬效果的宣紙和創作手稿,讓觀賞者從藝術家的角度,逐步見證一件作品的誕生。 人心如白板 在拼湊附有皺褶的宣紙的過程中,吳季璁會在每一層的宣紙之間,加上一層白紙來呈現「留白」的效果,然後再塗上 5 至 6 層壓克力膠和保護漆來固定畫面。英國經驗主義哲學家約翰.洛克(John Locke)在著作「人類理解論」中,曾提出「人心如白板」(Tabula Rasa)的理論:「一切觀念都是由感覺或反省而來的 —— 我們可以假定人心如白紙似的,沒有一切標記,沒有一切觀念,那麼它如何會又有了那些觀念呢?」洛克所論述的是人類一切的認知,本來就沒有一種先天的概念,一切都是從經驗而來。在吳季璁「氰山集之九十四」的創作過程中,會否亦在體現一種如「白板論」一般的哲學概念?宣紙能夠充沛地吸收顏料的特質,就如我們的心靈一樣盛載各種情緒。每一層象徵著經驗的壓克力膠,緩緩地組成我們的性格,就像皺褶的紋路,需要經過時間的沖洗才可以冉冉顯現。六聯屏在畫面上的推進,宛如人生每一個階段的發展,看似分離卻又巧合地連繫在一起。或許人生從來沒有遞增或遞減的過程,就如吳季璁的六聯屏一般。當一張畫布被填滿了,就塗上一層保護漆,把我們所得到的經驗和知識保存,然後再開展一段未知的創作。 偶然與巧合之間 在離開展覽之前,幾縷和煦的光線從「氰山集之九十四」的縫間折射到地上,巧合地形成了似是呼應著吳季璁作品裡,由皺褶所築建的大自然山景。每一次的偶然與巧合,都埋藏著一份等待我們去發掘的驚喜。台灣唱作歌手陳綺貞在歌曲「偶然與巧合」中曾經寫下這一段歌詞:「偶然與巧合之間,我們的選擇會不會,改變了世界,改變某一個人。」在偶然與巧合之間,到底我們可以得到甚麼?同時我們又可以付出甚麼?若我們精心策劃一場可知的快樂,就會失去了一份不可知的期待。吳季璁選擇了在藝術的空間裡,捕捉一種偶然與巧合的驚喜。在宣紙的皺褶之間,量度人與大自然之間的溫度。 文、圖/ 林靖風 參考資料 關文運(譯)(1959)。「人類理解論」(頁 68)(原作者:John Locke)。北京:商務印書館。(原作出版年:1689)  

READ MORE