NTMFA stages Year of Monkey print exhibition

2016/01/12

An exhibition of prints celebrating the upcoming Year of the Monkey in the Chinese zodiac was recently launched by National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung City.

Comprising 80 pieces selected from 256 submissions in a competition conducted by NTMFA, the 31st Annual Exhibition of New Year Prints showcases the wealth of Taiwan intergenerational creativity as the contributing artists are aged between 10 and 70. Of the featured works, six bagged grand prizes, 10 awards of excellence, 20 jury selections and 44 commendations.

Also included in the exhibition are two respective works by master silkscreen artists Boris Kuo, a professor with National Taipei University of Education, and Tsai I-hsung, an assistant professor with New Taipei City-based National Taiwan University of Arts.

NTMFA curator Hsiao Tsung-huang said Kuo’s circle-framed montage print features a monkey, a poster and other everyday items, while Tsai’s offering contains the upside-down Chinese character for spring, which is usually seen in couplets during the Lunar New Year.

The grand prize winners, which employ a variety of themes and techniques, include Chen Ting-hsuan’s monkeys in four seasons; Hsu Chieh’s eight primates representing deities in Chinese mythology; Lin Yi-hsien’s monkey family with flowers and a mountain background; and Lu Yen-huei’s simplified image of a sitting monkey complemented by delicate patterns in gold and red.

Launched in 1985 by the Ministry of Culture, the annual exhibition and competition have been run by NTMFA since 2006. The initiative aims to promote the traditional art of New Year print-making, preserve old techniques and encourage the use of modern themes.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=241090&ctNode=2194&mp=9)