吐納間—吳冠德的「翻轉風景畫」Between Exhalation and Inhalation - Solo Exhibition by Wu Kuan-Te
2011年，吳冠德不惜辭去穩定的教職，遠赴塞尚(Paul Cezanne, 1839-1906)的故鄉普羅旺斯-艾克斯(Aix-en-Provence)，從此傾情並投身於全職創作，並且就像莫內(Claude Monet, 1840-1926)、塞尚等一樣經常到處寫生。當然，畫家寫生的目的並非單純的再現樹、石、山水等風景元素而已，而是為了研究並理解大自然，特別是十九世紀攝影術與管裝顏料等技術上的發明、光學與色彩學等學科的高度發展，促使畫家們走進大自然，透過視、觸、嗅、味、聽等身體感官知覺來體驗這個世界，並且將繪畫轉進哲學的境界。這也說明了儘管學院派畫家葛雷爾勸戒學生說：「自然是相當不錯的研究對象，但沒有什麼價值。風格的建立並不只是如此。」[1]但他的學生莫內卻在一次又一次的以寫生觀察大自然後宣稱：「我真正了解了自然，也同時學會熱愛它」。[2]而塞尚則強烈建議畫家們：「必須走進大自然，唯一算的上老師的就是大自然。」梅洛-龐帝(Maurice Merleau-Ponty, 1908-1961)在著作〈塞尚的疑惑〉中給予藝術家在風景中的體驗以精采的詮釋：塞尚既不能遵循古典主義的路線僅從對自然的理性認知入手，亦不能追隨印象派的腳步僅對大自然做感性的表達，因為「大自然是全部」[3]。
吳冠德_大覺醒 Great Awakening_500x300cm_油彩麻布 Oil on Canvas_2023。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德_大覺醒_500x300cm_油彩麻布_2023。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
如此，吳冠德也是秉持著對大自然的熱愛與信念，以大自然為師，踏上這一條觀察、體驗、冥思與理解之路。他在創作自述中強調漫步山林，徜徉在無垠天地之際，任何人都能產生的震懾感受，但寫生帶來的顯然不僅止於此：畫家寫生時並不是看到什麼就畫什麼。
梅洛-龐帝說：「藝術家的視覺並不只是一種對外的注視」，因為「思想/精神會在目光中被看到和讀出來(hellip) 眼睛實現了向心靈開啟非心靈的事物[4]」
畫家面對大自然時產生的思維與感動，並不能單獨成畫，因為精神不能作畫，必須要借助從眼到心到手的過程，才能將世界變成畫，所以繪畫是物與靈性的融合，而大自然則是這一切存在的源頭。吳冠德面對大自然的態度並非加以「征服」，而是像塞尚一樣極盡所能的打開感官與精神「傾聽內在的氣息與節律」、「聆聽山風震顫林間的交響」、「陶醉在土地的濕潤與芬芳」，甚至是透過「深深的呼吸，吐納著大自然」，可說已臻至一種「天地與我並生，萬物與我為一」的境界，這也就是吳冠德何以將展覽命名為「吐納間」的原因。不過吳冠德如何將在大自然中的體悟，以及與其共吐納的靈性經驗轉化為繪畫，仍須進一步的分析與說明。
吳冠德_翔雲_97x163cm _油彩麻布_2020。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
藝術家吳冠德_回望_300x900cm _油彩麻布_2017-2018。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德的創作或許仍能稱為「風景畫」，因為他的畫作中呈現出的是一些如樹木、枝葉、雲霧、星空、陽光、瀑布、水面等風景畫的元素。細察他的繪畫創作，可知他非常知道如何植基於前人已經開拓出來的道路，除了如同塞尚般尋求置身於風景之中的意識表現之外，還深受莫內1890年代之後的驚人發明，也就是他的《睡蓮》系列的影響。如眾所周知，莫內晚年隱居於吉維尼(Giverny)的花園，不斷以近景俯角特寫的視角描繪睡蓮池。而他從早年即對水景有某種程度的癡迷：需知水一直是風景畫中極具挑戰性的部分，因為其表現牽涉到光與影、動與靜、虛與實、固著與流動等極端衝突卻又相輔相生的概念。1890年代以後莫內對水面的表現已達到了一種驚人的自由度，變化多端的筆觸成功營造了色彩繽紛、燦爛斑駁的顫動氛圍，也充分的強調了顏料的材質特性。