Monday, December 14, 2015

Link to the details
Crystal Park
Call for Art Proposal / Cash Award
Crystal Park invites artists of Taiwanese heritage to submit proposals for an outdoor installation; it is hoped that this will become an icon symbolizing Crystal Park. The installation must have the same shape as Taiwan. The successful proposal will embody the  culture of Taiwan and harmonize with the natural environment of the park.
Submission Deadline:Monday, February 29, 2016
 
Award: US$ 2,000 for the best creative design. (Fabrication and installation budget will be separate from the design award)
 
Crystal Park, located in Holmes, NY, is a nature park newly established by a Taiwanese-American entrepreneur. This park contains all manner of mountain beauty - fauna and flora, a lake, and many trees. We would like to connect the park and Taiwanese culture with this installation.
 
The selected work will be widely publicised. Please pass this opportunity along to your Taiwanese friends.

邀請旅美台灣藝術創作者提出大型戶外裝置創作計劃,作品以台灣島形為視覺元素,表現台灣地理人文風情,並融入Crystal Park 自然景觀。
創意設計計畫獎金: 兩千美元製作施工安置費用將於入選後與創作者詳細討論。入選作品將會經由多管道文宣發佈。
收件截止日期:二〇一六年二月二十九日(星期一)。
 
Crystal Park期望集合台美藝術社群逐步開墾, 建立一個臺灣藝術家駐村與創作交流的園地。
Call-to-Action Link
 
Theme
An outdoor installation will highlight the shape of Taiwan and the spirit of Taiwan's culture.
 
Award
The winning project will earn a $2,000 cash award for its proposer.
Details of the fabrication budget and construction procedure will be discussed with the artist once the proposal is selected.        
Site and Size
Please see website link images, and the map of Crystal Park on our website, for more details. The selected installation will be a landmark for the park. The proposed work will need to be large enough to fulfill this purpose.

Artists who are interested in proposing a project are welcome to arrange a visit to Crystal Park. Contact info@crystalpark.us to schedule a visit.
 
Exhibition Specification
Work will be exhibited outdoors permanently; please consider this when choosing materials for the proposed work.
 
Eligibility
Taiwanese artists resident in the United States
 
Submisstion  Deadline
Monday, february 29, 2016
The winning project will be announced in March 2016. Interviews may be scheduled for proposers of strong projects.
 
For more information about how to apply, please visit our website:

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Gala Moment-installations, mural

9/27 Taiwan Center Lobby Art installations and Mural

Candy Bird Mural in Taiwan Center






數位當代藝術家如楊金池,江俊雄,倪灝,孟祥潞也在現場裝置與展示。還有跨領域合作的藝術如小善的舞蹈與鋼琴及聲音的表演等,將臺灣會館轉化成爲一個另類的當代藝術空間

Yang Chin Chih, NI Hao
 
PeyChwen Lin, Video by Peilin Kuo, Huang Shih Chieh, Daniel Lee

TAAC2015開始逐步與本地藝術機構合作建立夥伴關係, 規劃辦理第一次的台美當代藝術季 主題:THE MOMENT(當下.當代) ,。系列活動自八月八日起,到十二月底。並與台北市當代藝術館合辦,包含了不同領域的藝術家,有超過六十位藝術專業者的參與。2015年,TAAC與台北當代藝術館合作規劃了一系列THE MOMENT (當代當下) 活動。并與數個美國機構建立合作夥伴關係,如紐約科學館,紐約公園公共藝術部門,皇后美術館,台灣會館,皇后區植物園,天理文化藝廊以及協助支持有台灣藝術家參與的各項多領域藝術活動。并且印製精美大型專刊五千份廣爲放送陳列,預訂逐步擴大合作對象。              


Mural by Candy Bird
                                                                                                 HsiangLu Meng



