Maki Fine Arts is pleased to present "OKINAWA/TAIWAN", a collaboration between Yuken Teruya and Kuo I-Chen, opening Friday, May 20, 2011. "OKINAWA/TAIWAN" features two artist, Okinawa-born and New York-based Yuken Teruya and Taipei-based Kuo I-Chen, both critically acclaimed for their works influenced by the history and culture of the community they were born and raised in. In this exhibition, the two internationally recognized artists will showcase new and recent works that take place in Okinawa and Taiwan.
Born in Okinawa, Japan in 1973, Yuken Teruya has been creating works highly critical of modern society by using everyday items such as paper bags and toilet paper cores, as well as using a dye method traditional to Okinawa called Bingata. In 2010, Teruya received high acclaim both domestically and internationally in exhibitions such as his solo show "My Great-grandmother Is USA " at the Ueno Royal Museum, the group show "Ties over Time: Japanese Artists and America" at the US Embassy in Tokyo, and "Roppongi Crossing 2010: Can There Be Art?" at the Mori Art Museum. In the upcoming "OKINWA/TAIWAN", he will present his trademark series "Notice Forest" (Dior), in which he cuts out a shape of a tree from a disposable paper bag, and then breathes life into it by planting the tree back inside the paper bag.
Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1979, Kuo I-Chen uses primarily screen images and installations to produce works that critically redefine and reevaluate the values of humans and the social environment. In 2005, Kuo became the youngest artist ever to represent Taiwan in the Venice Biennial. His works have been seen in numerous international shows, including "Belief" at the inaugural Singapore Biennial in 2006, the group show "Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves" at the ZKM Art Center in 2007, and many others. In "OKINAWA/TAIWAN", Kuo will present "True Colors", a three-channel video, in which four friends of various skin colors from Taiwan, Canada, Panama, and the United Kingdom play a card game called Heart Attack. In this video, the artist explores and highlights the racial, cultural, and ethnic contrast among them.