其實莫內一直以來即擅長以顏料和筆觸標記大自然中的種種肌理：葉片、水波、煙霧、草叢、雪花、地土或岩石的紋路。莫內最後為橘園所繪製的裝飾繪畫於1927年揭幕，標示了一種真正的轉向，一種觀看物象方式的全然轉變。事實上，莫內似乎越來越在意觀眾應該怎麼觀看他的畫，橘園的《睡蓮》明顯的超越了架上繪畫的範圍，也因此開啟了更多新的議題，不僅喚起十九世紀相當流行的公眾娛樂設施「環形畫」 (Panorama)，更邀請觀眾進入某種介於於水面之上與水面之下的「繁花錦簇的水族館」(un aquarium fleuri)。而以其畫幅的巨大，《睡蓮》近看是一幅不折不扣的抽象畫，遠觀則呈現出既精確又細微的景色。無怪乎格林伯格(Clement Greenberg )宣稱只有晚期的莫內能挑戰繪畫的成規，因為他最後的這些巨幅畫作具有均質(all-over)、去中心(deacutecentreacute)和複調(polyphonique)的特質，整個畫面由相等的或相近的元素綿密織造而成，並且一再重複，成為二戰後紐約抽象表現主義新繪畫的起點，波洛克(Jackson Pollock)、羅斯柯(Mark Rothko)等，都只不過是莫內的尾隨者。[5]
吳冠德_吐納間 2_200x200cm_油彩麻布、旋轉裝置_2023。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德_吐納間 2(局部)_200x200cm_油彩麻布、旋轉裝置_2023。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德_吐納間 4_150x150cm_油彩麻布、旋轉裝置_2023。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德_吐納間_180x180cm_油彩麻布、旋轉裝置_2023。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德_吐納間(局部)_180x180cm_油彩麻布、旋轉裝置_2023。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德長期浸淫於自然，自然的精髓也滲入他的內裡，但他並非只是透過寫生繪製單純的風景畫，而是從塞尚、莫內乃至抽象表現主義的啟示出發，加上他自己的繪畫理念、人格氣度，以及東方哲學的涵養，混融後發展而出的一種獨到的創作方式，並首先展現於他對繪畫的物質材料與創作方法之思考。如同塞尚與莫內一樣，他越來越思及「物與靈性」之間的辯證關係，但與其像莫內一樣以筆觸來模擬大自然的肌理，或像塞尚一樣以色面來類比大自然的組成結構，他更趨近於以整個繪畫來模擬或「再製」大自然創生與再生的過程。因此，他畫作中密密麻麻、互相簇擁的樹叢或草皮，並非來自於任何寫生或攝影的圖稿，甚至並沒有前置構圖，卻是猶如超現實主義的自動性技法一樣，從一張空白的畫布開始，然後就像宇宙的創生一般，在一片空無或是渾沌不明之中，在造物者的呼吸與吐納之間，形象源源不絕的湧出直至佈滿畫面。而不同於一般風景畫家採取的視角，吳冠德一方面偏好高空鳥瞰的俯角，堪稱「上帝視角」，另一方面則採取抬頭仰望的「人的視角」，俯仰之間迅即點出人與自然的位階。此外，吳冠德不用畫筆作畫，而是在塗敷精心安排的色料層之後，以撿拾自大自然的樹枝、石頭、種子等刮除上層顏料露出底層的色彩，運用大自然之物的軟硬與切面造形，加上藝術家自己的力道，「刻劃」出類似枝葉的紋理，喚起東方山水畫的皴法，展現了藝術家造形的高超技巧之外，更以「減法」(刮除)取代傳統油畫的「加法」(疊層)。至於構圖與色彩，也無不模擬自然生態的豐美、動靜量能之消長、今昔時間的綿延，以及虛實空間的交錯，並且以巧妙的構圖以及金色、藍色、紅色等與宇宙元素(如風火土水金木等)相關，且具象徵性的色彩加以表現。然而這一切不只是繪畫的方法，吳冠德將繪畫的行為視為與自然接觸的方式。
吳冠德_澄光_80x116.5cm _油彩麻布_2021。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德_松風_97x163cm _油彩麻布_2023(局部)。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