TAAC 2015 Art Benefit Gala
Sunday September 27, 2015
 
 
台美文藝協會-TAACTaiwanese American Arts Council)在九月二十七日晚間六時,在台灣會館舉行一年一度重要的藝術募款晚會(TAAC 2015 Art Benefit  Gala),邀請大衆來贊助藝術的發生,關心藝術在社區與生活的型態。


當日的系列活動包含:
下午兩點:皇后博物館: 來自東海岸太魯閣族的東冬候溫與Erlung的表演。把臺灣原住民的文化祭轉當代行爲藝術表現。
下午三點:皇后博物館外的法拉盛草原可樂那公園 戶外雕塑展揭幕.
六點:臺灣會館-藝術募款晚宴開始九月二十七日(星期四)下午六點
地點:台灣會館  Taiwan Center  137-44 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11354
·        六時戶外酒會,lobby藝術品 Candy Bird壁畫欣賞
·        六點三十分入座享用晚宴
貴賓:臺北當代館館長,藝術家與館員一行, 還有來自臺北柯文哲市長的問候與祝福,當代藝術館石瑞仁館長介紹,另外邀請州參議員Toby, 還有被稱爲表演藝術先鋒與第一夫人的Martha Wilson,與紐約藝術基金會主任MiChael Cowey,紐約藝文機構人士與社區人士等參與。 


 
TAAC的成立經由藝文長期支持者陳隆豐博士,協和門窗陳秋貴董事長與社群領袖黃再添先生與專業策展人李美華協同創辦。 

THE MOMENT- Over 60 visual artists are participating in TAAC THE MOMENT Programs. All programs will be open for support, and art works will be available to individuals, and to private or public entities making contributions. The art programs are being or will be held at the New York Hall of Science, Queens Museum, Flushing Meadow Corona Park, Queens Botanical Garden, Tenri Cultural Institute Gallery, and Taiwan Center. The programs run from August 8 to December 28, 2015. Check www.taac-us.org for details.Pey
 

Tuesday, August 4, 2015


THE MOMENT   當下.當代              

Contemporary Taiwanese American Arts

Luchia Meihua Lee

To draw a Contemporary Art forum is to separate from both modern and historical perspectives, to immerse oneself in current time and space. A meeting point in the processing time from past and to the future. We might call it the “moment;” it is short and creative.   It entails catching an idea when it appears like a flash of light. It can – and must - disappear in the next femtosecond. A “moment” can mean a minute portion of time, or the product of quantity (as a force) and the distance to a particular point. THE MOMENT in contemporary art can be ideally a philosophical term and scientific necessity.

In 2015, I take THE MOMENT as a theme, and develop it to a series of multi-disciplinary programs taking place in various venues. THE MOMENT starts here at the New York Hall of Science. The traditional format of painting shares space with an intertwining of natural with industrial material, and a literature space employs the latest interactive technology.  These are threads expressing multiple directions, meeting in this MOMENT. The MOMENT investigates the play of the virtual and the real, inward and outward, our intimate reflection on a surface, dark and light, or a view of self in the outside environment.  The Moment visualizes a picture, an object, a location, a person, or a fanciful collective memory of how we evolved as creatures. We are about to investigates the artist’s relation to society and himself.
Romping through contemporary aesthetics,  artists and the curators share different interpretations; each artwork displays its own moment, as the product of a unique insight and the distance the artist has carried his or her conception, and this is a moment for us to carefully experience and think about “no-where” and “now-here.”  


THE MOMENT 當下. 當代

這個展演計劃我選用了“Moment-當下這個詞來描繪當代藝術,試圖將之與“現代”和“歷史”觀點分開,專注在當前的時間和空間。從過去和未來處理時間的交匯點;我們可以把它叫做“當下”,這是一種抓住短期的創造靈感。在需要抓住想法那一霎那,這個靈感像一道閃光。它可以 - 並必定 - 消失在下一秒。“當下”可以指那一分秒鐘的時間部分,也是數量的產物(它可作為力)和距離到一個特定的點。在當代藝術裏處理“當下”也成為長期以來一個理想的哲學性的概念,它也和與科學有著聯結的必要性。

