Double Square 双方藝廊

The artistic pedigree of abstract painting has been continually thrown into a frenzy of excitement in the global art scene of the 21st century. The abstractions out of different perspectives and techniques not only challenge viewers of different generations in terms of their conventional perception, but also expand their horizons beyond the representational world. Double Square Gallery is honored to stage Lineage—Taiwan Contemporary Abstract Art Exhibition, which will be on view from 17 December 2016 to 26 January 2017. This exhibition features iconic Taiwanese abstract artists of different generations by presenting their chefs d’oeuvre. It vividly depicts the elusive character of abstract art in Taiwan by virtue of the group portrait of these renowned artists who share the same attributes yet have their own areas of specialization. The arts evolve over the course of time, while the evolutionary trajectory of abstract painting appears to be relatively indistinct. Since abstract painting has lifted restrictions of all stripes on its creation, it is developed under a certain context which is difficult to trace from its composition. Utilizing the relativity between the compositions and the gallery space, Lineage—Taiwan Contemporary Abstract Art Exhibition offers a non-linear contextual lead that enables us to reestablish an organic order and framework for contemporary abstract art in Taiwan.

Although the current global art trend revolves around social issues, archives and transdisciplinary collaboration, abstract painting, as an art genre which has effloresced since the post-war era, still attracts hordes of studies and discussions rather than being eliminated or ignored by the prevailing doctrine of revolution and innovation in the contemporary art community. It continues to pioneer a riotous profusion of approaches for graphic paintings. Keeping up with the times in terms of compositions, concepts and media, abstract artists have not so much faded into history as thrived on their sui generis aesthetic vocabulary and burst with resilient and responsive vitality that well reflects the very zeitgeist.

Against this background, Lineage—Taiwan Contemporary Abstract Art Exhibition is dedicated to investigating the development of contemporary painting in Taiwan on the basis of the diverse forms created by the eight Taiwanese abstract artists of different generations, namely Wei-Bor Chu, Richard Lin, Teh-I Chu, Hong-Wen Lin, Hsin-Ru Tung, Su-Ling Wang, Jason Chi, and Tung-Lung Wu. The exhibited artworks demonstrate how these artists use non-narrative formal vocabulary beyond the description of words and experiment with different concepts and techniques, thereby allowing the compositions to show a dramatic variation in warmth, sentiment and character through different color temperatures, pigment intensity and stroke vigor. These works faithfully reflect their creators’ active three-dimensional thinking in the two-dimensional physical property simultaneously surrounded by an ambiguous and sentimental atmosphere as well as a magical aura of precision, rigor and rationality.

The arts have evolved from generation to generation, and abstract painting of different generations has risen to different challenges. It is exactly owing to the lift of formal restrictions upon abstract painting that a joint exhibition is more capable of manifesting the diverse philosophies and styles of this art genre. The tangible yet non-representational abstract art embodies the oriental humanistic spirit in a macroscopic manner; to wit, the great form without shape. The forms and colors in each abstract painting visually represent its creator’s painstaking effort and untrammeled fantasy.