Chen Chi-Hsiang (Titien) - "Rendez-vous avec le miroir" Solo Exhibition Press Release: Galerie GABA, Paris

Text-Alexandra Chevallier

Images-Chen Chi-Hsiang (Titien))

Date: March 12, 2024 - March 30, 2024

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am - 7 pm

Address: 15 Rue Guenegaud 75006 Paris

"Rendez-vous avec le miroir" is an invitation to cross the threshold of what you think you see and know.

For over twenty years, Chen Chi-Hsiang has focused his work on the mirror effect through two main series: "Aventure dans le miroir" and "Miroir sans phase". Deeply permeated by the philosophy of yin and yang, his artistic practice, stemming from Taoism, blends Asian and Western cultures. "Phaseless Mirror" ("Miroir sans phase", without optical distortion) is a metaphor that attempts to explore the mystery of existence. The artist has cultivated a fascination with the phenomenological expression surrounding the phenomena of the double and duality. The idea of duality forming an indivisible whole. Over the years, the digital age has propelled his reflection on temporality, the idea of the "here and now".

Artist Chen Chi-Hsiang will present the entirety of his latest work from the past two years in his first solo exhibition at Galerie GABA. Two pieces from 2010, "Jeu du Miroir - Rêve dans le rêve", are exhibited as an entry point to this new series, also reflecting a radical stylistic evolution, marking a break with his earlier work. No computer or software is used; only the human brain and hand are employed, functioning in a state of deep meditation.

In these new "Miroir sans phase" works, Chen Chi-Hsiang proceeds through a series of still lifes and figure paintings.

The digital age has revolutionized our behavior and beliefs. A new sacred order is called Google or AI (Artificial Intelligence). Humanity no longer believes in God but relies on this omnipotent, omniscient entity, whose eyes are everywhere, knows everything about us, watches us, and guides our actions. One cannot help but recall the famous phrase by the English writer George Orwell, "Big Brother is watching you" ("1984", 1949)...? But that would be too simple.

The internet, like a miracle, has brought humanity the possibility of universality, eternity, and completeness. A vast and overwhelming new world is thus woven. This thirst for erudition, brought to us by Master Google, has gradually transformed into a daily, servile use, causing us to lose our capacity for control and independent thought. This virtual kaleidoscope shapes our fragmented way of life. The magical life full of mystery and spirituality is flattened and contained between the digits 0 and 1. Humanity is reduced to numbers through its digital identity. This seemingly infinite world is closed to us. Ecstatic programs distance us from the pursuit of happiness. Virtual reality seems more real than reality itself, adopting the form of a simulacrum of evangelical discourse.

Rendez-vous dans le miroir "The eye does not see things but the figure of things that represent other things" Italo Calvino, "Invisible Cities", 2002

The imagination of infinite perspectives is a source of inspiration for the artist, revealing a very attractive new world. In this new series, the works are permeated with symbols and metaphors. The images constitute a new vocabulary of visual poetry, with subjective forms where color shapes the composition.

These still lifes emphasize the aforementioned symptoms of digitalization.

The presence of facial recognition digital symbols, colored spheres referring to spiritual consciousness and metaphysical space-time, announce an imminent danger. Hostile forces are represented and intertwined here. The third eye, opening the realm of perception and thought, is situated on colorful geometric scenes. Several realities clash. The real world? The imaginary world? The digital world? The dramatic scenes are pushed to the point of vanity, overwhelming the hypothetical reality of human life in this virtual world.

The figures are the embodiment of the painter's own consciousness, with which he summons the viewer and reveals the human condition.

They appear on stage like theatrical actors, leaning towards an expressive humor. They almost all have three heads and six arms, a metaphor for human omnipotence. These figures are the embodiment of a spectacle society full of deceit and lies, where disguises are used to bewilder us, to distance us from a truthful and happy existence.