爾後吳冠德發展出一系列的圓形畫作，須知圓形本就是意義獨具的形狀，只需思及達文西(Da Vinci, 1452-1519)的〈維特魯維人〉(The Vitruvian Man)如何以圓與方揭示人體比例的奧秘，便能明白上帝創造天地人的法則。吳冠德2002年的行為作品〈至圓〉，是在白天以身體延伸的極限用淡墨畫圓，夜晚則蹲在地上旋轉身體，以手臂長度的極限畫圓，「每日不斷重複此行為，沒有起點，沒有終點，直到身體進入這至大的完滿」[6]。爾後使用圓形畫布，更是利用其無始無終無方向的特性，打破畫家創作時的慣習，自由地從任何起頭以任何方向進行，而無須受限於傳統創作方式中畫布與身體之間既定的時空關係。近來，他更在圓形作品背後加上機械動力裝置，在緩慢旋轉著的畫布上作畫，以至於畫家的手、眼與畫布之間的接觸方式不斷變換輪轉。然而這一切並非只是為了脫離繪畫的窠臼，更是為了模擬大自然四時循環更迭、道體無窮運行的動態與量能，並在創作時達到與繪畫/自然一起呼吸吐納、物我兩忘的境界。此外，圓形畫布利於均質構圖，以及表現發散與收聚的力場，增添了畫作的浩瀚感與永恆性，既收斂於蘊藏一切的微觀宇宙(microcosm)，又發散向無邊無際的巨觀宇宙(macrocosm)。而在此次展出的作品中也有一些橢圓形的畫作，描寫風景以及如鏡像般的水面倒影，除了重拾風景畫中最困難的母題之外，更以鏡像來展開真實與其倒影之間究竟誰更真實的辯證，因為這些畫作可以被以上下翻轉的方式懸掛。吳冠德透過畫布的形狀、色彩、構圖、機械動力裝置與藝術家身體的介入與行動，將東方藝術中師法自然、生生不息，和光同春，天地人合一的哲學概念淋漓盡致地展現出來。
吳冠德_氣魄 4_100x100cm_油彩麻布_2022。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德_光蘊5_100x100cm_油彩麻布_2022。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
最後，尚須提及他針對觀者的觀看所進行的縝密思考：他在2012至2014年間，繪製了三幅足以與莫內的橘園繪畫媲美的巨幅畫作〈同在〉〈共生〉與〈遨遊〉，分別都是2公尺乘以6公尺。此後更在2017-2018年間，閉關於庶民美術館，創作了壯觀的〈無垠〉(3m x 11m)與〈回望〉(3m x 9m)，以及這次展出的5公尺乘以3公尺的長軸巨碑式畫作〈大覺醒〉。這些巨幅繪畫與其說是繪畫，不如說是「環境」，以包覆、沉浸甚至壓倒的方式將觀眾吸納於其間，改變了作品與觀眾之間的主客關係，更新了觀者觀畫時的心理感知與身體經驗，為他們提供了在塵囂中沉思冥想，體驗大自然的浩翰與偉大的獨特空間。此外，若干圓形畫布在展示時因背後的機械驅動，而產生極緩慢的旋轉動態，不但提供了新的觀畫方式，也在在考驗著觀眾的察覺能力。
吳冠德出身於藝術世家，來自於父執輩的教誨，促使他懷抱回歸自然的信念，並身體力行的實踐著生命與藝術互為主體的理想，他那與世無爭的誠懇與熱切態度，令觀者無不動容。而他模擬大自然本體的創作過程，大大超越了風景畫的定義與框架，我願意大膽的稱之為「翻轉風景畫」，既指出其畫作在製作與觀賞上可翻可轉，也一語雙關地隱喻了他對風景畫的革命性「翻轉」。
吳冠德_明境_120x120cm_油彩麻布_2021。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德_明境_120x120cm_油彩麻布_2021(局部) 。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
吳冠德_光蘊_120x120cm_油彩麻布_2022。圖/日升月鴻畫廊提供
[1] 摘自莫內於1900年接受Thieacutebault-Sisson訪問的內容，刊載於, Le Temps, 27 novembre 1900，全文詳見http://giverny.org/monet/biograph/monet.htm 2011/2/11
[2] 本段落關於布丹的引文引自G. Jean-Aubry, Eugegravene Boudin, Paris, 1922, p. 181, 184, 194.
