Chihung Yang

Yang Chihung (Chinese: 楊識宏; pinyin: Yang Chihung; born 25 October 1947) is a Taiwanese-American artist.

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yang

Yang Chihung
Yang Chihung at his solo exhibition at Guangdong Museum of Art in 2019
Born	(1947-10-25) 25 October 1947 Chungli, Taiwan
Nationality	Taiwanese American
Education	Taiwan Arts Vocational College
Known for	Painting, Abstract art

Early life and education

Yang Chihung was born on 25 October 1947, in Chungli, Taiwan. He developed an interest in art in early childhood, and found inspirations to pursue an artist career after reading Lust for Life – The Life of Vincent van Gogh, translated by poet Yu Kuang-chung, in junior high school. Between 1965 and 1968, he attended then National Taiwan College of Art, developing a sound foundation in oil painting under the tutelage of famous Taiwanese artists of the Japanese Colonial period, such as Liao Chi-chun, Li Mei-shu and Yang San-lang. Meanwhile, he actively attended events organized by the modern art groups of Taiwan, namely the Fifth Moon Group and Ton Fan Group, only to find himself both intimidated and dissatisfied with the then relatively conservative art environment in Taiwan. In 1979, he emigrated to the United States of America with his wife, Jane, and their son, Daniel. In 1984–85 and again in 1985–86, he was twice awarded a year's residency at The Clocktower Studio in New York City by MoMA P.S.1.

Career

In 2013, Yang, along with Xu Bing, Zhang Huan, and Li Chen, were the four artists featured in the Discovery Channel Asia documentary series,[1] Chineseness, a multi-series production that focused on postwar Chinese contemporary artists. As part of the Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion series, Yang presented the U.S. premiere screening of the Chineseness episode at the New York Historical Society in 2014.[2]

Yang Chihung's oeuvre has been reviewed in journals by many noted critics of contemporary art, including Kenneth Baker [San Francisco Chronicle, 29 May 1985], Eleanor Heartney [Art News, November 1984], Gerrit Henry [Art in America, December 1989], Catherine Liu [Flash Art, Jan/Feb1988], Robert C. Morgan [Arts Magazine, January 1988], and John Yau [Artforum, November 1985]. Catalogues of his solo exhibitions have included essays by John Yau [1984 and 1986], Michael Walls [1987], Margaret Sheffield [1987], Frederick Ted Castle [1990], Barry Schwabsky [1993], and David Ebony [1995]. His works are included in significant museum, corporate, and private art collections in Western Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

Creative work

Yang Chihung's art has revolved around the explorations and reflections on existentialism and humanism. His adolescent anxiety and inner struggles were documented in his foremost series The Representation of The Self, where the Impressionist and Expressionist-styled self-portraits were inspired by influences from Christian figures, philosophy, literature and music. The works are, in a way, psychoanalysis of the artist himself, reflecting on the growing concerns of personal identity and existence.

Following university graduation, Yang worked as a graphic designer at a construction company, learning about advertising, prints and photography, the last of which would later become a lifetime passion. His then series Era of Production delved into the tastelessness of the visual culture mass-produced and disseminated by and for the public, wherein his use of collage and everyday objects implicated a looming conformist attitude that propelled the loss of personal identity under the social construct.

Yang emigrated to New York City in 1979 in search for better opportunities; fortunately, his arrival coincided with New York galleries regaining interest for painting in contrary to conceptual and minimalist art, thus Yang smoothly caught on the blossoming era of post-modernism. His series Exploration of Civilization and Archaeology presented pictorial clashes between different cultures that featured juxtapositions of dissimilar iconography, such as symbols of present and past, East and West, or nature and human. Compositions from this period also fashioned vivid contrast between colors and light, a painterly aspect that would later be equally recognized as the artist's signature. During his time at New York, Yang consistently wrote articles for the Taiwan-based Artist Magazine, the articles were subsequently compiled into a book and published in 1987 as New Trends in Modern Art.

His next series Botanical Aesthetics was aroused by an incidental discovery of a bag of seeds. The seeds were originally brought from Taiwan to be planted in the U.S., but had been neglected by the artist for almost two years; nevertheless, Yang planted them anyway and was astounded when the plantations sprouted from earth. Thus, Botanical Aesthetics deems to celebrate the triumph of human life through the metaphor of botanic vitality, insinuating a basic survival instinct that is genetically encoded in all living organisms. Unlike the commonly seen still-life floral paintings, Yang's depicted botanic are often interpreted as organic forms that resiliently grow over time, a visual allegory contrasting to cultural legacies that have continued to expand and transform into new existences.

The Organic Abstract Expression initialized Yang's creative transition toward abstract paintings. As a continuation on the idea of botanic vitality, the compositions have departed from representing such symbols to instead illustrate the idea of their inherent quality through gestural motions. Works from this series still retained Yang's symbolic color and light contrasts, and the contours of botanic or landscape may still be vaguely identified, but these faintly visible iconography are overshadowed by rugged lines and splashed color fields to echo with the artist's insight of the exterior world. In the current and ongoing series, The Eastern Poetics, Yang seeks to manifest his retrospection of personal cultural heritage while integrating the art of East and West by combining aspects of cursive script calligraphy and stream of consciousness literature. The resulting compositions are usually unadorned with a simplistic black and white undertone, free of definite structure, yet extensive and thought-provoking through their inspired imagery. By abandoning all visual cues of objects and symbols, Yang explores inspirations from within, resonating with an inner vision that transcends through the boundary of time and space.

