From 10/14 to 12/16, Michael Ku Gallery in Taipei will have the honor of holding Chiang Hsun’s solo exhibition “Great Beauty on Earth.” This exhibition is a continuation of Chiang Hsun’s first solo exhibition in China which was held in June at Christie’s, Shanghai. The year 2018 marks Chiang Hsun’s seventieth year on Earth, and his exhibition will retrospectively explore “art and life” through his oils, ink and wash paintings, and calligraphy works. His first solo exhibition in Shanghai — met with critical acclaim and popular success — was the result of decades of cultural accumulation and aesthetic exploration. His artistic expression ranges from meticulous to uninhibited, from subtle to bold. One can see the spirit of Chinese calligraphy within his paintings that employ Western media such as oil on canvas and from his calligraphy works and even trace the artist’s journey through life and emotions. Possessing a unique aura of personability, Chiang Hsun is always keen to connect with kindred spirits who share his love for culture and art. In addition to exhibiting select works from his Shanghai exhibition, the present exhibition will also reveal several new and exciting works that Chiang Hsun has yet to share with the world.

Born in Xi’an and raised in Taiwan, Chiang graduated from the Department of History and the Art Institute of the Chinese Culture University. In 1972, he studied at the Art Institute of University of Paris in France before moving back to Taiwan to found the Department of Fine Arts at Tunghai University, becoming its first dean in 1985. Chiang has been an active advocate for wider cultural and aesthetic education, working to enlighten audiences in the Chinese-speaking world. With a lucid, elegant and fluent writing style imbued with the beauty of sense and sensibility, Chiang has published a range of popular novels, essay collections, and literary works on art history and aesthetics. In recent years, Chiang Hsun has also used audiobooks as a medium through which to share his interpretations of Chinese poetry and literary classics, generating great resonance and impact among the Chinese-speaking public.

In addition to being a leading theorist on art and aesthetics, Chiang Hsun is also an active art maker whose inspiration stems from daily life and has a distinct literary flavor. His work mirrors his moods, depicting subjects such as Taroko Gorge, the scenery of Tam Sui, and sunrises in Taiwan. In 2014, Chiang Hsun was invited by the Lovely Taiwan Foundation to be an artist-in-residence in Chishang township, situated in the Eastern Rift Valley. As Chishang is famous for the cultivation of rice, the town’s rolling paddy fields, distant hills, and flowing clouds were all captured and reproduced by Chiang Hsun in his paintings and poems. Chiang’s records of time, life and the universe, expressed through the interplay between poetry, calligraphy and paintings, in turn conveys his open attitude towards art and life.