[3] Merleau Ponty, Le doute de Cezannes, Paris: Petites Alleacutees, 2016.
[4] Merleau Ponty, Lrsquooeil et lrsquoesprit, Paris: Gallimard, 1964, p. 83.
[5] Cleacutement Greenberg, laquoLa crise du tableau de chevaletraquo, Art et Culture, Paris, Macula, 1988, pp.171-175.
[6] 吳冠德，《吳冠德的藝術之道》，新北市，吳冠德，2012，頁12。
吐納間mdash吳冠德創作個展Between Exhalation and Inhalation -Solo Exhibition by Wu Kuan-Te
展 期｜2023.10.07 (六) - 2023.11.05 (日)
開 幕｜2023.10.07 (六）14:00 p.m.
座 談｜2023.10.07 (六）15:00 p.m.
主 題｜吳冠德的「翻轉風景畫」
與談 人｜陳貺怡 ( 巴黎第十大學當代藝術史博士 /國立臺灣藝術大學美術學系教授 )
地 點｜日升月鴻畫廊（台北市大安區仁愛路四段115號1樓）
時 間｜11:00 -19:00（每週一休館）
講座參加表單登記｜https://forms.gle/CNrA2Yar3y4Xqjvx5
ART TAIPEI 2023 台北國際藝術博覽會
展 位｜F02
公眾展覽｜2023.10.20 (五) - 10.23 (ㄧ)
展覽地點｜台北世界貿易中心展覽大樓 世貿一館（台北市信義區信義路五段5號）
相關連結
日升月鴻畫廊官網：https://www.everharvestart.com.tw/
日升月鴻畫廊粉絲專頁：https://www.facebook.com/EverHarvestArtGallery/
日升月鴻畫廊 instagram：https://www.instagram.com/ever.harvest.gallery/
藝術家吳冠德專訪：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7T4tzbWL28@P
In 2011, Wu abandoned his stable teaching career without any hesitation, followed by his travel to Aix-en-Provence, the hometown of Paul Ceacutezanne (1839-1906), where Wu thenceforth devoted himself entirely to pursuing a new career as an artist and, just like Claude Monet (1840-1926) and Ceacutezanne, began to sketch from nature in different places. Unquestionably, painters sketch from nature not simply for reasons of representing natural elements such as trees, rocks, and landscapes, but also for the purpose of studying and understanding nature, especially after the invention of photography and pigment tubes as well as the rapid advances in optics and chromatics in the nineteenth century, which prompted painters to commune with nature, to experience this world with their senses and perceptions, and to bring painting into the realm of philosophy. This reminds us of the following facts. Charles Gleyre (1806-1874), a painter of Academicism, exhorted his pupils: ldquoNature serves well as an element of study, but it offers no real interest. To evolve a style is something more than this.rdquo[1] However, through his repeated, sketch-mediated observation of nature, Monet, as a pupil of Gleyre, argued: ldquoI really started to understand nature. I also learned to love it.rdquo[2] Likewise, Ceacutezanne strongly advocated: ldquoPainters must return to nature, for it is the best instructor.rdquo In his writing titled ldquoCezannersquos Doubt,rdquo Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) intelligently interpreted how artists experience natural landscapes: Ceacutezanne could neither adhere to the route of Classicism and start utterly with a rational understanding of nature, nor follow the footsteps of Impressionism and merely give sentimental expression to nature, because ldquoeverything comes to us from nature.rdquo[3]
Wu, Kuan-Te_Great Awakening_500x300cm_Oil on Canvas_2023.copy Ever Harvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Great Awakening_500x300cm_Oil on Canvas_2023.copy Ever Harvest Art Gallery
Wu holds fast to his faith as an ardent devotee of nature in a similar way. He learns from nature, treading such a path of observation, experience, meditation, and comprehension. In his statement about his works, Wu accentuates the humbling experience that everyone can have when roaming mountain forests or wandering the vast earth. Nonetheless, the momentum of sketching from nature doesnrsquot stop here. Painters do not draw whatever they see when they sketch from nature. Merleau-Ponty asserted that ldquothe painterrsquos vision is not a view upon the outside,rdquo in as much as ldquothe mind/spirit can be seen and read in vision [hellip] and the eyes materialize non-mental things that open to the mind.rdquo[4] The thoughts and visceral thrills painters have when facing nature are insufficient to form any painting, because the mind canrsquot paint. To turn the world into paintings, the process from the eyes via the mind to the hand is indispensable. Therefore, paintings are tantamount to the fusion of objects and spirituality, whilst nature is its very fountainhead. In this sense, Wu intends not so much to ldquoconquerrdquo nature as to try his utmost to emulate Ceacutezanne, that is, to ldquofind an inner respiratory rhythm,rdquo to ldquolisten to the symphony of the wind howling in the trees,rdquo to ldquorevel in the moistness and fragrance of earth,rdquo and even to ldquocommune with nature through deep breaths.rdquo It bears comparison with the state of ldquooneness of heaven and humanity in which humankind is an integral part of nature.rdquo This is also the reason why Wu titled this exhibition ldquoAmid Breaths.rdquo Absolutely, further analysis and explication are required with regard to the way in which Wu transmutes his spiritual harmony with nature and his epiphanies therefrom into his paintings.
