All humans live with a wound in their heart that they want to conceal. The wounds might be personal or associated with society, state, or history. Alienation, solitude, isolation, and fear are represented through works of art. So, viewers may realize through encounters with such works they are not alone with such wounds. The artist does not need to fear his wounds. Rather, he may use the wound to heal others’, without hesitation.

This exhibition was triggered by a casual encounter between a Korean and Taiwanese master. Korea has a historical background close with Taiwan. The two underwent Japanese colonial rule, attained rapid economic growth under dictatorship, and have the assignment of unification. Taiwan underwent conflict, confusion, tragedy, and tension as much as we did. Suh Yong-Sun is a prominent Korean artist, while Chang Yahoon is an eminent artist of Taiwan.

The figures the two artists address have something in common in their glaring eyes. These figures appear as activists, ordinary people, and self-portraits, which resist contradictions and restraints from the two nation’s modern histories. They are artists who work with aspirations for an ideal life rather than conformism and adaptation.

They are the artists who fill some empty parts of the art worlds of the two countries tainted by aspirations for globalization, through their inner introspection, rejecting excessive commercialization. Their art world, rendered by one brushstroke of intuition, is away from Western expressionist painting. Their work is characterized by the use of brushstrokes and minimal colors. They are forming their own styles rather than being formed by any style.  

As the world becomes complete through these masters’ long-standing artistic careers, encounters between them are significant. It would be another pleasure to see directly these two artists, who are as humanistic as their humble, ingenuous art world.