Foreword from the Director

In 1986, Taipei Fine Arts Museum established a system allowing Taiwanese artists to apply for their own solo exhibitions at TFAM. Along with changing trends in contemporary art and exhibition practices, since 2021 our Open Calls have moved away from an institutional perspective, instead becoming more oriented toward the artists' careers and returning to a focus on the nature of exhibitions themselves. Under the name of the “TFAM Solo Exhibitions,” we present four individual artists at the same time every year, creating a space for exchange and discussion among them.

Hung-Chih Peng (1969- ) earned a master’s degree from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1997, and ever since he has been an active force in contemporary art both in Taiwan and internationally. Spanning such mediums as video, installation, sculpture, ink painting, oil painting and 3D printing, his artwork has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Europe, the United States and China, as well as in international biennials in Istanbul, Gwangju, Fukuoka and Taipei. Peng also received the First Prize in the Visual Arts category at the 5th Taishin Arts Award. His pieces have been acquired by numerous museums and art institutions both in Taiwan and abroad, including representative works from his “Dog” series in TFAM’s own collection: Canine Monk Series: Unity of All Religions (2007), Face to Face (2001), and One-Eye-Ball (1999–2015).

Unlike his "Dog" series of sculptures, which involve the bodily participation of the viewer and investigate non-anthropocentric perspectives, the solo exhibition "Psychic Theater" is a recent crossdisciplinary exploration and a reflection on his life experiences in the 1980s and 1990s. Peng's feature-length film Psychic Theater focuses on three playwrights who rose to prominence in the theater world with their unique, innovative performance styles during the same period as he, but who tragically passed away when young: Tian Chi-Yuan (1964–1996), Chen Ming-Cai (1961–2003) and Chou Yi-Chang (1948–2016). Although he never met them personally, in this film Peng seeks to communicate and collaborate with the three playwrights through psychic mediums and the ritual guān luò yīn, through which the living enter the spirit world. Together, they complete three plays in the hellscape setting of Datian Temple in Tainan. Unexpectedly, the film also turns into an interlude of affection and reconciliation with the artist's deceased mother. The long-form film and other spatial installations in the exhibition collectively create a theatrical atmosphere: At the entrance, the kinetic installation The Flying Wall, which moves back and forth crashing into other walls, with lights that turn alternately bright and dark, as well as the slow, swaying Consecrated Chandelier, transform the galleries into ritualistic spaces from different dimensions, ushering visitors into a journey through Peng’s artistic encounter with the three playwrights.

The core of Peng's art is a concern for the overlapping relationships of religion, culture, power and identity. He excels at using humor and symbolism to challenge viewers' preconceptions of social structures and belief systems. His artistic style blends elements of Eastern and Western cultures, intertwining multiple forms of media and symbols to present deep reflections on contemporary society, the human soul, and the human condition.

Loh Li-Chen
Director, Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Foreword from the Director

Artist Statement
| Hung-Chih Peng

Video Is Not 'I See,' But 'I Fly':  
The Technics Hauntology of Hung-Chih Peng
| Hongjohn Lin

Biography
Works