I'm sure you have many books and CDs. But how many art books do you have? Of them, how many are on modern art?

Conservative estimates say there are at least 500 modernist artists in Taiwan today, and that doesn't include students still in school. How many of them do you know anything about? How many exhibitions do you attend on average per month? Who's your favorite painter?

If you have no answer to these questions, you may find this story worth a closer look.

In Taiwan, most people have a certain appreciation for traditional art. But they feel alienated from modern art, and in some cases have no idea how to even begin to appreciate it. Words like "abstract," "superrealist," "pop," and "dada" seem to be only for the cognoscenti. Most of the people at modern art exhibits these days are art students, professional painters, or critics. While large crowds attend shows like the one recently focusing on Picasso, they are mainly responding to the "star quality" and media hype of the event. As for local modernist art, they don't really know where to begin. Why is this? How can we enter the halls of modern art and increase our appreciation for a different aesthetic?

Lu Tien-yen, head of the Taipei Modern Painters Group and a participant in the Hong Kong show, explains that traditional art is based largely on feeling, and it is easy to appreciate its aesthetic. Modern art, on the other hand, is rational and logical, and the theoretical background to a work is vital. He says for example that recently an Italian artist garnered a lot of attention in the arts community by selling cans of his own excrement as a statement that "life is art," and sales were not bad! You might say, "I could do that, too!" But, sorry to say, what you "produce" would not be considered "art."

Why is that? Lu explains that it is because the Italian's "work" has a theoretical background, and that he has systematically established his approach to art. Modern art fundamentally reflects the thinking, behavior, and views of its era. Our world is no longer a simple place. What modern art, whether it be two-dimensional or performance art, seeks to express is the artist's emotional response to the mixture of new and old, the confusion of values, the information explosion, and the commercial inundation of this era. Modern art may be satirical or critical, merely narrative, or even compassionate in interpreting an era.

The Taiwan curator of the Hong Kong show, Ku Chung-kuang, who became well-known as an abstract performance artist in the 1970s, has drawn on modernist art from Taiwan going back to the 1950s to bring out the connection between modern art and its time. The painters on show in Hong Kong cover a number of eras, and include Li Shi-chi, who began working in the late 1950s, 1980s modernist leaders Lu Tien-yen, Lu Hsien-ming, and Liu Xian-zhong, and the 1990s artist Yang Mao-lin. The show will provide a broad overview of the path of modern painting in Taiwan. Unfortunately, space limitations mean only relatively small works will be on display, thus excluding many key works.

In the 1950s, the ROC government had just arrived in Taiwan, and security was top priority; art was given little attention. Taiwan art was still dominated by the styles prominent in the pre-war Japanese occupation era. Yet already there was a group of young artists who favored Western abstract art.

By the end of the 1950s and throughout the 1960s, the artists of the largely academic May Art Association and of the Tung Fang Painting Association (many of whose members came from the military) were turning out a stream of abstract art and theories. Later Li Hsi-chi organized the Modern Print Association, which began doing block prints on materials like parachute silk, and whose works still look cutting-edge today. At that time Taiwan artists also actively joined in international shows in the US, Japan, and Korea, and even regularly participated in the Sao Paolo biennial show in Brazil.

In the 1970s, as the ROC became diplomatically isolated, artists turned inwards to focus on things uniquely Taiwanese, drawing strength from the land of their birth. Rural realism was one of the main results of this period.

In the late 1970s, as Taiwan's economy took off, an art market developed, giving artists even more room to maneuver. However, says Ku Chung-kuang, one of the side effects of this was that painters played to the market and became more conservative.

The 1980s were a period of political and social liberalization in Taiwan. Artists naturally were part of this, and many artists who were studying or working abroad returned home. The European and American postmodern ideas they brought with them fit right into the growing pluralism in society: There was no longer a monolithic "truth" or an absolute value system. Besides being critical, art also was increasingly contradictory and eclectic. Radically different art forms or techniques could be combined, and the demolition of barriers and taboos became mainstream. The definition of art was expanded to include new forms like performance art and installation art.

The 1990s have proceeded in this atmosphere of polyphony. At the same time, though established museums have more money than ever, demand in the art market has waned. These developments, plus ever-increasing interactions with the outside world, have inspired artists to reassess. The critical, often depressing work of the 1980s has given way to a more rounded, softer feel. Artists are doing less protesting, but are more thoughtful. And Asian elements appear naturally in their paintings; for Taiwan artists, this is an era in which East and West are engaged in an equal dialogue.

p.102

Counterpoint 130x162 cm (1997): oil on canvas

Art prodigy Lu Chung-kuang uses the subject matter of ripe persimmons to engage in a dialogue between Western still-life art and Chinese brush-and-ink painting. It reflects the ongoing interaction in daily life between the modern and traditional. Does it also reflect on the standoff between Taiwan and mainland China?

(on opposite page) Lonely Ink 120x120 cm (1990): composite media

Tung-Fang Painting Association figure Li Shi-chi has again in the 1990s caught the attention of the art world with his "giant calligraphy" and his use of llacquer. This progressive work still carries the solitude of the traditional Chinese literati. Li, who exhibits frequently in both Taiwan and mainland China, has always tried to be modern while retaining Chinese character.

p.104

Rich and Intoxicated 91x72.5 cm (1989): oil, paper, pastel crayons

Liu Xian-zhong is well-grounded in both the Western and Chinese traditions. He often uses sexual themes to explore larger socio-political issues. Here he comments on the power of the electronic media.

