Peng Kang-Long

1962 Taiwan     Biography

Text / Chang Kuo-chuen

Peng is unconventional as an artist who practices traditional ink and wash painting. I like to compare him to two Vienna Secession artists, Gustav Klimt (1862~1918) and Egon Schiele (1890~1918), since their unique styles imbue a strong sense of character and emotion.

We used the flowers Klimt and Schiele painted a century ago as a control group for Western art to view the new ink painting by Peng. Lining up the paintings by these three artists, you will find that the desires and emotions for flowers of these three extremely perceptive artists share a similar code: tangled, wound up, stacked, fondled, and filled with charm and boundless dreams….

This painting is just like an enchanting flower bed. Gazing at the peduncle provides the same sensations as sliding your hand over a pale neck. Shifting your view to the sepal, petals, corolla, and then stamen is just like pressing your face, lips, and tongue against hers. Or, simply just sticking one’s face, lips, and tongue into her…. And this is just foreplay. The top of the stamen and stigma is full of pollen anxious to burst from the crevices. You gently breathe into her ear, scattering suddenly and filling the paper with drunk flowers.

Yet, the mystical stones of “beautiful, thin, wrinkled, transparent, and ugly” are just symbols for himself, as a companion, confidante, or solid embrace for beauty (flower). Hard and stubborn stone actually has a softer side. This is a rare transformation for the middle-aged Peng. It also serves as stable source of emotional sustenance for him.

Past Exhibitions at Gallery100：
Autumn Blossom
2015 ART TAIPEI