2015年,TAAC- THE MOMENT爲主題進行一系列發生在紐約不同的人文展場的展演活動計劃。「當下 . 當代」(The Moment 的第一場展覽從紐約科學博物館(New York Hall of Science)開始。在這裡,繪畫,自然,人工,與工業材料的交織共享一個空間,另外文學空間的傳統格式採用了最新的互動技術,或者我們看見演化而來的生物集體記憶,這些作品拉出的聯結線表達多個方向,在接著的多場展演中持續向外延伸。 在接下來的皇后區植物園(Queens Botanical Garden) 一直到花園的竊竊私語故事行爲表演,跨領域的繪畫與舞者翩翩起舞,吟詩朗誦,在樹下如蘇格拉底式的論壇,爵士音樂的交響,接下來在皇后博物館(Queens Museum),互動的六件作品在博物館二樓與觀眾往來,九月二十七日來自臺灣東海岸東冬候溫,與薩布一團原聲呐喊,融合傳統祭儀與當代的延伸,到了在可樂那公園(Flushing Meadows Corona Park) 的雕塑矗立,如白雪般的竹林織出,與孩童的嘻戲的時刻。我們在這當下的一秒交會,在此刻看見數位傳送的虛擬和現實,接觸及遠離。如同我們表面上看到的THE MOMENT主題設計的深色和淺色交錯,瞬間的可視化圖像,在對象地點與人,自我與外部環境景觀的交互親密的反映,我們在這裏即將考察藝術家,社會和自我的關係。

(待續)

「當下 . 當代」(The Moment 展覽通過當代美學嬉戲,來接觸更多的群衆。這群臺裔藝術家與策展人分享著不同的解釋; 每個作品顯示了自己的獨特視角。這個時刻,我們要認真體會和思考「當下 . 當代」的概念 -“就在現在,就在這裡”。 
Programs:

Part 1: New York Hall of Science: 14 Taiwanese American Artists
Part 2: Queens Botanical Garden: multi-diciplanary projects 20 artists.
Part 3: Queens Museum : 6 Interative Projects
Part 4: Queens Museum:  Don Don Howum group performance
Part 5: Flushing Meadows Corona Park: 4 artists from Taiwan, MOCA Taipei
Part 6: Taiwan Center: Mural and installation
Part 7: Tenri Culture Institute: 10 artists from Taiwan, MOCA Taipei
Part 8: Queens Museum: A Moving Sound

Note1: THE MOMENT is a series of multi-disciplinary arts programs for which we have invited distinguished contemporary Taiwanese American artists. It will take place from August 8 through October 30, 2015 in various venues in New York City. Selected both from New York and Taiwan, but not limited to Taiwanese American, the artists will present diverse perspectives on the fluidity and fusion of culture between locations as remote as Queens. The works in diverse disciplines —sculpture, installation, interactive art, Performance, and a workshop—will be created specifically for THE MOMENT program and involve the community in dialogue.
the programs Organized by Taiwanese American Arts Council, Chief curated by Luchia Meihua Lee, curator include CJ Yeh at the Hall of Science, and others programs in various venues also co-curated by Luchia Meihua Lee and Maple Yu-Chieh Lin.
ote 2: A Chinese term of  "當下.當代"(dang1dai4dang1xia4) was giving by Maple Yu-Chieh Lin 

Saturday, April 4, 2015

余杰-我在這個像蒸籠一樣的島國自由地言說

 (轉載自台灣教會公報2015年3月2日~3月8日/3288期)


