Mind Set Art Center is honored to present “Ballade”, an upcoming solo-exhibition of artist Tang Jo-Hung. The event showcases Tang’s newest paintings since his 2019 show at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, “Old Man. Fairy. and a bit of everything”. The exhibit is scheduled from October 2 to November 20, 2021. The opening is highlighted by a talk between Tang and Cheng Nai-ming, editor in chief of Cans Art Asia, starting at 3:00 p.m. We eager await your presence.
Tang Jo-Hong’s paintings have always exhibited a unique theatrical quality. His characters evoke our fantasies of classic archetypes. The exhibition’s title, “Ballades”, refers to a type of musical composition with an emphasis on dramatic elements. It points to the lyrical quality of Tang Jo-Hung’s paintings, which stand in opposition to the tendencies of contemporary artists to abandon elements of narration and emotions. Tang says in his artist’s statement, “Many artists, including me, have long steered our focus away from storytelling and emotions. When I describe my own paintings, I often emphasize on the spontaneous nature of the process. It is as if I’m not involved in any aspect of it and that I’ve transcended and gone beyond the act of creation. Though that is certainly true, as time goes by, the life trajectory and stories behind each character gradually begin to emerge, and their circumstances and history slowly reveal themselves. What we get is not a complete story, but rather a troubadour’s murmuring of a bygone tale.”
Though Tang Jo-Hung tends not to address specific subjects or bits of information, nor does he intentionally evoke emotions, the accumulation of depth and layers in his paintings over the years, like he stated, seem to have grown a life of their own and revealed their own stories and trajectories. On the other hand, Tang arranges delicate color palettes and applies rich textures and traces on the wood boards to achieve visual impact and heighten the painterly quality. In his latest work, “Sanitation Workers in a Forest (Dream)”, his brush strokes vary from straightforward and powerful to smooth and winding. The painting brings us into a dream world, an elegant and fantastical rural forest.
