Minto Fang's Solo Exhibiton - Recombinant of Objects

Dec 10, 2011-Jan 15, 2012

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Minto Fang

 

Text/ Lucien

Andy Warhol once said that art has no set form. Minto Fang is a testament to that idea and his works invariably exude a certain degree of self-satisfaction at their simultaneous portrayal of “change and non-change.” This seeming contradiction can be traced back to the way in which the artist experiments with life-related values in his work. Faced with a modern world in which the definition of the boundary between art and design is now reexamined, this experimentation has become the foundation in creating artworks for Minto Fang, who has set many examples of how art and life can be combined. One example is his frequent use of plant shapes as a semiotic derived from nature. The grass-growing installation work Fang displayed at the 47th Venice Biennial in 1997, showcased how artistic creativity can be used to infuse manmade landscapes with “Green Concept.” Later sculptures, from “A-Cho”, “A-Shu” to “Reincarnation” series have used camphor trees taken from nature and arranged or carved in such a way as to breathe life back into the wood. Through this transformative process, even tree-shaped potted-plants made of metal are stripped of their hard coldness and achieve harmonious coexistence with the environment. As part of the current exhibition, Minto Fang strolls through the ever-evolving creative game he has invented. One of the results of this approach can be seen in the way he incorporates into his work a traditional desk infused with the rich spiritual imagery of classical Chinese literati. It would seem that the relationship between the desk and other objects represents the artist’s desire to return to Chinese culture and aesthetic taste. In the same way, vital tentacles and branches emit a life force that is imbued with cultural meaning, whilst also alluding to the closeness of the relationship between nature and culture. Through these elements the viewer glimpses the transformation of Fang’s inner life experience, as the artist employs his highly individualistic creative style to remove the pale of culture and knowledge. In the world of Minto Fang everything contains within itself the potential for different possibilities.