【專文】我在這個像蒸籠一樣的島國自由地言說

余杰    2015-03-10 11:31

出走 不再見
 2012 年1月11日,我攜妻兒從北京登上直飛美國首都華盛頓的飛機。那 一天,沒有一個親朋好友前來送行,「送行」的是幾名負有特殊使命的國保警察。當廣播宣布「乘客開始登機」時,那個名叫姜慶杰的國保頭子故作客氣地說:「余先生,再見!」 不到4歲的兒子,以為這些面容和善的「叔叔」是爸爸的朋友,笑容可掬地向他們揮手告別。我沉默不語,登上舷梯時頭也不回。我知道他們正拿著相機對我拍照, 然後回去交差。我知道,這一生大概不會有機會跟他們 「再見」了。

在我人生的下半段,離開中國的時間將以十年為單位計算。我不會像1989年六四屠殺之後離開中國的民運人士,過於樂觀地做出「中共在未來三、五年內必定垮台」的預言。既然暴政的形成是 「冰凍三尺,非一日之寒」,那麼從臣民社會蛻變為公民社會的「解凍」則需要更加漫長的時間。中共的暴政一天不垮台,我就不會回中國,我回去的應當是一個自 由民主、地方自治的中國。

我沒有中國士大夫自憐自艾的鄉愁,那種余光中式精緻而唯美的鄉愁。我有那在淨光高處的信仰。正是對故鄉的那片土地和那些同胞的愛,我才選擇暫時性地離開。我不以流亡為苦,我絲毫沒有華人慣有的「葉落歸根」的念頭,於我而言,「自由在哪裡,祖國就在哪裡」。我知道,有一片更大的青山綠水在等待我、呼喚我。我是一名流亡作家——儘管我並不喜歡流亡這個詞語,但姑且沿用之。自古以來,流亡似乎總是那些追求真理和自由的作家的宿命。波蘭流亡作家、詩人米沃什寫道:

他頭髮倒豎,耳朵聽見搜捕的尖叫,他逃過冰凍的原野,而他朋友和敵人的靈魂留在了結霜的鐵絲網後面。

這就是一幅我的畫像:我自由了,可是我的朋友、諾貝爾和平獎得主劉曉波仍然在監獄中,從2010年10月起他的妻子劉霞被非法軟禁至今。這是為了自由,不得不付出的代價。


鄉居 再行腳
抵達美國之後,我沒有選擇去華人眾多、處處鄉音的加州或紐約,而是定居在更具「美國性」的維吉尼亞風光如畫的鄉間。我新家的前院,有十多棵顏色不同的櫻花 樹,每到春天,如雲霞般的櫻花便飄進了書房。在這樣一間探出頭去就能與知更鳥親嘴的書房裡,若不能文思如泉湧,還能怪誰呢?我喜歡這片留下過清教徒腳蹤的 土地。這裡離華盛頓不到一個小時車程,周圍遍布華盛頓、傑佛遜和麥迪遜這些美國開國之父們的莊園。空氣裡有清甜的青草味道,不遠處的馬場、酒莊與森林美不勝收。在這裡,我終於可以安靜地埋頭讀書、寫作,有時一個星期也不會有一通電話或一個訪客來打擾。

在寧靜的、宛如世外桃源的美國鄉居生活的間隙裡,我有機會到台灣訪問。與此前身在中國時兩次走馬觀花式地訪問台灣不同,身在北美的我可以從容展開台灣「行腳」——2013年春和2014年春兩次訪台,加起來超過四個月時間,差不多走遍了台灣的每一個縣市。

台灣的熱鬧與北美的寧靜宛如火與冰的兩個世界。初春時節,維吉尼亞還是料峭春寒,台灣已宛如碩大的蒸籠,溼熱的氣候讓我揮汗如雨。比氣候更加躁動的、更加熾熱的,是新發於硎的公民社會對回潮的威權體制的抗爭。我很高興成為這一歷程的觀察者和參與者。


砥礪 磨長劍
台灣之美,最美的是自由。在這裡,我可以自由地言說、自由地發表和出版作品。這幾年來,我的新作與舊作陸續在台灣出版。在沒有出版自由的中國之外,有香港和台灣可以出版作品,這是用華文寫作的我,比昔日用俄語寫作的俄國流亡作家更幸運之處——那些俄國流亡作家只能在美國一家專門出版俄語著作的小出版社出版作品,很多書僅僅有數百冊銷量。而我在香港和台灣仍然擁有為數眾多的讀者,甚至有不少陸客到香港和台灣旅行的時候購買我的書,再偷偷帶回中國,雪天讀禁書, 不亦樂乎?

