Chi Chien | 齊簡
Constantly exploring the conceptual boundaries of art as medium, act and subject matter, Chi Chien’s interdisciplinary practice spans diverse media from painting, installation to digital media. Chi experiments with dualist philosophies as he investigates the visual tensions between light and shadow, perception and truth, surface and depth.
In his recent practice, Chi Chien adopts ready-made printed floral fabric as canvas from which he selectively conceals elements using paint. The painted parts become the background while the unpainted floral motifs, paradoxically, become the subjects. This visual play of reversed roles is embodied further by the hyper-realistic, three-dimensional airplanes, whose juxtaposition with the now prominent flowers further blurs the line between truth and perceived. Other underlying philosophical notions are embedded in his work, such as the balance between the yin and the yang, East and West, and the passing of time.
Chi Chien was born in 1974 in Taipei, Taiwan where he lives and works. A post-graduate in Fine Arts from the National Taiwan University of Arts (Taipei), he is recognized for his conceptual approach and meticulous execution by the multiple awards received, including the National First Prize in Mixed Media (2012), and notably Art Taipei’s “Judge’s Prize” (2015) and the “First Prize” at the Kaohsiung Awards (2015). He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Taiwan. Solo exhibitions in Taiwan include “In-Betweeness / Cortex and Shadow”, Taichung, Taiwan (2013), “Prima Facie Exhibit: Park” Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2014), and “Passing Through The Post Garden”, Taipei (2016) and “World Aquarium”, Tainan, Taiwan (2017). Chi’s work has been exhibited internationally with a solo debut in Hong Kong “Passing Through The Garden” (2015) and in group shows in Singapore, London and the United States. His works have been collected by The Ministry of Culture, Taiwan into their “Art Bank Collection” and by the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan.
齊簡的作品跨領域涉及多種媒介，從繪畫、裝置到數字媒體，他不斷探索藝術作為媒介、行為及主體的概念界限。透過研究光影、感知和真相，及表面和深度之間的視覺張力，他從二元哲學中實驗不同的可能性。
在齊簡近期的作品中，他使用顏料選擇性地隱藏元素，並以現成的花布取替帆布；被繪畫的部分成為背景，而沒有被繪畫的花卉圖案則成為了主體，形成互相矛盾的效果。另外，他把超寫實風格的三維飛機與花朵並置，進一步體現角色轉換的視覺效果及模糊真實與感知之間的界限。他的作品中還有其他潛在的哲學概念如陰和陽、東方與西方及時間流逝之間的平衡等。
齊簡於1974年出生在台灣台北，並於當地居住及工作。他是國立台灣藝術大學（台北）的藝術研究生，以其概念性手法及細緻的技巧獲得多個獎項的認可，包括新北市美術展覽會複合媒材全國組第一名（2012年）、入選台北美術獎(2015年) 及高雄獎首獎（2015年）。他於台灣曾經參與無數聯展，在台灣的個展包括在台中的《皮·影/間際》（2013年）、在高雄的《表面物證：公園》（2014年）、在台北的《穿越後花園》（2015年）及在台南的《世界水族館》（2017年）。他的作品在國際間被廣泛展出，如在香港的個展《花叢片葉》（2015年）及在新加坡、倫敦及美國的聯展。他的作品被台灣的文化部藝術銀行及高雄市立美術館收藏。