Amanda Wei Gallery is proud to present "Bards" - Alixe Fu's Postexpressionism Painting Exhibition.
This solo exhibition in Hong Kong presents segments and records of Fu’s thoughts and feelings about his life as a cultural nomad over the past thirty-odd years. He seeks balance between individual presentation and showing concerns for the public. He also looks for integration of the linear development logic of western arts and the oriental comprehension thinking in his expression, from which he could establish a richer and more ample personal narrative and spiritual pursuit. We hope that on his never-ending cultural journey, he will find a confidant in the Pearl of the Orient, where diverse cultures are intertwined.
The Sentiment and Imagination of a Cultural Nomad
(Liang Kegang on Alixe Fu and his art)
When you first meet Alixe Fu, you may think he is a mild-tempered man who follows the rules. However, after you get to know him well, you will discover that he is in fact extremely adventurous and maintains an impulse, zest, and curiosity about the world. His adventurous personality is manifested internally and externally. Externally, it is reflected in his never-ceasing exploration and expansion of his personal living space. In his adolescence, he left his hometown Yunlin in Tainan, Taiwan, to study. During his youth, he found fame in Taipei.
In 1984, he participated in an important group exhibition with his large-scale avant-garde installation artwork. He moved from Taipei to Paris, the cultural center of Europe in 1987, first visited New York, the world's art capital, in 1991 and later lived and created there for some time. Fu established a studio in Beijing in 2007. Later, he even built a large studio in a Beijing suburb without legal protections. I would not be surprised if one day I hear that he has moved to Berlin. He possesses a special sensitivity about the fluidity and movement of the global cultural energy. He is like a persistent young man who keeps running, chasing, and changing onto the fastest train, hoping to arrive at his cultural paradise.
Internally, he keeps moving forward in the timeline of art history, from strict classical realism to poetic romanticism and then to boisterous modernism and expressionism. As he piously believes in the ultimate ideal of art, he simultaneously keeps questioning his achievements. He constantly breaks his established personal boundaries in search of new modes of expression and new possibilities.
To me, Fu is not only an artist who creates concrete pieces but also a cultural nomad with a broad vision and a wide pursuit! He has never proclaimed the arts in the halls, studies, or galleries. He feels that artworks should not be restrained to canvas and frames. It is always his hope that he can create a channel between his beloved art and life, letting art walk out of the holy palace and letting people enter the arts.
In 1980, Fu composed a piece of oil and objects mixed painting, entitled "Fate, which reflected a strong palpitation of life and break free from his family background before the university entrance exam.
In 1983, at his first solo exhibition in Taipei, he published a work on which visitors could sign their names and leave comments, opening up the topic of “Who’s who?”. Fu exhibited his work “Sign Me” at Cité Van Gogh, Auvers-sur-Oise, Paris as a resident artist funded by the France government, invited all the citizen to sign their names on 17 statues with 2 to 4 meters height in 2008. The artworks were then moved to the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (MOCA Taipei) in the following year and continued the interaction with local citizens. It was the first space-shaping work MOCA Taipei had ever installed on its public plaza, MOCA Plaza.
Fu has always believed that expressing oneself at will is only the liberation of a “small-ego” for traditional modernist artists. By contrast, when placing an individual’s art expressions among public intervention and extension, it shows a public responsibility and sentiment as a public intellectual and artist with contemporary concepts, which is the true, “large-ego”. This is an attempt of exploration of the artist’s reflection and anti-expressionism. In his opinion, with the rapid development of technology and new media art, artistic creation should emphasize more on "temperature", "feel" and "interaction" with real audiences. Recently, he has tried to remove paintings from the whitewashed wall and integrate them with furniture. These attempts are no doubt a practical implementation of what Marcel Duchamp initiated, “Life is art!” and what Joseph Beuys proposed, “Everyone is an artist!”, the most crucial ideas in contemporary arts. He put his exploration and attempt in his art practice as a "postmodern" way to innovate, complement and expand the previous modernism and expressionism. He would constantly try to crossover and transform in greater fields, perhaps taking music, dance, theater, and even food into his artistic creation in the future.
This solo exhibition in Hong Kong presents segments and records of Fu’s thoughts and feelings about his life as a cultural nomad over the past thirty-odd years. He seeks balance between individual presentation and showing concerns for the public, looks for integration of the linear development logic of western arts and the oriental comprehension thinking in his expression, from which he could establish a richer and more ample personal narrative and spiritual pursuit. We hope that on his never-ending cultural journey, he will find a confidant in the Pearl of the Orient, where diverse cultures are intertwined.
Liang Kegang
November 5, 2018 in Beijing