2013年之後,隨著中共對香港的步步緊逼,香港的出版自由變得日漸蹇逼。此伏彼起,我在台灣出版的作品數量逐漸超過了香港。於是,到台灣與台灣的讀者朋友面對面地交流,成為我生命中一種不可或缺的寶貴經驗。

我到台灣時,充滿了感恩之心。不過,一開始,我的台灣的看法,像大多數中國知識分子那樣,受制於利己之心和宏大敘事:我們都認為,台灣的民主和自由,可以成為未來中國社會轉型的參考與樣版。故而,我懷著焦灼的心態,向台灣朋友介紹六四屠殺、「天安門母親」群體和諾貝爾和平獎得主劉曉波,希望更多的台灣人關注中國議題。這樣做固然沒有錯,但當我一步步地深入台灣社會的肌理,就越來越真切地認識到,不能僅僅把台灣視為一個可以利用的資源,我也應當為台灣民主的深化盡一份力。

台灣不僅有美食、美景和溫婉的人情,更有民主憲政深化過程中的劍戟與攻防。我有幸加入到光明的陣營,對抗那無邊的傲慢、僵冷的黑暗。我遇到最可愛的人,是那些目光炯炯、怒髮衝冠的青年,他們常常帶給我驚喜與觸動。2013年春天訪問台灣時,我應邀作了20多場公開演講;2014年春天訪問台灣時,原計畫作30場演講,但實際上演講的數量增加了一倍,最多的一天有三場——「太陽花」學運後,有那麼多台灣朋友希望更多了解中國的真相,並傾聽一名「異鄉客」和「世界人」對台灣社會問題的看法。由此我也成了「太陽花」的一分子,成了台灣公民社會的「榮譽成員」。

邀請我前去演講的單位,除了此前的大學、教會、出版社之外,這一次更有獨立書店、咖啡館、醫院、公民團體 等,甚至還有中學和原住民部落。在台灣,與我對話的作家、學者、律師、牧師和文化界人士濟濟一堂:鴻鴻、吳明益、王丹、楊憲宏、林培瑞、徐斯儉、沈清楷、 李筱峰、姚嘉文、黃國昌、宋澤萊、李敏勇、顏厥安、莊萬壽、陳芳明、曾建元、葉浩、梁文韜、鄭仰恩、 王昭文、王貞文、盧俊義、白光勝、羅文嘉、王成勉、蘇南洲、康來新、洪耀南、鄭村棋、周渝、王興中、李酉潭、 許家豪、林保華、李雪莉、陳君愷、陳至潔等數十人。

在這些主題不同的演講中,我不僅講述自己的觀點與看法,通常還會留一定的時間,請聽眾提問或辯難。在後一環節,思想與思想之間碰撞出了光芒四射的火花,某些小小的火花使我萌生了關於下一篇文章嶄新而鮮活的思路。

我 對台灣的朋友們說,我在台灣一天講的話,比在美國一個星期講還要多,更比在中國一個月講還要多。在美國,有講話的自由,卻沒有聽眾;在中國,連講話的自由都沒有——在長達十年的時間裡,我被禁止在超過三、五十人的場合公開講話;而在台灣,既有講話的自由,也有熱情似火的聽眾。如果說我的思想和文字如同一柄長劍,那麼我在台灣演講時遇到的每一位朋友和讀者都如同一塊緻密的磨刀石—— 若沒有磨刀石,劍怎麼可能有削鐵如泥的鋒利呢?

