ESLITE GALLERY will hold LIEN Chien Hsing’s 17th solo exhibition, entitled “Between Reality and Fiction: Sceneries of the Mind”, from 9 June – 8 July. The works had taken him four years to prepare, the longest time for the artist’s entire career and this marks the most important solo exhibition for the artist to date.

Born in 1962, LIEN Chien Hsing grew up in the Taiwanese port city of Keelung, where he saw the fishing industry collapse due to overfishing, as well as the decline of the gold, copper, and coal industries in the area as mining depleted the resources. These events caused industries that had in the past flourished to gradually disappear or facilities to be abandoned as prosperity was lost. During field surveys and explorations, LIEN witnessed the abandonment and ruin of shipbuilding plants and mining operations. With the passing of the years, an allure to drawing the desolation of such sites emerged. This local allure encompassed a vast language of place and spiritual significance. Whether it is Jinguashi’s Taiwan Metal Mining Corporation, the abandoned electrical power plant in Keelung’s Badouzi, or the Jianji coal mine along the Rueibin seacoast, these places, with their rich and distinctive language of place,have served as sources of creative inspiration to LIEN. And as LIEN explored and manipulated fable-like imaginary worlds through the depiction of these desolate locales, he developed his style of magic realism while infusing it with a cultured outlook and calm sensibility.

LIEN’s works of abandoned sites convey a certain sense of inner yearning for the sublime. They are not merely depictions of the physical ruins because the remaining desolation is not frightening but what inspires fear is the sense of lost and diminishment in humanity, as well as the submerged memories everyone holds deep in their hearts, like the ruins themselves. On the subject of ruins, when people speak of these locales, it coalesces a civilizational memory of a particular time, and life only begins at that moment when there is a chance to renew the promise of land. LIEN hopes to create a space of spiritual transcendence and elevated consciousness through these works. Just as he said, “I can sense the transformation of industries, changes in the flourishing and decline of different parts of society; I can contemplate the conflict between tradition and innovation, and the awakening of a crisis mentality about overdevelopment of the natural environment. I hope that these works can stimulate people’s sense of belonging and affirmation for this land and culture, and restore the original beauty and glory of this place—and serve as a stimulus and source of hope for personal creativity.”