Soka Art is honored to invite top Mandopop lyricist, Vincent Fang, to showcase his solo art exhibition–The Artist’s Way of Vincent Fang–for five weeks from August 12 to September 16, 2023 in Taiwan. Fang will be attending the opening ceremony in person at 4pm on August 12. Titled The Artist’s Way of Vincent Fang, the exhibition aims to explore stereoscopic characters through Fang’s creative philosophies and styles by featuring Punk Cat, Steampunk Style, and other figures in the series. Fang’s bold attempts at combining different media have opened new possibilities for installation art, creating more symbolic art forms that are distinct from traditional textual expressions.

This exhibition will showcase the Punk Cat and Steampunk Style series. The Punk Cat series aspires to create an original, co-branded Chinese action figure as a trendy product for artists and creators to apply their creativity. Characterized by healing cat ears and retro robots, this action figure enables artists to unleash their creative imaginations. In particular, Faded Beauty is a Chinoiserie masterpiece created in joint collaboration with Jay Chou. By blending both passion and calm to demonstrate the essential qualities of music creators, half of the trendy action figure features a frosty teal color that symbolizes the indispensability of calmness during the creative process. On the other hand, the action figure’s cross-section reveals internal mechanical structures in vibrantly vivid colors that symbolize the infinite imaginations and passions for music.

The Steampunk Style is one of Fang’s personal favorites because it features retro mechanical structures from steampunk films and television series, such as Howl's Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki and the film Mortal Engines. Fang is deeply fascinated by these mechanical parts and steam power elements, such as pipelines, gears, chains, and dashboards, particularly the ability for the metallic textures and mechanical structures to convey an orderly beauty of craftsmanship. This series can be illustrated by Thousand Miles Away, a large-scale installation art work that interprets the steampunk style through aesthetic metal works and layouts. Colored in gold shades, this artwork not only emphasizes mechanical craftsmanship, but also adds a touch of resplendent nobility. Designed to be viewed from a horizontal angle, viewers can only see this artwork from one side. The entire appearance can only be seen from the top, symbolizing an analogy of facts. Fang originally created this artwork with the intention of reminding viewers about distortions in communication. While viewers can only see parts of this artwork on the ground–the words “Thousand Miles Away” can be observed from a top view. This encourages viewers to be open-minded, unbiased, and flexible in experiencing a different world. Through the expression of steampunk, Fang combines art and ideology to inspire viewers with thoughts and feelings on a deeper level.

Born in Hualien in 1969, Fang joined Jacky Wu’s Alfa Music as a lyricist in 1997, the same year as Jay Chou, by signing a brokerage contract with the company. After exploring the industry for a few years, Fang gradually developed a highly unique writing style that ingeniously transforms classic literature into popular lyrics through the rearrangement of language. By creating songs with meaningful implications and refreshing expressions, Fang has revolutionized the traditional Mandopop market and created unique postmodern lyrics that convey the retro connotations of Song dynasty poetry.

For eight consecutive years (from the 12th to 19th awards), Fang has been nominated by Taiwan's Golden Melody Award in the Best Lyrics category.  He has won two times with his works, William Castle and Blue and White Porcelain. He also demonstrated his talent in the film and television industry, having directed multiple MVs, CF short videos, and the film, Rhythm of the Rain. Furthermore, he holds a great sense of passion and purpose for traditional cultural events. In addition to participating in the Cross-Strait Chinese Character Culture & Art Festival and Beijing Palace Museum Seminars numerous times, Fang has also initiated the planning for the Xitang Hanfu Cultural Festival.

In November 2020, Fang began making cross-industry developments in contemporary art, launching a series of lyric installation art that have received high levels of affirmation by the art community. His works were sold with great success at the Hong Kong Bonhams Auction in December 2020. Subsequently, Fang has been invited to many art expos as he brought his solo exhibition tour—The Artist’s Way of Vincent Fang—to Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen. Fang has demonstrated his impressive and versatile talent in the fields of music and art. We cordially invite you to attend The Artist’s Way of Vincent Fang and embark on a journey into contemporary art together.