Wu, Kuan-Te_Soaring Clouds_97x163cm _Oil on Canvas_2020.copyEveHarvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Back to original_300x900cm_Oil on Canvas_2017-2018.copyEver Harvest Art Gallery
Wursquos oeuvre might still be categorized as ldquolandscape painting,rdquo since his works tend to feature the elements of this genre, such as trees, branches, leaves, clouds, mist, starry skies, sunlight, waterfalls, water surfaces, and so forth. Observing his paintings carefully, we can discern that Wu knows well how to forge his career by standing upon the shoulders of giants. In addition to seeking the conscious expression of immersion in landscapes as much as Ceacutezanne did, Wu has been profoundly influenced by Monetrsquos awe-inspiring art series Water Lilies (1897-99). In his twilight years, as everyone knows, Monet secluded himself in a garden at Giverny where he continually portrayed the water lily pond from a close-up angle of depression. Monet had been consumed by passion for waterscapes since his early life. It is noteworthy that representing water in landscape paintings has always been a task so challenging as herding cats, because it involves opposite yet complementary concepts, such as light and shadow, motion and stillness, fictionality and reality, as well as rigidity and fluidity. From the 1890s onward, Monetrsquos depictions of water surfaces had exhibited an astonishing degree of freedom. His diversified, variegated brushstrokes successfully created a vibrant atmosphere of a riotous profusion of colors, and graphically highlighted the material properties of the pigment. As a matter of fact, Monet had excelled in using pigment and brushstrokes to represent natural textures of all stripes, such as venations, waves, mist, swards, snowflakes, soil, rocks, and so forth. Unveiled in 1927, Monetrsquos last decorative painting for the Museacutee de lrsquoOrangerie marked a genuine turn, a fundamental shift in perspective. In fact, Monet seemed to be increasingly concerned about how the viewers should view his paintings. His tour de force Water Lilies at the Museacutee de lrsquoOrangerie apparently transcends the physical confines of easel painting, hence the ensuing extensive discussions. This work not only evokes the imagery of the ldquoPanorama,rdquo a widely popular public entertainment facility in the nineteenth century, but also guides the viewers into ldquoan aquarium of flowersrdquo above and below the water surface. The scale of this work is so epic that it is nothing less than an abstract painting when viewed up close, and an accurate, vivid portrayal of nice scenery when viewed from a distance. No wonder Clement Greenberg (1909-1994) claimed that no other painter than Monet in the later period of his career was able to challenge the established rules of painting, for Monetrsquos last large-scale paintings are nothing if not homogeneous, decentered, and polyphonic. Specifically, the composition is densely woven with identical or similar elements that repeat themselves, which inspired Abstract Expressionism in postwar New York. Famous painters like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko were little more than ardent disciples of Monet.[5]
Wu, Kuan-Te_Between Exhalation and Inhalation 2_200x200cm_Oil on Canvas、Rotating Installation_2023.copy Ever Harvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Between Exhalation and Inhalation 2_200x200cm_Oil on Canvas、Rotating Installation_2023.copy Ever Harvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Between Exhalation and Inhalation 4_150x150cm_Oil on Canvas、Rotating Installation_2023. copy Ever Harvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Between Exhalation and Inhalation_180x180cm_Oil on Canvas、Rotating Installation_2023. copy Ever Harvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Between Exhalation and Inhalation_180x180cm_Oil on Canvas、Rotating Installation_2023. copy Ever Harvest Art Gallery
Wu has long been absorbed in nature, and the quintessence of nature has permeated his innermost core. However, he does not simply paint landscapes by sketching from nature. Treating the inspiration he draws from Ceacutezanne, Monet, and Abstract Expressionism as the point of departure, Wu blends it with his own philosophy of painting, personality and demeanor, as well as oriental wisdom, and thereby evolves his inimitable creative style which primarily finds expression in his contemplation of painting materials and approaches. Gradually, Wu gets not less interested than Ceacutezanne and Monet in the dialectical relationship between ldquoobjects and spirituality.rdquo Nonetheless, instead of imitating natural textures with brushstrokes like Monet or analogizing the composition of nature with color fields like Ceacutezanne, Wu is inclined to using the entire painting to simulate or ldquoreproducerdquo the genesis and rebirth of nature. Thus, in his paintings, the trees or swards