TKG+ presents the exhibition Complexing Bodies, the gallery’s first solo show of the Taiwanese artist Hou I-Ting (b. 1979). The exhibition will be on view at TKG+, in the Neihu District of Taipei, from May 21 to June 19, 2011. The opening will be held on May 21, starting at 4:30pm.

The photographs of Hou’s new series Complexing Bodies expand on her earlier work by taking a complex and multi-layered approach, both theoretically and physically, to Taiwan’s art, culture, history, and position in relation to the West.

The series originates in Hou’s interest in the painting Market (1945) by the Taiwanese artist Li Shih-chiao (1908-1995). Market depicts a woman from Shanghai walking in a street market in Taiwan, during the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945). The woman stands in as an other, in a colonial environment. Hou’s new work tackles moments of contact between different cultures and pays keen attention to hybridization, globalization, and empire.

As with complexing groups that link to a metal to coordinate bonds, each layer of Hou I-Ting’s work, from her body to the embroidery, serves as a commentary on the socio-political concepts of center and periphery. Hou I-Ting’s body, fashionably dressed and set in the few remaining unregulated street markets in Taipei, becomes a vessel that can contains space, culture, and both tangible and intangible values. The handmade embroideries, modeled after Western canonical artworks, such as Jan van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait (1434, The National Gallery, London, United Kingdom), provide an additional level that questions and unsettles preconceived notions of art history. Together, the layers of her works bring into relief Taiwan’s position within local and global.

Hou I-Ting (Taiwan, b. 1979) currently lives and works in Taipei. She received a degree from the Taipei National University of the Arts in 2003. In 2008 she obtained a degree in plastic arts at the Tainan National University of the Arts (2008). Her work has been included in exhibitions at the Luoca Gallery for Contemporary Art, China (2011); Villa Benzi Zecchin, Caerano di San Marco, Italy (2011); the Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan (2010); VT ARTSALON in Taipei, Taiwan (2010); Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan (2009); South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, United Kingdom (2009); Taitung Railway Art Village, Taitung, Taiwan (2008); and the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan (2007)

Exhibition : Complexing Body ─ Hou-I Ting
Reception : 2011. 5.21│16:30
Duration : 2011.5.21-6.19
Venue : Tina Keng Gallery TKG+ (Neihu, B1)
Sponsor : National Cultrue and Arts Foundation