David Diao, Li Yuan-chia, Chen Shiau-Peng Reconsider Modernism as a Method
An exhibition showcases the works of David Diao, Li Yuan-chia, and Chen Shiau-Peng, reinterpreting Modernism not merely as a historical phase or a visual aesthetic characterized by abstraction, geometry, or Minimalism, but as a way of thinking. This display arises from a critique of two opposing trends in contemporary art: one that focuses on surface, sensation, and expression, and another that substitutes artistic exploration with fixed political ideologies. Despite their differing forms, both trends face a shared dilemma: the diminishing intellectual ambition in art and the artists' abandonment of their spiritual duty to engage with the world. The exhibition posits that Modernism fundamentally urges artists to believe in the continuous evolution of art, striving for an ever-elusive ideal. Without this drive, art risks devolving into mere information or entertainment.
Key facts
- Exhibition features David Diao, Li Yuan-chia, and Chen Shiau-Peng.
- Reconsiders Modernism as a method of thinking, not a style or period.
- Critiques contemporary art's loss of intellectual ambition.
- Modernism challenges artists to believe art can continually redefine itself.
- Without aspiration, art risks becoming information, entertainment, or consumption.
- Exhibition emerges from a moment of two contrasting tendencies in art.
- One tendency indulges in surface, sensation, and expression.
- The other replaces artistic inquiry with predetermined political positions.
Entities
Artists
- David Diao
- Li Yuan-chia
- Chen Shiau-Peng