in a compact mass are not based on any drawing or photograph, and Wu even makes no compositional outlines at all. Rather, resembling the genesis of the universe, they emerge in an uninterrupted flow from empty void or chaos amidst the breaths of Mother Nature until the originally blank canvas is fully covered, which is strongly reminiscent of Surrealist automatism. Wu takes a point of view distinct from that of most landscape painters. He on the one hand prefers a birdrsquos eye view which can be deemed ldquoGodrsquos perspective,rdquo and on the other hand adopts a ldquohumanrsquos perspectiverdquo which looks upwards. The relative positions of humanity and nature thus immediately manifest themselves in such a subtle shift of angle. More intriguingly, Wu paints without a brush. After applying layers of pigment in a meticulous fashion, he reveals the colors underneath by scraping off the upper layers of pigment with the twigs, stones, and seeds he collected from nature. Using his own strength and harnessing the softness, hardness, and sections of res naturales, Wu ldquoportraysrdquo the grain which is redolent of branches and leaves as well as the wrinkled texture in oriental landscape paintings. In addition to showcasing his extraordinary skill, the artist substitutes ldquosubtractionrdquo (scraping) for ldquoadditionrdquo (layering) commonly employed in traditional oil paintings. The sheer beauty of natural ecology, the vicissitudes of motion and stillness, the evolution of times, and the entanglement between real and virtual spaces are all embodied in the brilliant compositions and coloring of Wursquos works. He depicts all this with compositional ingenuity and colors like gold, blue and red that symbolize the natural elements in the universe (e.g. wind, fire, earth, water, metal, wood, etc.). However, this is not just about the methodology of painting. Wu regards the act of painting as a way to commune with nature.
Wu, Kuan-Te_Clarity of Light_80x116.5cm _Oil on Canvas_2021. copyEver Harvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Pine Breeze_97x163cm _ Oil on Canvas_2023. copyEver Harvest Art Gallery
Subsequently, Wu developed a series of circular paintings. It must be borne in mind that circles are originally a classic in their own right. We can understand how God created the heavens, earth and humankind so long as we think of how the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) unveiled the mystery of body proportions with a circle and a square. Wursquos performance work The Perfect Circle (2002) comprises a circle he drew with light ink at the limit of his body in the daytime and another circle he painted by squatting on the ground and rotating his body with his arm stretching to the extreme at night. ldquoKnowing neither beginning nor end, he didnrsquot stop repeating the daily performance until his body was integrated with the supreme consummation.rdquo[6] Later, Wu further utilizes the non-directional nature of circular canvases which have no start point and end. Abandoning the customary practice of painters, Wu paints from whatever start point in whichever direction he wants without being restricted by any given spatio-temporal relationship between the canvas and the body in the traditional way of creation. Recently, Wu has underpinned his circular works with kinetic devices. He paints on the slowly rotating canvas, hence the changing interaction between his hands, his eyes, and the canvas. However, through his creative practice, Wu seeks not just to break the stereotypical representation of painting, but also to simulate the seasonal cycle and the endless operation of a practitionerrsquos body, as well as to breathe together with the painting/Mother Nature and attain the perfect fusion of the Self and objects to the extent of forgetting about each other. Additionally, circular canvases are considered every bit as favorable for homogeneous composition as for the presentation of a field in which forces diverge and converge. Wursquos works thus convey the sense of vastness and timelessness, both converging at the microcosm which encompasses everything, and meanwhile diverging into the macrocosm which is nothing if not boundless. Moreover, this exhibition contains several oval paintings of landscapes and clear reflections on the calm waters. Apart from resuming the thorniest motif in the genre of landscape painting, Wu further invokes the metaphor of mirror image to ignite the dialectical debate over the authenticity of the reality and its own reflection, since these paintings can be hung upside down. By dint of the canvas shapes, colors, compositions, kinetic devices, as well as the intervention and action of his physical body, Wu vividly and thoroughly demonstrates the philosophical concepts that feature prominently in oriental arts, such as imitating nature, endless cycle of life, understated elegance, oneness of heaven and humanity, and so forth.
