Chen Kuang-Yi<\/p>\n
PhD in Contemporary Art from Paris Nanterre University<\/p>\n
Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Fine Arts at National Taiwan University of Art<\/p>\n
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\u00a0\u201cTruth strikes us from behind and in the dark, as well as from before and in broad daylight.\u201d<\/em> -Henry David Thoreau<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lo Chan Peng made his debut in 2007 with the Strawberry Generation<\/em> series which depict people around him as the subjects of the paintings. Since then his name has been closely linked to photorealism or hyperrealism. The hyperrealism movement was officially revealed in the fifth edition of Kassel Documenta in 1972, fifty years later, with the constantly improving and innovating technologies and the necessity of photography in the modern age, the movement is at its most popular, for it\u2019s now considered as one of the best methods to discuss what is \u201creal\u201d. Since all the paintings originate from photography, it doesn\u2019t mean Lo merely paints what he sees, whilst his extraordinary techniques do not simply reproduce what is visible, but are better associated with Malcom Morley\u2019s so called \u201cillusional anatomy\u201d or the \u201cabsolutism of the media\u201d as suggested by Andy Warhol. Photography is the indispensable route for these kinds of paintings, for they provide the means to view and the conditions to feel, whilst what is \u201creal\u201d being the true subject. Due to the fact that the artists paint in the manner of photography, hence what they present to the spectators is not always real, but the \u201chyperreal\u201d as claimed by Jean Baudrillard. This explains the artists\u2019 deliberate withdraw from what is real because the images have become the barrier between the artists and the reality, and they are confined to present \u201cthe reproduction of the reproduction of the reality\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The fluorescence in his Strawberry Generation i<\/em>s just a disguise which appears to be perfect and fragile and would eventually be conquered by The Edge of Darkness<\/em>. Yet his faith in Portraiture<\/em> remains. People are Lo Chan Peng\u2019s main subjects. As long as he needs people, he is constantly in demand of photographing people or searching for images of men for the familiar connection between the artist and his subjects. In contrast to photography, painting has offered an aesthetic approach which not only changed the way photography functioned but also emphasised on the artists\u2019 enthusiasm in the selection of the oldest artistic medium. Lo Chan Peng applies glazing, a technique established at the beginning of the invention of oil paint in the fifteenth century, to alter his images and explore means of escape. He devotes himself in the time-consuming mixture of oil and paint, the laboured layering of thin transparent and opaque medium. Through this \u201corganic\u201d technique which relies heavily on temperature and humidity, he finds the umbilical cord which connects now and then. Living in between the struggles between the artist and painting materials, he eventually perceives the fabricated images as the reality of the artist\u2019s existence.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lo Chan Peng applies the glazing technique on his 2020 Portraiture<\/em> series. The canvases are almost hyperrealistic, with metaphoric and metonymic details, the dramatic compositions respond to the disciplined forms. At close up, these paintings lack the flawless appearance \u2013 the broad brushworks blind the sitters\u2019 eyes, blemish their cheeks whilst unclarified grains and splashes of paint are liberally applied to the canvas or scraped on the edges to create an uneven surface. Apart from the traditional glazing technique, Lo works with unusual methods such as scraping, engraving, covering up and layering, for the \u201cdamaging\u201d of the surface create incredibly dramatic conflict between illusion and reality. From form to shapelessness, perfection to sabotage, order to chaos, structure to collapse, two-dimensional to three-dimensional, reproduction to presentation, and the reality of reproduction to the realisation of the material!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Children of Syria<\/em> borrows pictures from photojournalism to display Lo\u2019s concerns for the victims. The still images contain a strong sense of narrative, yet no conclusions are provided. The series display the ridiculous and miserable conditions men live in, and how the artist\u2019s empathy for those sufferers is reflected on his works. He said it has been finished<\/em> is a metaphoric representation of the Passion of Christ and the path to redemption he had carved out. The Historical Figures <\/em>series focus on the \u201chistory changers\u201d, through the mechanical reproduction of well-known portraits, Lo\u2019s paintings highlight the time differences between photographs taken in the past and the canvases that are being painted today. Through studying subjects of this this kind, Lo Chan Peng works on the balance between sentimental imagination and sensible observation, painting aesthetics and the impact of the society.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n During Lo Chan Peng\u2019s unvoluntary seven-year sabbatical, the solitude helped him build up a tough appearance, yet he still had to face some of the most challenging events in life, from which he made major discoveries. His mind sublimed whilst his paintings solidified, as seen in the monumental Lumi\u00e8re<\/em> paintings and A Brief History of Time<\/em>. The miniature hyperrealistic sculptures above the paintings purify the compositions by relocating the figures from painted forms to three-dimensional sculptures. Lumi\u00e8re <\/em>depicts the shadows casted by time, whilst the sculptures bear the mystery of life and death. The two panels of A Brief History of Time<\/em> transform themselves into two giant stelae, standing there in silence and enduring the weight of art history and history, and allowing the artist to carve on the impressions of each dynasty to strap the past and future of the humankind together. Lo Chan Peng gradually detaches himself from the shallow appearances in order to seek for the mind-blowing truth and reality under the deceiving surface.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Historic Movers & Shakers, and the Doomed \u2013 Lo Chan Peng Solo Exhibition 2020<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Exhibition Duration | 19 December 2020 \u2013 7 February 2021<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Art Talk | Sat 19 December 2020, 15.00-16.30<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Speakers | Professor Chen Kuang-Yi, Dean of Department of Fine Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts and artist Lo Chan Peng<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Opening reception and book signing | 19 December 2020, 16.30-18.00<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n