Figurative Abstraction: An Exhibition of Contemporary Arts : Mind Set Art Center

Written by Mind Set Art Center

Mind Set Art Center is honored to present “Figurative Abstraction”, an exhibition featuring the artworks of Marina CRUZ, QIN Yifeng, Albert Yonathan SETYAWAN, SHI Jin-Hua, SHI Jinsong, WU Tseng Jung. The works span across a wide range of art mediums, including painting, photography, three-dimensional, conceptual and performance art. Further illuminating the collection is the academic research of Professor CHEN Kuang-Yi, the dean of the Fine Art College of the National Taiwan University of Art. Chen sheds light how these artworks exemplify the development of figurative and abstract art in the contemporary art landscape and how the two disciplines are intertwined. The exhibition is set to launch at 2:30 p.m. on April 22 with an opening talk, followed by a reception at 4:30. We eagerly await your attendance. 

Abstract painter Nicolas de Staël once said, “I am not setting abstract painting against figurative painting. A painting should be both abstract and figurative. Abstract to the extent that it is a flat surface, figurative to the extent that it is a representation of space.” In her writing on the exhibit, Professor CHEN has referenced Staël’s words to highlight the interplay between figurative and abstract artworks on display. Each of the six precipitating artists has interpreted the relationship between the two disciplines in a highly personal manner. WU Tseng Jung has painted mostly landscape in his watercolor work. Thanks to decades of experience in architecture and his technique of rinsing paper surfaces, WU navigates freely between abstraction and figuration in his paintings. Some of WU’s paintings showcase the rich colors of a university campus, others present the darker tone of a gloomy climate or the obscure glimmers in the distant horizon. Beyond his “landscapes” and “people”, WU has depicted many non-figurative subjects. Philippine artist Marina CRUZ has painted the parts of many clothes, which are family heirlooms, in a highly realistic manner, rendering painstaking details such as creases and smudges. However, her figurative depiction has ultimately materialized the abstract memories and emotions that link the three generations of women in her maternal family. The works of SHI Jin-hua, on the other hand, have always exemplified the idea of “the body as mediator”: the body is both physical and spiritual.  SHI’s body serves as the medium between his spirit and the outside world, the pencil an extension of his body, and the residual “artwork” is the trace of his actions. His paintings at the exhibition “Sumeru Mountain” and “Pen Walking #180” both appear to be depictions of mountain at first sight. On the deeper level, however, the paintings represent the journey in which the artist and his pencils make their way up the sacred Buddhist Mountain. The remaining pencil shavings bear witness of the attrition along the way, and the winding lines marks the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Different from the aforementioned artists who focus human subjects and their emotions, SHI Jinsong’s “Qian Chuang Yuan #15” appears to be an abstract sculpture on the surface. It is, in reality, a ready-made aidé sculpted from a wreckage of his own former art studio. His monochromatic abstract paintings are made by a mixture of paint and dust collected from locations with special significance. The method speaks volumes about his obsession with physical objects. The photography work of abstract painter QIN Yifeng represents another form of obsession with objects. Inspired by his collection of Ming Dynasty furniture and their unique materiality, QIN has applied a high level of control in his photographic process to create a series of images that can be hardly considered “photos” in the conventional sense. The images resemble minimalist film negatives in their tone and depth, and they are profoundly alluring in their transformation of reality into a distant, faint, and almost vanished realm. The images bring out the ghosts in the subjects and offers another perspective for observation and interpretation. A similar spirituality can be seen in the hand-made sculptures of Indonesian artist Albert Yonathan SETYAWAN. His ceramic pieces form their own language that oozes a sense of simplicity and mystique akin to ancient artifacts. The form of the ceramic pieces is not so much the result of imitation but rather of the process that reduces real-world objects into symbols. The symbols are detached from real objects. They grow in number and expand in a certain pattern. The obscure nature of their meaning generates a sense of abstraction and alienation, bringing the viewers into a visual journey that blurs the line between the figurative and the abstract.