Wu Tien-chang (1956) is a Taiwanese visual artist who is famous for his socio-political commentary work through oil painting and digital photography.
Wu was born in Taiwan. His grandfather emigrated to Taiwan from mainland China where he married Wu's aboriginal Taiwanese grandmother. Wu's parents moved to Keelung and worked in a movie theater where his father painted posters and his mother sold tickets. As a child, Wu was fascinated by film, which allowed him to escape from his troubled family life. The uncanny grey sky of Keelung which he saw throughout his childhood repeatedly appears in his photography work. He grew up in Taiwan where Martial law restrained the society with censorship, and threats of violence from the Kuomintang were a brutal reality. The lifting of Martial law in 1987 created a drastic change in Taiwanese society, which brought democracy as well as secured freedom of expression. Wu's critical view on socio-political issues grew significantly during this era of turmoil.
Wu received a B.F.A. from Chinese Culture University in 1980. Two years later, he became one of the founding members of the 101 Painting Society along with Yang Maolin. They aimed to import neo-Expressionism, which was flourishing in Europe and the United States at the time, and interpreted the style based on Taiwanese experience and aesthetics. The 101 Painting Society also aimed to challenge the minimalism style which was prevailing in Taiwan at the time.
A Dream of Spring Night
Wu's work delves deeply into Taiwanese identity as he attempts to reveal its hybrid nature. For the series of A Dream of Spring Night, he aimed to evoke nostalgia of the past era. A Dream of Spring Night II and IV were created using mixed-media, including installations. He installed a sepia-colored portrait of a girl based on photograph taken at a photo studio, in a small dark room. The expressionless young girl posed properly with her hands cupping her breasts, hiding her identity by wearing a pair of retro sunglasses. The picture frame was decorated with light bulbs and fake flowers. As a viewer stepped into the room, a pop song from the 1950s called “Happy Sailing” would suddenly start playing, and the light bulbs started flickering along with the rhythm. The 1950s was an important decade for Wu as it symbolized the time when Taiwanese identity was integrated in a flash moment after centuries of colonization.
By 2000, Wu's medium shifted from oil painting to digital photography. Wu said, "Before I take a single photograph, I do a rough 3D mapping-out on the computer. I take everything into account right down to the finest details, like the facial expressions, the movement of clothing in the wind and the visual path a viewer will take when perusing the work.”
Wu's theme began to explore social issues based on Taoism, Buddhism, and karma. Show the Mutual Concern of the People in the Same Boat is metaphorical as Wu explained that “the belief of Buddhists and Taiwanese people in karma lies behind that artwork.” In Wu's work, four paddlers are on a dragon boat with an overcasting sky in the background. Each man resembles a clown as they have white painted faces and wear bright yellow overalls. Their feet are sticking out from the bottom of the boat, trying to maintain balance using wooden shoes that are used in Chinese traditional circus.
Wu had been included in many group exhibitions since he finished his education in 1980. After seven years, he was invited to have his solo show at the Taipei Fine Art Museum and exhibited Syndrome of Hurting. Upon its success, he was invited to hold another solo show at the museum in 1990, and showed Four Eras series.
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| Wu Tien-chang |
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Apathy No. 1
1980 |
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| 1990's Four Eras |
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| 1990's Four Eras |
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| 1990's Four Eras |
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| 1990's Four Eras |
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South Fukien Family: The Japanese Occupation Era
1992 |
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Sayonara
1994 |
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A Dream of a Spring Night II
1995
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So Long America Ⅰ
1996 |
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Unwilling to Part from Worldly Life Ⅰ
1997 |
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Farewell Venice
1998 |
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Two treat each other
(Together forever), 2001
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We're All in the Same Boat
2002 |
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Dreaming of Golden Millet
2005
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Never Relax Morning and Night
2006
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Spirit Dreaming Conjuration
2006
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Do a Good Deed a Day
2007 |
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Blind Men Groping Down the Lane
2008-2015 |
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By A Hair's Breadth
2009 |
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Luan
2010 |
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Luan I
2011 |
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Unforgettable Lover
2013 |
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Beloved
2013-15 |
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Beloved Detail
2013-15 |
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Beloved Detail
2013-15 |
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Beloved Detail
2013-15 |
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Beloved Detail
2013-15 |
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Farewell
Hologram, 2015 |
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Farewell
Hologram, 2015 |
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