Chinese Back to Exhibitions
 
 
 
Life is merely a game, so do grass and trees, so do sceneries.
 

Bugs, fishes, birds and animals evolve in the Nature all the time. The scenery they incubate inspires literati¡¦s sigh of appreciation into lyrics and songs. Every leaf could be scored into a long poem. For the sun, for the rain and wind, for the surrounding grove, for the soil, they perfume, they bloom, they joy, they sorrow, they wither, they fall, and then they resurrect.

Every present stands on its past track to expect the next splendid instant. Through sharp observations, Jang Tarng-Kuh paints tress and plants, narrates soils, and depicts lives, captures light and shadow, describes ecology. He understands so profoundly how the scenery holds the whole creation by peace and blooms its beauty for the present. Just like the secret garden in everyone¡¦s heart that others cannot see easily, Jang Tarng-Kuh¡¦s backyard garden remains aspiring but gradually lost sceneries, which seem surprisingly conceal indistinct agitation and uneasiness under their familiar and comfortable surfaces. Although the backyard garden could contains illogical absurdities and fantasies, Jang Tarng-Kuh much likes to portray the tranquil moments after storm which hide limitless possibilities and unknowns. A story just ends, another story waits to start; the intermezzo in between fills with energetic vigor to get ready. ¡§We had no chance to witness dinosaur¡¦s footprint. Perhaps it is buried ten meters underground, the cricket may know. At least, we at this moment could pave a forest of green, to wait for the possibly coming aliens¡¨, said Jang Tarng-Kuh.

Every today is the tomorrow of yesterday. Every century is just a game, a concept changing by time and space. Scenery as well has its charming past and unpredictable future. For the art expression, from the diversity of Earth, Jang Tarng-Kuh abandons numerous grotesque compositions and prefers to ¡§realize backyard garden¡¨. Like the presentation of modern poetry, the aroma is given on the canvas, while the meanings and imaginations beyond the paintings are left for audience to dream. However this sunshine in the dream spraying on the real earth, chasing the conversation between one scene and another, flowing water heard it, Jang Tarng-Kuh saw it. In his work ¡§Fullness¡¨, he saw the floral cloth of history as fashion in the post-modern realism, counting the falling leafs with banana trees outside of windows, guessing how sweet oranges would be next year. He saw a swift current ¡§As Silk¡¨, running down from the steep cliff into a splash-ink landscape; the color and smell of sulfur are portrayed, drifting with the tides, waiting for its revival. In ¡§Shining wave dancing shadow¡¨, he saw treetop¡¦s mood when it looks at the blue sky in the water. Shadows are divided by the sunshine into reality and illusion; the water is rippled by the butterfly¡¦s stop or leafs¡¦ fall. Even the dewdrops in the dawn could never understand how cabbages in ¡§Spring Soil¡¨ transfer from green buds as tender as newborn baby, into full and mature jades covered leaf by leaf. We even hear that yellow butterfly, singing a lullaby when softly pushing the cradle.

They are all games. In the big game of the art expression, some behaves recklessly all along, go their own roads, enjoy their own scenes but become the highlight of the scenery. Just like Ryusei Kishida(1891~1929) in Modern Japan Art History who went the reverse way to realism among the era of Japanese painters swarming to late impressionism is reputed ¡§mystical realism¡¨. After 80 years in Taiwan, Jang Tarng-Kuh¡¦s ¡§realize backyard garden¡¨ reveals oriental mystery within obscurity and solitude and that seems to have similar wavelength and game-playing spirit to Ryusei Kishida¡¦s pursuing realism against the period style and trend. (annotation 1.)

Only a lonesome man could hear the sound of Earth, and see the true colors of scenery. Staidness pregnant with meanings is Jang Tarng-Kuh¡¦s consistent representation of lonely temperament. He uses Nature¡¦s eye to watch human, ¡§Sceneries to me are like fairy tales full of joys, imaginations, and simple deceptions. On rich Earth, there are always endless stories, and the only difference is that the character becomes a lily, a buffalo, a leaf, a rushing stream, three freshly plucked guavas, even a piece of sunshine, a tree¡K¡¨ Just as the cat of ¡§Listen to the rain¡¨ sitting on the doorsill, it watches in the patter of rain and counts the distance of the mountains far-away, seems meditating, but reveals a little tediousness. However is it watching the mortal world in and out of the door, or its master inside watching its boringness.

Jang Tarng-Kuh sees and walks into the present sceneries, plays with landscapes of tomorrow, paints the reality but is not too realistic. Affecting images are not about real or false, they are God¡¦s whimsy ideas transforming into reasonable Nature, playing in the game that Jang Tarng-Kuh creates.

