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Mind & Matter Unleashed: Selective Works of Hsu Yung-Chin

Curator: J.J. Shih

2022.7.16-2022.9.19

Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center, Building A and B

The Information Age is flooded with texts yet drought in handwriting. Handwriting, the activity humans have performed for millennia, has been replaced by typing—through keyboards, keypads, speech recognition, or scribbling. The scribbling is to be identified only by the device; once the word is identified, the handwriting immediately disappears, though the electronic signature may be an exception. On the other hand, handwriting in the past was a way to send messages and could also express personality, characteristics, emotion, taste, and aesthetics. Thus, it is crucial for calligraphy, an art of handwriting, to break through the tradition and move with the time.

From July 16, the Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center (HCAC) will exhibit 38 masterpieces of calligraphy art by HSU Yung-Chin from the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts collection. Curating by Professor J.J. Shih, the works on display represent the development of Hsu’s art and respond to the issue of the innovation of calligraphy art in modern times. Hsu's art career is built on his base studies in traditional calligraphy in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, he devoted himself to modern calligraphy experiments and incorporated the art with Taiwan's untamed cultural vitality. Since the 21st century, he has been trying to liberate calligraphy, creating an intuitive calligraphy style that transcends the forms of Chinese characters and truthfully reflects his mind. In addition, Hsu also strives to engage in dialogues and collaborate with other fields, integrating calligraphy aesthetics into contemporary cultural activities and daily life.