In Illuminated Presence, Hong Kong Arts Centre presents a powerful and moving exhibition of works by the late Taiwan master painter and calligrapher YEH Shih-Chiang (1926-2012). The exhibition is accompanied by a new series of interpretative works by photography-based artist YEH Wei-Li from Taiwan, created in response to Yeh Shih-chiang’s life and extensive body of work.
Curated by Chang Tsong-Zung, Illuminated Presence comprises a selection of key paintings across time and media that highlights the artist’s intensely personal, atmospheric expressiveness. The exhibition seeks to capture a sense of the artist’s aesthetic and spiritual ‘presence’ in the worlds he inhabited in both his life as an artist and within Taiwan’s own art history. To this end, Chang Tsong-Zung has invited the participation of photography-based artist YEH Wei-Li from Taiwan, known for his performative photographic work and spatial interventions through which he has illuminated the layers of social and historical significance within both urban and rural sites in Taiwan. Yeh Wei-Li uses Yeh Shi-Chiang’s paintings as a portal through which to enter into his artistic mythology. Visiting the sites of the studios used by Yeh Shih-Chiang over the decades, Yeh Wei-Li creates strongly atmospheric large-format photographs using ‘rebuilt’ or reimagined environments incorporating painterly artefacts and compositional structures inspired by the master’s works. In this way Yeh Wei-Li opens up a new space of encounter with both the historical and contemporary presence of Yeh Shih-Chiang, as well as an alternative platform of engagement for the audience, as they contemplate both the aesthetic narrative and the dynamic presence of Yeh Shih-Chiang’s art.
There is a fascinating story behind Chang Tsong-Zung’s curation of the present exhibition. Yeh Shih-Chiang and Chang Tsong-Zung had first met each other in Taiwan during the late 1980s, and although they did not stay in touch, each had made a deep and lasting impression on the other. Master Yeh rarely allowed his works to be exhibited in his lifetime. After Yeh Shih-Chiang passed away in 2012, Madame Yeh was organizing her husband’s artworks and discovered written instructions left by Yeh Shih-Chiang himself requesting that she appoint Chang Tsong-Zung, to oversee the archiving and exhibition of his uncatologued artworks. This exhibition of Yeh Shih-Chiang’s works thus marks the first major event in this process. For this reason and more, Illuminated Presence presents a truly a rare opportunity for the wider public to encounter and discover the art and legacy of this great master.
Towards Illumination: Spirit and Works of Yeh Shih-Chiang Discussion
Date: 6 Nov 2015 (Fri)
Time: 3pm - 5pm
Venue: Pao Galleries
Speakers: Yeh Wei-li, Pan Sheau-shei, Lin Ju-Yi, Ho Chien
Moderator: Chang Tsong-Zung
Conducted in Mandarin, simultaneous interpretation in English
A Dialogue on Yeh Shih-Chiang by Boris Groys and Tsun-Shing Cheng
Date: 11 Nov 2015 (Wed)
Time: 7pm-9pm
Venue: Pao Galleries
Speakers: Boris Groys & Tsun-Shing Cheng
Moderator: Chang Tsong-Zung
Conducted mainly in English, partially in Mandarin
Public Guided Tour
Date: 7, 14, 21 November 2015 (Saturdays)
Time: 3pm
Gathering Point: 5/F Pao Galleries
*The tour lasts for around 45 minutes. No reservation is needed.
Courtesy of the artists and Hong Kong Arts Center.