我是台灣人
我的這些演講,以太陽花學運為中心,以台灣民主化歷程為時間軸,以中台港澳及海外華人世界對民主價值的認同與追求為空間軸。我不無驚訝地發現,太陽花學運興起後,關於太陽花學運的評價,我與許多曾是好朋友的中國民主派人士產生巨大分歧。這一分歧引起我的警醒與深思:為什麼在海外生活多年並自稱支持民主、自 由、人權的人士,一旦面對台灣獨立議題,立刻就跟共產黨一模一樣,窮凶極惡喊打喊殺,猙獰的面目讓我無法辨認?

中國知識界論及台灣問題時荒腔走板的時空錯位,一方面是因為他們對台灣的歷史與現狀缺乏基本了解。他們反共,便以為聲稱「反攻大陸」的蔣介石是救星,卻不知 道被蔣介石迫害的雷震和殷海光才是懷著「自由中國」願景的民主鬥士;他們反日,便對日治時代台灣的進步與文明一筆抹殺,甚至全盤接受國民黨「二二八是親日分子的叛亂」的說法。他們期盼國民黨重返中國執政,認為馬英九取 代習近平是「最美的夢想」。

另一 方面,因為中國知識分子大都不能正確理解人權真諦。英國思想家以賽亞•伯林指出:「人權這個觀念建立在一個正確的信念之上,就是普遍存在著某些特定的品性——自由、 正義、對幸福的追求、真誠、愛—— 這符合整個人類的利益,而不只是符合作為這個或那個民族、宗教、職業、身分的成員的利益。滿足這些要求,保護人們這些要求不被忽視或否認,都是正當的。」以此理念出發,獨立的訴求是人權重要組成部分,台灣獨立、香港獨 立、西藏獨立、新疆獨立,乃至作為四川人的我期盼的四川獨立,都是理所當然的、天經地義的價值。與當年掙脫英國殖民統治、獨立建國的北美十三個自治邦民眾 一樣,獨立與自由是台灣人民不可剝奪的基本人權。台獨不是負面價值,而是正面的價值;不支持台獨的中國知識分子,不是台灣人民的真朋友。我從不迴避在任何公開場合支持台獨,我更以書為媒,在演講中、臉書上,結識越來越多台灣朋友,我的台灣朋友比中國朋友還多,在這個意義上,我也算是台灣的半個在地人了。

我在台灣發表演講,是身體力行支持台灣民主進程。這些演講稿中的十篇彙編成這本書,漸次展開當下台灣社會萬眾矚目的議題:台灣憲政體制的癥結在哪裡?台灣獨 立的前景如何?中國民主化與台灣獨立有何關係?為何馬英九當局與中共謀求的是「虛假的和平」?為什麼說台灣社會的分裂是「臣民社會」與「公民社會」的分 裂?知識分子如何彰顯公共性同時又堅持獨立性?

我鮮明的觀點,在台灣引發不同的迴響。演講中即有聽眾提出截然相反的意見,部分講稿片段在媒體發表後,也有讀者在網路留下商榷的看法。伯林說:「理解反對意見能磨練人的鑑別能力,機靈和聰明的論敵常常能幫助你剔除謬誤和錯誤。在政治學和理論學中,最壞的不過是狂熱固執著少數簡單的觀點,作為放之四海而皆準的鑰匙。」因此,我不斷修正自己的觀點,讓自己離真 理越來越近。整理每篇講稿時,盡可能收入聽眾的問答及與談者、主持人的發言。這樣不僅更有現場感,讀者亦可窺見我的台灣觀一步步孕育成形的軌跡。

1963 年6月26日,美國總統甘迺迪訪問西柏林時,曾以德語說「我是柏林人」,這句擲地有聲的宣告鼓舞了無數與極權體制抗爭的人們。在同個意義上,在太陽花綻放的台灣,我是一名不持有台灣護照的「台灣人」,我把台灣視為自己精神的原鄉,視為詩人布羅茨基筆下「水手們的十字架在那兒泛著白光」的美麗島。如果中共有 一天武力犯台,我願以肉身去抵擋中共的坦克——如同1989年在北京攔阻坦克屠殺學生的「坦克人」一樣。面對國共兩黨聯手葬送台灣民主憲政、走向終極統一的陰謀,我願與所有熱愛自由和獨立的台灣人併肩戰鬥——我深信,總有一天,我們能坐在自己的葡萄樹和無花果樹下,歌唱與歡笑。
 
