Exhibition date：6 December, 2014 – 8 February, 2015
Opening date：6 December, 2014, 3-6 pm
The show features the artist’s latest works made in 2014 and comprises three sets: Decorative Metaphor–Atonement, Allowed to be Human 2 and Small Swallows. Extending discussions about visual language and concepts found in sculpture works by UNMASK, the artists group to which he belonged, Kuang Jun’s first solo show stresses more on depicting the construction of one’s self and of the times in the modern society.
The media of the three sets of sculptures range from iron gratings dismantled from demolished abandoned houses of the standardized communist period, ready-made wood beams or door frames, or bronze sculptures of human figures made by the artist. As diverse as the media may seem, Kuang Jun applies to each work the acts of “destruction” and “repair” in the process of making. For Decorative Metaphor–Atonement, the artist collected used iron gratings and re-assembled shattered glass with copper through sculptural approaches or inlays the glass into mosaics. With Small Swallows, he carbonizes wood door frames and beams, wraps them in purple copper, digs out charcoal and creates images of swallows dragged over the floor. For Allowed to be Human 2, he employs sculptures of humans and pedestals pertaining to the language of classic sculpture and applies the craft of iron wrapped in copper, a technique drawn from the aesthetics of the past. While the artist chooses the classic manner to treat the figures, materials, craftsmanship and presentation of this piece, he hollows out certain parts of the bodies, thus juxtaposing the new and the old, the glamour and the gloomy.In the name of creation, such “destruction” and “repair” are justified. A kind of belief in the past, like the song titled Small Swallows in the film Nurse Diary(1957) about the advent of spring and the belief in it, it is about passion for new life and new construction. And the Small Swallows reflected in Kuang Jun’s work are collapsed beams left from the past. “Repair” comes from one’s respect toward objects; this is about the tenacity of confronting the past and about re-creating on the basis of previous bases. The artist attaches the term “atonement” to the end of the title of each work, emphasizing the process and motivation of art-making. This also represents the most essential inner mentality in Kuang Jun’s sculptural oeuvre. Kuang Jun reflects on the transformations of Chinaese society; the motif of observing modern society also implies the artist’s inquiries into the nature of sculpture, the essence and feeling of one’s existence and the essence of art.
Kuang Jun was graduated from Department of Sculpture, China Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2002. He participates in UNMASK with works combining sculpture and design concepts. His first solo exhibition in Taiwan will be held in Michael Ku Gallery in December 2014. These works continue aesthetic aspects in UNMASK and dive into self exploration.
UNMASK receives AAC Chinese Annual Young Artist Award in 2007. Its works explore new presentation and creative concepts based on classic sculpture training. The first exhibition, UNMASK 2002-2006, in 2006 proposes a next-generation sculpture model with fragmented figure Translucent series. 0°—UNMASK 2009 further creates new languages with mixed materials in sculpture. The 2011 exhibition, shopping, criticizes extravagant and ridiculous consumerist society with exaggerative topics and forms. Flash Memory in 2011 strikes a perfect balance between fantasy and reality, as well as classic and contemporary.
Michael Ku Gallery was founded in 2008 in Taipei as one of a few galleries with solid art history background. Mr. Ku curates the exhibitions and also composes related texts. The exhibition program involves both established and new Asian artists. In the past few years, we have introduced many Chinese, Japanese, and Indonesian artists to Taiwan market with solo exhibitions including Wei Jia, Jia Aili, Hu Xiaoyuan, and Ay Tjoe Christine. We are the first gallery in Taiwan to gather this group of exceptional young artists for discussion and exhibition. Meanwhile, the gallery thrives on a solid foundation in humanism, as it promotes Taiwanese artists including aesthetician Chiang Hsun, as well as some emerging younger generation installation and video artists.
