Disappearing Traces: Yuan Goang-Ming's First Solo Show in Beijing

TEXT:Sue Wang    DATE: 2012.4.24

Poster of Disappearing Traces Disappearing Traces is the ?rst solo exhibition of Yuan Goang-Ming's work in Beijing, and it provids an overview of his past and recent works, dating from 1992 to 2011. In these photographs, videos, and new media installations Yuan delves into his life experiences, and simultaneously attends to memory and the removal, breaking down, and separation of context, to tell these stories. His works appear distanced from reality, which he transforms into an illusion, as in the uninhabited streets of the photograph City Disqualified — Hsimen District at Night (2002). The exhibition will be on view from April 21 until May 27, 2012.

City Disqualified--Hismen District at Night, 2002; Digitally Altered Photography, 300X240cm

City Disqualified--Hismen District at Night, 2002; Digitally Altered Photography, 300X240cm

Fish On Dish, 1992; LCD Video projector, white plate, DVD player, H 240XW 500XL500cm

Fish On Dish, 1992; LCD Video projector, white plate, DVD player, H 240XW 500XL500cm

A pioneer of new media art, Yuan's works, such as Fish On Dish (1992) and The Cage (1995), show his experiments with vision and video art. In his most recent works he continues his explorations of a state of displacement, all the while, experimenting and pushing the limits of his chosen mediums. In Disappearing Landscape — Passing II (2011), for instance, the cameras dive forward and retreat back, allowing Yuan to build a virtual "passage" of imagery, in an attempt to connect life and death, the "visible" and "invisible," and to retrace his memories of his father. The traces of portraits, and of memory, remain on the phosphorous-covered boards of the multi-media installations, Disappearing Portrait — Mio and Disappearing Portrait — Ming (both 2011). In each of these two works, the image remains out of focus, up until the very last second, when the ?gure becomes clear and the projector shuts off. The cycle of appearance and disappearance, of focusing and blurring, is indicative of memory's nature, and alludes to the inherent fear, darkness, and loneliness produced by changes in the family. From the micro-narratives he creates in his works, to his combination of cinema and video art to capture the every day, the works of Disappearing Traces provide a captivating overview of this ground-breaking artist's practice.

Disappearing Landscape — Passing Ⅱ, 2011; Digital Photography

Disappearing Landscape — Passing Ⅱ, 2011; Digital Photography

Disappearing Portrait — Mio, 2011; Digital Photography

Disappearing Portrait — Mio, 2011; Digital Photography

Smiling Rocking Horse, 2011

Smiling Rocking Horse, 2011

Born in Taipei, in 1965, Yuan Goang-Ming is Associate Professor of New Media Art at the Taipei National University of the Arts. He received a Diploma in Media Arts from the Staatliche Hochschule fur Gestaltung, Karlsruhe, Germany (1997) and a BFA at the National Institute of the Arts (Taipei, 1989), in addition to attending the Institute for New Media in Frankfurt (1994). Yuan's work has been included in numerous international exhibitions, including the Gwangju Biennale (1995 and 2002), the Taipei Biennial (1996, 1998, and 2002), Translated Acts (Berlin, New York, and Mexico City, 2001-02), 01.01.01: Art in Technological Times (San Francisco, 2001), Luna’s Flow: The 2nd Seoul International Media Art Biennale (2002), Culture Meets Culture: Busan Biennale 2002, the Venice Biennale (2003), the Liverpool Biennial (2004), the Guang- zhou Triennial (2005), the Singapore Biennale (2008), Taiwan Calling (Budapest, 2010), the Asian Art Biennial (Taichung, 2011), Moving Image in China: 1988-2011 (Shanghai, 2011), and the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions (Tokyo, 2012). He has also curated several exhibitions, including SlowTech, held in 2006 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei.

TKG+(Beijing) has presented a seminar for this exhibition, which is given by artist Yuan GOANG-MING, QIU ZHIJIE, and Philip Tinari about "Yuan Goang-ming’s past and recent work" during the opening reception of Disappearing Traces on April 21, 4:30-7:30pm.

About the Exhibition

Date: 2012.04.21-2012.05.27

Venue: TKG+Beijing

Add: B106, Unit2, YongHe Garden 2nd Phase, No.3, DongBinHe Rd., AnDingMen, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100013, China

Opening Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 10:00am-7:00pm, Saturday-Sunday: 11:00am-7:00pm

Courtesy of Yuan Goang-Ming and TKG+, for further information please visit www.tinakenggallery.com or contact info@tinakenggallery.com.