 (轉載自台灣教會公報2015年3月2日~3月8日/3288期)

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Zhang Hongtu's Water Painting

RE-MAKE OF MA YUAN'S WATER ALBUM (780 YEARS LATER)

by Luchia Meihua Lee 
Zhang Hongtu, MY-H, Oil on Canvas
50" x 72" 2008
Ma Yuan, Walter Album 11"x16.5"
In 2008 Zhang Hongtu created 12 oil paintings entitled RE-MAKE OF MA YUAN'S WATER ALBUM (780 YEARS LATER). Each piece is 50 x 72 inches. The original series is referred to as the Water Album by Ma Yuan, an album of 12 paintings depicting water in various situations. The original series has been esteemed as the most vivid, best presentation of water in traditional Chinese painting. Ma Yuan (1160-1225) was one of the best-known literati and painters of the South Song Dynasty. The water album was formerly in the collection of Taipei National Palace Museum. Now the album is in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing. The size for each painting in the original series is 11x16.5 inches. The most difficult challenge for brush ink painters is to draw water, because it is formless, and changeable. In this, it is like human minds.
Zhang Hongtu’s art work, while quoting the past, is all related to the present, as in these reflections on the environment. Everything is cross cultural, and hybrid. From his early work in NY, his art reflects his attitude toward art, society, and himself. And Zhang is true to himself, while also changing his point of view frequently. In his statement “if Ma Yuan still lived today and saw the polluted water today, would he still paint his twelve paintings of water?” Zhang continues both to reference and to challenge western and eastern painting.

Zhang kept Ma Yuan’s different wave patterns on his canvas, but floating on the water is trash or foam from chemical pollution, or the clear water has become soy sauce colored. Ma Yuan’s water paintings remain, but they are updated to reflect current conditions.
The uncompromising black and white nature of traditional Chinese brush ink painting in general, and in Ma Yuan’s work in particular, is shockingly subverted by Zhang’s addition of color. In different paintings, he tints the water or the sky green or purple or red to emphasize its contamination. In another painting in the series, Zhang shows cracked, sunbaked earth in spaces that Ma Yuan filled with abundantly flowing water.

Zhang uses “re-make” both in this series and in his ongoing Shan Shui series, which is a virtuosic combination of Impressionist master pieces with Chinese Landscape painting. He uses “re-make” – meaning re-produce or re-present – when he is hybridizing a new and an old style in a way that might cause discomfort at first sight. This RE-MAKE OF MA YUAN'S WATER ALBUM is related to his ongoing Shan Shui [1] Today series. It reflects on the serious pollution problems of China, and by extension in the rest or world, and in a beautiful way focuses on this urgent phenomenon.
Chinese brush ink painting is a fusion of mind and matter; it is said that for the painter the images and feeling should melt together, and this be is should be evident in his work. Relatively speaking, early western art uses more realistic images to express profound feelings. Direct representations of reality are not valued as highly in Chinese brush ink painting, which is much more abstract and emphasizes emotional and philosophic content over details such as perspective.

Zhang Hongtu MY-A
Ma Yuan, Water Album
There is a calligraphy by Hongtu in the upper left section of the first painting in his remake of Ma Yuan’s Water Album. This first of Ma Yuan’s paintings is entitled “Waves Pushing the Golden Wind” and Zhang’s commentary reads “Part of the painting has been lost. Ma Yuan was born 800 years ago. He left these 12 water paintings. That the paintings are still with us is our fortune, and deeply appreciated; but the water depicted in the painting, is it still there?”
Although the original Ma Yuan Water paintings have individual titles,[2] Zhang uses captions of the form RE-MAKE OF MA YUAN'S WATER ALBUM- A. C. D. F. and so on.