Wu, Kuan-Te_Vigor 4_100x100cm_Oil on Canvas_2022 copyEver Harvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Radiant Essence 5_100x100cm_ Oil on Canvas_2022. copyEver Harvest Art Gallery
Last but by no means least, we should discuss Wursquos deliberation on the viewerrsquos gaze. From 2012 to 2014, Wu created three large-scale (2m x 6m) paintings respectively titled To Be With, Symbiosis, and Astral Travel that rival Monetrsquos magnum opus Water Lilies at the Museacutee de lrsquoOrangerie. Later, Wu stayed in the seclusion of Su Chiung Art Museum between 2017 and 2018, where he created the spectacular works Limitless (3m x 11m), Back to Original (3m x 9m), and the monument-like scroll Great Awakening (5m x 3m) featuring in this exhibition. These large-scale works are not so much paintings as ldquoenvironments.rdquo They absorb the viewer into the ldquoenvironmentsrdquo in a sheathing, immersive, and even overwhelming manner, which not only alters the subject-object relationship between the viewer and the works, but also creates unprecedented psychological perception and corporeal experience the viewer will remember. To put it another way, Wursquos works open up a sui generis space where the viewer can find meditative tranquility in the hustle and bustle whilst admiring the majestic grandeur of nature. Besides, driven by the hidden kinetic devices, a number of circular canvases rotate at an extremely slow pace, which not only suggests a new way of viewing paintings, but also puts the viewerrsquos perceptual capability to the test. Wu grew up in an artistic family. The edification from his fatherrsquos generation has prompted Wu to commune with nature and to strive for his ideal of intersubjectivity between life and art. Without exception, every viewer is emotionally touched by Wursquos hermetic lifestyle and his affectionate earnestness toward art. His creative practice as a simulation of Mother Nature herself has transcended the conventional definition and confines of ldquolandscape painting.rdquo I would like to audaciously describe Wursquos oeuvre as ldquoflip-flop landscape paintings,rdquo a term not only indicating that his works can be flip-flopped in terms of both creation and appreciation, but also serving as a metaphorical paronomasia for the revolutionary ldquoflip-floprdquo he has done to the genre of landscape painting.
Wu, Kuan-Te_Mirroring Expanse_120x120cm_ Oil on Canvas_2021. copyEver Harvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Mirroring Expanse_120x120cm_ Oil on Canvas_2021. copyEver Harvest Art Gallery
Wu, Kuan-Te_Radiant Essence_120x120cm_ Oil on Canvas_2022
[1] Quoted from an interview with Monet by Thieacutebault-Sisson in 1900, published in Le Temps, 27 November 1900. Full text available on http://giverny.org/monet/biograph/monet.htm 2011/2/11.
[2] The quote from Eugegravene Boudin in this paragraph comes from G. Jean-Aubry, Eugegravene Boudin (Paris, 1922), p. 181, 184, and 194.
[3] Merleau Ponty, Le doute de Cezannes (Paris: Petites Alleacutees, 2016).
[4] Merleau Ponty, Lrsquooeil et lrsquoesprit (Paris: Gallimard, 1964), p. 83. (查無此句，暫依中文原稿翻譯。)
[5] Cleacutement Greenberg, ldquoLa crise du tableau de chevalet,rdquo in Art et Culture (Paris: Macula, 1988), pp. 171-175.
[6] Wu Kuan-Te, The Way of Wu Kuan-Tersquos Art (New Taipei City: Wu Kuan-Te), 2012, p. 12.