Annotation 1: Lee, Chin-Xian ¡§ Realistic secret garden-- Jang Tarng-Kuh¡¦s art reverse journey¡¨

Celia Huang
Translated by Ko-Nung Huang

Shinning waves dancing shadow¡@ 2008¡@130 x 162cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Drizzle at the pond¡@ 2007~2008¡@130 x 97cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
As Silk¡@ 2008¡@130 x 162cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Rushing Stream¡@ 2007~2008¡@89.5 x 130cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
The Land¡@ 2005~2008¡@130 x 194cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Hide and Seek¡@ 2006~2008¡@50 x 60.5cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Wild Lilies I¡@2006~2008¡@72.5 x 91cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Afternoon Talk¡@2006~2009¡@130 x 97cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Egrets¡@2006¡@91 x 65cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Wild Lilies II¡@2006~2008¡@91 x 72.5cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Amaryllis¡¦ Spring¡@2006~2008¡@162 x 112cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Clovers¡@2006~2008¡@60.5 x 50cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Pop of Plantain Trees¡@2006~2008¡@130 x 194cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
On the Journey¡@2006~2008¡@72.5 x 91cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Spring Soil¡@2006~2008¡@72.5 x 91cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Guavas¡@2006~2008¡@60.5 x 50cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Golden Years¡@2007~2008¡@60.5 x 50cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Fullness¡@2006~2008¡@33 x 45.5cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
An Azalea¡@2009¡@27 x 41cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Silent Night¡@2007¡@53 x 41cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Adventure at dawn ¡@2005¡@72.5 x 60.5cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
Listen to the rain¡@2001~2008¡@162 x 130cm¡@Oil on canvas
 
 
1968 Born in Taoyuan, Taiwan.
1986 Graduated in St. Francis Xavier High School with emphasis in the planar design of the arts.
1992 Graduated in Chinese Culture University in Department of the Arts with emphasis in Western Painting.
1994 Sep-1995 July Further education in France.
1995 Instructed in Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School.
   
Solo Exhibitions -
1997 The primal individual exhibition "the Border Between Reality and Imagination" in Metaphysical Art Gallery in Taipei.
2000 The individual exhibition "Extraordinary Origin of Cosmo" in Metaphysical Art Gallery in Taipei.
2002 The individual exhibition "Meeting With Jang, Tamg-Kuh" in Metaphysical Art Gallery in Taipei.
2005 The individual exhibition "Formosa Tuscany - Jang Tarng kuh' solo" in Metaphysical Art Gallery in Taipei.
2009 The solo exhibition ¡§The Day I Saw Past and Future Sceneries Playing¡¨ in Metaphysical Art Gallery.
   
Group Exhibitions -
1989 The first triad exhibition in Hua-Kang Museum in Taipei.
1991 The second triad exhibition in Hua-Kang Museum.
1999 A five-person unified intaglio printing exhibition "Memory of the Board" in China Graphic Art Center in Taipei.
2000 A eight-person unified exhibition "Formosa" in Ke-Yuan Gallery in Taichung.
2001 A unified exhibition "Divine Light in The Millennium" in Hong-Gan Museum in Taipei and in Taichung County Seaport Art Center.
2003 A unified exhibition "Oriental Romanticism" in Metaphysical Art Gallery in Taipei.
2004 A unified exhibition "Scylla and Charybdis in Love : The Challenges Facing Contemporary Taiwanese Artists" in Gwangju Art Museum, Korea / National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan.
A unified exhibition "Detail in Prosperity" in Metaphysical Art Gallery in Taipei.
"Mind¡EReality - Realistic paintings in Taiwan" in GSR Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan
2005 A unified exhibition "Scylla and Charybdis in Love : The Challenges Facing Contemporary Taiwanese Artists" in Kuandu Museum in Taipei.
A unified exhibition "Moment of gaze Exhibition" in Chienkuo Technology University, Changhua, Taiwan.
2006 A unified exhibition" Figurative Painting in Taiwan" in Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
A unified exhibition "Like attracts like Exhibition" in Yoji Art Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan
2007 A unified exhibition" Feature of Scenery Exhibition" in Pierre Galerie Taichung, Taiwan
2008 Taipei International Art Fair 2008 in Taipei World Trade Center.
   
Awards -
1986 The Fifth Taoyuan County Art Appreciation Exhibition in Watercolor, 2nd Prize.
1990 The Fifteenth Exhibition of Lion Young Artists Competition, Taipei, Taiwan.
The Seventeenth Taipei Municipal Art Appreciation Exhibition in Intaglio Printing, 1st Prize.
 
 
Jang, Trang-kuh SOLO Opening Party