Tina Keng Gallery presents Non-Zero Point: 2013 Abstract Art of Ava Hsueh, along with Chu Teh-I’s solo exhibition. Hsueh’s recent works shows her marvelous journey in search of the essence of abstract art.

The 29 paintings included in the exhibition continue Hsueh’s exploration of points yet ideas differ from her previous works. The nine points in her paintings consist of 3 types of colors, aiming to present the interrelations between paintings and space and to discover symbols and information delivered in the space. In essence, mandates are found in the space between symbols, while also forming a field of sense and knowledge. How one draws the energy of meaning between information through abstract symbols, to a place of deconstruction for “non-zero point,” is something that Hsueh designs to explore in this exhibition.

In the artist statement crafted for this exhibition, Hsueh opens with: “As a messenger I move between source and pathway, until I find my destination.” In this statement she seems determined that information has its own intent and through certain channels would reach a destination. However, information that is sent and transmitted is not always successfully received and read. The coding, decoding and generation of the meaning of information has its uncertainty, especially distortion, mutation, or even loss in the process of transmission. Perhaps Hsueh intends further—she wants to emphasize her persistence and pursuit in creating abstract art. The “message” and its system of transmission and communication, refers to abstract art and its historical evolution. Through personal exploration and expansion, Hsueh attempts to establish an “information” system, and in the search of “pathways,” she is a believer and preacher of abstract art, with “its destination” as her final dwelling.

Ava Hsueh was born in Taichung in 1956 and received her Ph. D. from the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University in 1995. She directed the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (2006-2009) and currently serves as the chair full time professor of Doctoral Program in Art Creation and Theory in Tainan National University of the Arts. Her works have been collected by Taipei Fine Arts Museum, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, and National Art Museum of China. Her works were recently selected in several exhibitions, including Horizon Realm: Contemporary Art From Taiwan in New York (2013), Form of Formless: Taiwan Abstract Arts in Taipei (2012). She held Flowing Reality: 2011 Abstract Art of Ava Hsueh at National Art Museum of China in Beijing and Shanghai Art Museum.

Image: © Ava Hsueh, Tina Keng Gallery