Zhao Bo’s works record his perceptions of life and society. He used to create perfectly beautiful surreal dream worlds, but now he’s deconstructing this dream-world style he created. In its place, he creates fantasy patterns of consciousness in a state of truth, asking his audience to enter a deeper state of thought.

This exhibition focuses on the concept of Asian contemporary art. Soka is the first art gallery to introduce Southeast Asian art to galleries in Taiwan, showing works from Indonesian artist Agus Suwage, Thai artist Natee Utarit and Filipino artist Gabriel Barredo. Their unique styles are ahead of their times, yet incorporated with local cultures and traditions. Soka has a close relationship with the art industry in Japan and Korea. We have hosted tours for prominent minimalist Korean artists, becoming the very first art organization in Taiwan to exhibit Korean minimalist works. This time, we present Park Seo Bo’s famous “Ecriture” series from his earlier works and contemporary Korean ink artist Moon Bong Sun’s works. Representing the Japanese contemporary art are works of Yayoi Kusama and Yoshitomo Nara, who both are trend-setting and well-known artists.

Between May 9th and June 14th, Soka Art will play host to, “Bifurcation” a contemporary art exhibition with participating artists from both China and Taiwan. The exhibition includes 17 pieces from six young artists: Lin Bao Ling, Zhang Tian Mu, C. C. Chang, Wang Meng Sha, Peng Hui Ting, and Yang Hong. The media they use ranges from black ink, to color ink, to acrylics, which is a highly uncommon modern use of medium in traditional Chinese ink art. Meanwhile, their styles incorporate landscapes, memorandum, portraits and imitation; truly displaying the freedom of contemporary Chinese ink art. Paired up as a dialogue between two people, the six artists present their works through three subtopics: “Landscapes and Sceneries”, “Borrowed Qi and Earned Authority” and “Trance and Serenity.”

Through this exhibition, Looking for the “Mark of China,” we wish to illustrate how enthusiasm for tradition does not only take the form of ink. In the present, due to the properties of so-called contemporary art, the trends and range of art have become even wider. This does not just apply to the cases of “New Ink” artists. We also believe that more and more people will come to realize that contemporary Chinese art bears a strong “mark of China.” This may even be able to set off a new wave in the international art scene and bring deeper nourishment and replenishment to world civilization.