Chen Long-bin exhibition opens in Taipei

2015-02-09

An exhibition of works by Chen Long-bin is set to open Feb. 7 at Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art, spotlighting the Taiwan artist’s special ability to transform waste paper into eye-catching book sculptures.

“Reading Way,” which runs until March 29, is the first solo exhibition of Chen’s art staged by MOCA. It features four installations arranged over 1,260 square feet.

Themed “philosophenweg,” German for path of philosophy, the event takes showgoers on an aesthetic journey through the history of publishing, broaching Eastern and Western cultural traditions within a contemplative framework of sleep and meditation.

“The event is timely in that it challenges lovers of art to reflect upon the decline in popularity of books in the Internet age while examining the ties between such publications, personal growth and civilization,” a MOCA official said.

Chen, a graduate of Taichung City-based Tunghai Univesity and the School of Visual Arts in New York, boasts an international following for his marble- and wood-like book sculptures fashioned from discarded books, computer paper, magazines, newspapers and telephone books. He has exhibited widely in Taiwan, India, Germany, Hong Kong, the U.S. and mainland China.

Regularly praised by critics for his art’s salient commentary on human consumption and waste disposal, New York-based Chen is also well-known for his striking Asian iconography such as Buddha heads and Japanese warriors.

Chen has won numerous awards at home and abroad, including the National Print Prize in 1986, Visitors Prize at Fellbach Triennial of Small-Scale Sculpture in 1995 and Silver Prize of Osaka Triennial in 1998.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=227248&CtNode=413)