Deity Document 72.5x60.5 cm (1995): oil, acrylic, canvas

Lu Tien-yen, who is both an artist and critic, in this quiet and accomodating little work, mixes Western punctuation marks and Christian symbols with Boddhisattvas and Earth Gods to underline the insecurity of people in modern Taiwan. Is he suggesting we look at life with the compassion advocated by religion?

p.105

Handcart 91x72.5 (1998): oil painting

Though of mainlander extraction, Lu Hsien-ming is an advocate of "Taiwaneseness." He often speaks for disadvantaged groups in his work. This painting shows the hardiness of society's poor, and shows the compassion of those on the margins of society for the disadvantaged.

Record from Tayuan 194x112 cm, gun 140 cm (1999): computer printout with steel gun

In the early 1990s Yang Mao-lin stunned the art world with Record from Yuanshan. In fact, he has been creating prodigiously since the late 1970s. He is skilled at reflecting on Taiwan society by referring to motifs from American and Japanese pop culture (like comics). Is the gun a warning about violence in Taiwan?

p.106

Illustration of Taiwan-Sermon 398x250 cm (1996-98): oil paint, hemp cloth

Chen Yin-wei, a young painter who studied in Australia, has been doing a series of paintings on humanist values in Taiwan from a historical perspective. This enormous work is the most representative of the series.

Ring and Lock 91x72.5 cm (1998): oil, acrylic, canvas

Pan Li-hung is the only woman leader in the Taipei Modern Painting Group. In recent years she has homed in on the subjects of locks, doors, and bars, with which she expresses her thoughts about interpersonal relations, and especially about the status and psychology of women in today's Taiwan.

p.107

Symbol Series 100x81 cm (1998): oil on canvas

Dino Tsai is a founder of the Taipei Modern Painting Group. Since the Lincoln Mansions collapse, he has been doing performance art to benefit the victims. This painting featuring pricing labels reflects the struggle between materialism and spiritualism.

Four Images 90x90 cm (1997): oil painting

Lin Chin-piao, who studied in France and is now an associate professor at Chinese Culture University, inclines toward postmodern spiritual super-realist painting. He often combines Western and Chinese motifs, or combines things anachronistically, to express the progress of civilization, and to hint at a future of unlimited breadth.

（on opposite page） Lonely Ink 120×120 cm （1990）: composite media Tung-Fang Painting Association figure Li Shi-chi has again in the 1990s caught the attention of the art world with his "giant calligraphy" and his use of lacquer. This progressive work still carries the solitude of the traditional Chinese literati. Li, who exhibits frequently in both Taiwan and mainland China, has always tried to be modern while retaining Chinese character.

Rich and Intoxicated 91×72.5 cm （1989）: oil, paper, pastel crayons Liu Xian-zhong is well-grounded in both the Western and Chinese traditions. He often uses sexual themes to explore larger sociopolitical issues. Here he comments on the power of the electronic media.

Deity Document 72.5×60.5 cm （1995）: oil, acrylic, canvas Lu Tien-yen, who is both an artist and critic, in this quiet and accommodating little work, mixes Western punctuation marks and Christian symbols with Bodhisattvas and Earth Gods to underline the insecurity of people in modern Taiwan. Is he suggesting we look at life with the compassion advocated by religion?

Record from Tayuan 194×112 cm, gun 140 cm （1999）: computer printout with steel gun In the early 1990s Yang Mao-lin stunned the art world with Record from Yuanshan. In fact, he has been creating prodigiously since the late 1970s. He is skilled at reflecting on Taiwan society by referring to motifs from American and Japanese pop culture （like comics）. Is the gun a warning about violence in Taiwan?

Handcart 91×72.5 （1998）: oil painting Though of mainlander extraction, Lu Hsien-ming is an advocate of "Taiwaneseness." He often speaks for disadvantaged groups in his work. This painting shows the hardiness of society's poor, and shows the compassion of those on the margins of society for the disadvantaged.

Illustration of Taiwan-Sermon 398×250 cm （1996-98）: oil paint, hemp cloth Chen Yin-wei, a young painter who studied in Australia, has been doing a series of paintings on humanist values in Taiwan from a historical perspective. This enormous work is the most representative of the series.

Ring and Lock 91×72.5 cm （1998）: oil, acrylic, canvas Pan Li-hung is the only woman leader in the Taipei Modern Painting Group. In recent years she has homed in on the subjects of locks, doors, and bars, with which she expresses her thoughts about interpersonal relations, and especially about the status and psychology of women in today's Taiwan.

Symbol Series 100×81 cm （1998）: oil on canvas Dino Tsai is a founder of the Taipei Modern Painting Group. Since the Lincoln Mansions collapse, he has been doing performance art to benefit the victims. This painting featuring pricing labels reflects the struggle between materialism and spiritualism.

Four Images 90×90 cm （1997）: oil painting Lin Chin-piao, who studied in France and is now an associate professor at Chinese Culture University, inclines toward postmodern spiritual super-realist painting. He often combines Western and Chinese motifs, or combines things anachronistically, to express the progress of civilization, and to hint at a future of unlimited breadth.