The Original Ma Yuan[3] Water Album conjures up splendidly vivid and exciting demonstrations of different types of water. Ma Yuan inherited and further developed the Northern style landscape, and brought new ideas to painting. His brush is full of emotion and at the same time disciplined and careful; although he did not use colors, he indicated various tints by employing shades of grey. Large strokes depict cracked hard rocks. A few economical strokes suffice for trees, whose structure is more twisted and runs in a crosswise direction; the viewpoint is natural and vivid. His water paintings offer a detailed observation of nature and paradoxically a superb realistic ability.

By making visible the Chinese environmental crisis in a pictorial way that is both classical and modern, Zhang Hongtu opens a critical public space in which environmental issues can be scrutinized and changed. His images have inspired people to rethink the meaning behind the fake and fatal beauty of landscape, what has passed before and what has been left to us, and what to pass on to the next era. As a result, we might pay more attention and take action on several fronts. To investigate these paintings, we must adapt not only the formal perspective on the painting, but also consider the spirit of the post-communist, free market economic system to discuss the Eco art expression. Also, through the historical aesthetic spirit of beauty, and cultural connotation, we should penetrate the ugliness and melancholy with the compassion of the artist mind’s to ponder our mother earth and humankind.
In traditional Chinese philosophy, harmony with nature, and therefore with heaven, gives humans the possibility to unit with oneness. That is the Taoist sense of nature.[4]  This philosophy permeated lyrics in seals and poems that were included in paintings and represented the mind of the painter. Unlike western landscape, in Chinese Shan Shui the figure either is wrapped inside a hut, walking along the mountain trail or rowing a boat in the river – melting into the landscape, like a puzzle game. Humans should be seen as a small and insignificant part of nature, and not in a precise proportion or the perspective. In a way, we might name it as surrealism in its disregard of representation, while it is exact in its expression of the philosophy of harmony.

Zhang’s appropriation of the work of one of the most acclaimed exponents of Chinese landscape painting thus takes on an additional layer of irony.


[1] Shan Shui is literally translated as “mountain and water” although more idiomatically it might be rendered as landscape. Chinese Landscape painting  did not reflect directly the top of steep peaks, nor the feet of cliffs, nor towering mountains , nor paths, nor people sitting alone – although it contain all these elements
[2] The 12 paintings in this album were titled 1.  Wave Pushing the Golden Wind, 2. Dongting Lake breeze,  3. Waves Overlapping Waves, 4.Cold Pond, 5.Yangtze hills, 6.Yellow River Reflux, 7.Autumn water echo wave, 8. Cloud generate sea, 9. Splendid lake water, 10. Stretch clouds, curb  waves, 11. Dawn breaking over the hill,, 12. Small waves floating. (波蹙金風、洞庭風細、層波疊浪、寒塘清淺、長江萬頃、黃河逆流、秋水回波、雲生滄海、湖光瀲灧、雲舒浪卷、曉日烘山、細浪漂漂)
[3] He is one of the most important painters of the Southern Song Dynasty; his paintings won royal favor, and many bore inscriptions by Emperor Ningzong or his empress; Ma Yuan, Li Tang, Liu Song, and Xia Gui collectively were referred to as the "four Song masters," while Ma Yuan and Xia Gui gave their names to the Ma-Xia school of painting.
[4] As it is expressed in Tao Te Ching, Man follows earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows Tao, and Tao follows Nature.

Below is the reference images of these 12 paintings


RE-MAKE OF MA YUAN'S WATER ALBUM (780 YEARS LATER)
Oil on canvas
50 x 72 inches, 2008
(Left) Zhang Hongtu Re-make of Ma Yuan Water Album
MY-
(Right) Original Ma Yuan Water Album  
 MY-H 
  
MY-F 
  MY-O


MY-Q
MY-R