Awards and recognition

• 1989, Outstanding Asian American Artist Award, by Governor of New York[3]
• 1984–1986, MoMA P.S.1 National Studio Program, Residency at Clocktower Studio, New York[4]

Selected exhibitions

Solo

• 2019 Majestic Momentum – Yang Chihung, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
• 2017–2018 The Sensibilities of Black and White – Yang Chihung's Recent Works from the Stream of Consciousness Series, Asia Arts Center Beijing, Beijing, China[5]
• 2015 Eternal Present – Recent Paintings by Yang Chihung, Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan[6]
• 2014 Faces of Contemporary Intelligentsia, New Taipei City Art Center, Tamsui Historical Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2014 The Poetics of Polyphony: Yang Chihung Solo Exhibition, Asia Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2011–2012 Beyond Painting – Chihung Yang's Genes of Creativity, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
• 2010 Chihung Yang 40 Years of Painting, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
• 2009 Chihung Yang: Sculpting In Time, Chung Shan National Gallery, National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2008 Yang Chihung Recent Paintings, ChinaSquare Gallery, New York City
• 2007 Inner Vision．Human Condition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
• 2004 The Images of the Mind, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2003 Sejong Center Museum of Fine Art, Seoul, Korea
• 1987 Chihung Yang: Paintings and Works on Paper 1986–1987, Galería Nacional de Arte Contemporáneo, Museo de Arte Costarricense, San José, Costa Rica

Group

• 2016 1960 –The Origin of Taiwan's Modern Art, Asia Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2013 Culture．Mind．Becoming, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
• 2013 Formless Form: Taiwanese Abstract Art, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
• 2012 Formless Form: Taiwanese Abstract Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2011 Taiwan 100 – Taiwan Contemporary Artists Group Exhibition", Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall/National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts/Tainan Municipal Cultural Center, Taipei/Taichung/Tainan, Taiwan
• 2010 Spirit of the East II – Bridging, Asia Art Center, Beijing, China
• 2006 The 3rd Space – Chinese Text of Abstract Art, Jindu Art Center/Ningbo Museum of Art/ Shanghai Museum of Art, Beijing/Ningbo/Shanghai, China
• 2002 An Exhibition of International Chinese Paintings, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
• 2001 Taipei Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
• 1999 Visions of Pluralism, China Art Museum, Beijing, China
• 1997 A Thought Intercepted, California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, USA
• 1994 Taipei Modern Art Exhibition, The National Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
• 1991 Taipei-New York: Confrontation of Modernism, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
• 1990 The Matter at Hand: Contemporary Drawings, Art Museum, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, USA
• 1985 National and International Studio Program, The Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Inc., Clocktower Gallery, New York City
• 1982 Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition, Musei Civici di Macerata, Macerata, Italy
• 1978 Asian Contemporary Art Exhibition, Ueno Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
• 1977 Asia Modern Art, Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan

Art work

Series

• The Representation of the Self (1967–1975)
• Era of Reproduction (1976–1980)
• Exploration of Civilization and Archaeology (1981–1988)
• Botanical Aesthetics (1989–1997)
• Organic Abstract Expression (1998–2010)
• The Eastern Poetics (2011–present)
• Ink Works

Publications

• Yang Chihung The Sensibilities of Black and White – the Stream of Consciousness Series, Asia Art Center, 2018, ISBN 9789869566414
• Eternal Present: Recent Paintings by Yang Chihung, Asia Art Center, 2016, ISBN 9789868633285
• Yang Chihung 1967–2014, Asia Art Center, 2014, ISBN 9789868633261
• Chihung Yang: 40 Years of Painting, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, 2010, ISBN 9789860253429
• Inner Vision．Human Condition: Chihung Yang Solo Exhibition in National Art Museum of China, Asia Art Center, 2007, ISBN 9789579780476
• The Images of the Mind: Chihung Yang’s Painting, National Museum of History, 2004, ISBN 9789570182132
• New Trends in Modern Art, Artist Magazine, 1987

References

1. "Discovery Channel Launches 'Chineseness' in Taipei". Discovery Blog. Discovery Channel.
2. "An Art Salon on "Chineseness": Screening and Conversation". New York Historical Society. New York Historical Society.
3. Sullivan, Michael (2006). Modern Chinese Artists: A Biographical Dictionary. University of California Press. p. 199. ISBN 9780520244498.
4. "MoMA PS1 Archives Series IV: Workspace and National and International Studio Program Records; Series V: Education Records; Series VI: WPS1 Records; Series VII: Records of Founder and Director Alanna Heiss; Series VIII: Development Office Records; Series IX: Administrative Records". MoMA.
5. The Sensibilities of Black and White
6. Eternal Present

External links

• Official website