Duration｜2023.09.16 (Sat.) - 2023.10.14 (Sat.)

ABOUT

    Does the realm of art exclusively beckon those brimming with an abundance of romantic inclination? Chih-Kai LU's solo exhibition, "How To Be Romantic", embarks from the artist's intrinsic realm of perception to deeply explore the term "romance". Through a serene and unadorned perspective, he samples various representations of romance, identifying the tension that resides within the imagery. Employing an amalgamation of diverse media, he interweaves environment, space, and corporeality, meticulously seeking avenues to express sensibility within the material realm.

    Gazing upon the external environment in the third person, an attempt is made to gather both the seen and the unseen aspects within the scene—mist, diffused radiance, haze, and commotion. These elements reflect humanity's yearning for the enigmatic and evoke a journey shared by both the observer and the artist, transitioning from the subtle to the clear across time. Diverging from the fervor and sentimentality prevalent in past romanticism, the thematic landscape is grandiose and awe-inspiring, often depicting the natural world as a state of ideal perfection. Chih-Kai LU, on the other hand, trains his lens upon urban landscapes, zeroing in on man-made structures bathed in the play of light and the hidden alleys and fields. Within these images that transcend pure documentation and abstract stylization, he masterfully intertwines the vocabularies of realism and the picturesque.

    Exploring the realm of the "unseen" to delve into matters of the "seen", unveiling the profound significance of visibility within visual perception. The series centered around chalk extends as a response to this very consciousness. Chih-Kai LU's enduring curiosity resides in the intricate interplay of behavioral continuity, bodily measurements, and internal experiences. He engages his own body, conducting both external deconstruction and internal exploration of materials. He reveals the residual traces within the "void" itself and the essence of the materials contained within, conjuring forth the absent physical presence of the artist andevoking the imaginative experiences projected onto the viewer. The overheard perspective of chalk particles lingering on surfaces without dispersing and the vertical accumulation of chalk dust as sediment suggest the outcomes of repetitive bodily actions during creation. The shifting origin point relative to the path impressed after continuous movement alludes to the results generated by the iterative gestures of the body throughout the creative process. Amidst the accumulation of footprints and chalk dust, the seamless continuity of time materializes like overlapping shadows within the two-dimensional realm of paper.

INFO

Duration｜2023.09.16 (Sat.) - 2023.10.14

Opening｜2022.09.16 (Sat.) 15:00

Venu｜Der-Horng Art Gallery ( No.1, Chung-Shan Rd., West Central Dist., 700007, Tainan, Taiwan )

ARTIST

Chih-Kai LU

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