"Icy-hot Paradoxical Pleasure" Group Exhibition Invitation Card

Chen Ching-Hsiu, Taste, red chili powder, spatial installation detail, 2008. Preface: This is a thematic group exhibition I participated in Taiwan this year, curated by Dr. Chen Ching-Hsiu of the Department of Fine Arts and Institute of Visual Art at National Chiayi University. Under her enthusiastic and sincere invitation, with the theme "Icy-hot Paradoxical Pleasure," although it differs somewhat from my work which tends toward spiritual and aesthetic creation, I agreed immediately. Motivated by the promotion of contemporary art in southern Taiwan and guiding young artists, I hoped to share my recent new paintings with friends and relatives in Taiwan. Thus, I participated in the group exhibition with the excitement of a young artist. Regardless of the actual benefit, I wished to demonstrate through action my concern for the contemporary art of my homeland and contribute a modest educational effort.

Curatorial Text: The contemporary art exhibition "Icy-hot Paradoxical Pleasure," hosted by National Chiayi University and organized by the Center for Humanities and Arts, was grandly inaugurated on November 10, 2008, at the University Hall and Wen Hui Hall of the Minxiong Campus. Curated by Dr. Chen Ching-Hsiu, the exhibition explores the "paradoxical nature" existing in contemporary social culture, reflecting on issues of contemporary art evolution and globalization from local and marginal perspectives. The exhibition features works by 27 artists, totaling nearly 60 pieces. The opening reception will be held at 12:30 PM on November 19 at the University Hall exhibition site, followed by a symposium titled "Opportunities for the Development of Contemporary Art in Southern Taiwan" from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM. All are welcome to attend and offer guidance.

In conjunction with the university's anniversary celebrations, the Center for Humanities and Arts invited Dr. Chen Ching-Hsiu to present this major contemporary art exhibition. Besides inviting nine senior domestic and international artists, the curator selected 17 young artists from fine arts departments of several universities in the south. Using her sensitive female intuition and observation, the curator traces the paradoxical heterogeneous aesthetics emerging from changes in contemporary visual culture, advocating a tone distinct from traditional pursuits of natural harmony and rational logic, as well as an inharmonious beauty or paradoxical absurdity arising from the juxtaposition of extremes, contradictions, and conflicts. In the past, such paradoxical absurdity was often overlooked; today, however, it possesses a different charm, stirring unexpected surprises and pleasure within smooth and bland traditional aesthetics. I call this "paradoxical aesthetics." This generation's aesthetic pursuit includes icy yet hot, salty yet sweet, thrilling romance, extreme elegance, gentle violence, and so on—meaningless yet super cute, absurd yet highly comedic and explosive. More directly, paradox is a transgression and also a pleasure.

Besides exploring current social cultural phenomena, the exhibition itself attempts to reflect this absurd and paradoxical atmosphere. Beyond playing with diverse opposing forms in the exhibited works, we also focused on the different perspectives of the participants. We invited one American female artist in her seventies, one senior French-based artist in his fifties, one Korean female artist in her thirties, five local senior artists in their forties, and seventeen young artists in their early twenties, deliberately creating a sense of dislocation across time and space and a clash between Chinese and Western elements. The underlying intention is to implant the steady and refined artistic quality of senior artists into the youthful narratives of the current generation, and to invest simple, solid cultural depth and artistic truth into the globally floating new visual interests.

The participating artists include invited artists: French-based artist Chen Chi-Hsiang, American artist Joyce Cutler-Shaw, Korean artist Se-Eun Kim, and Taiwanese artists Zhou Pei-Rong, Chen Ching-Hsiu, Chang Chia-Yu, Liao Rui-Zhang, Zheng Jian-Chang, and Dai Ming-De; as well as selected artists: Shi Jia-Yuan, He Pin-Hua, Li Cheng-En, Zhuo Xin-Wei, Lin Li-Jing, Ji Ling-Yu, Lian Zi-Xian, Xu Sheng-Hong, Chen Wan-Yi, Chen Yan-Ping, Chen Wei-Tu, Zeng Yong-Qi, Yang Yi-Ting, Yang Yu-Jun, Liu Yan-Ling, Zhang Jia-Hao, Xiao Yu-Qi, and Xie Zhen-Yuan. (This text was curated and written by Dr. Chen Ching-Hsiu of the Department of Fine Arts and Institute of Visual Art, National Chiayi University.)