黯黑的放浪者 II：幽遊之域 ─ 楊茂林個展
Wanderers of the Abyssal Darkness II: Somber Seas ─ Yang Mao-Lin Solo Exhibition
展期 Dates | 2019.02.23-04.07
開幕 Reception | 2019.02.23 (Sat.) 4:30 p.m.
地點 Venue | 耿畫廊 (台北市114內湖區瑞光路548巷15號1樓)


「我的個性中有50%是深海魚、20%是金魚、30%是熱帶魚。」楊茂林這麼形容自己，輕描淡寫地穿透了他的創作生命。

「黯黑的放浪者II：幽遊之域」延續了2015年個展的名稱，過往的「曼荼羅」已不復見於標題，成了潛伏於創作生涯裡的一個潛標題；而「幽遊之域」對楊茂林來說，是在此系列中漸趨沉著的狀態。他在進入雕塑媒材十餘年後，對繪畫的反思又讓他重新對繪畫媒材產生了興趣，這與他性格中一直不安於室的特質有關。重回繪畫並不代表著是脈絡的迴返，楊茂林在此「黯黑的放浪者」系列中，跳脫過往源於義大利超前衛藝術那硬核（Hardcore）且躁動的風格，轉入幽微而縝密的結構安排，對楊茂林而言現在是一個全新的繪畫狀態，也是另一座聳立於前的高山。

楊茂林曾說，他的創作始終離不開生命中最熱切的事物。而展覽以「黯黑的放浪者」為名，遁入深海魚的形象之中，就如同其自述般，那50%是孤獨而內省的自己，就像生活在深海的生物不可見卻有詭譎驚人的特徵。深海魚之於楊茂林，是他童年期最為熱愛的事物之一。他以三種魚作為自己性格的代稱，也將自己投身於各種生命體或卡漫人物的形象中，每個階段對他來說都有一個必要處理的對象，以及自己所要扮演的角色。就如同在楊茂林的創作之途正要起步時，迎接了台灣解嚴後的狂飆年代，他用了三十年的時間對抗一個叫做國族意識的Boss，同步展開的政治篇、歷史篇、文化篇，對楊茂林而言是衝撞社會常規與體制的話語權。然而，2016年於北美館的回顧展「MADE IN TAIWAN」，代表著一個大敘事章節的結束，步入中年的不合時宜感，讓他感覺過往的批判姿態已略顯過時而鈍，必要重省藝術之刃應該指向的目標；楊茂林認為現階段那個Boss便是自己。

當過去三十年不斷地向外競逐或對抗，歲逾耳順之年的楊茂林在大章節結束之後，重新思考藝術之於自己的意義。那份「熱切」之情可以說是他在現階段得出的回應。當楊茂林認為自己在藝術中對社會之責已告一段落後，那些塵封已久的幼年回憶重新甦醒，他在回應童年未滿的飢餓與懷想時，也同時在探尋藝術生命中的未竟之途。

❙ 藝術家: 楊茂林
楊茂林（b. 1953）現居、創作於台灣台北，崛起於狂飆的1980年代，堪稱台灣當代藝術最具代表性的藝術家之一。其作品型態多元，橫跨平面繪畫、裝置與雕塑等多種形式，擅長以詼諧而深刻的手法，呈現台灣歷史上多元時空的文化交錯，從而演變出殖民、交配後獨具特色的新型態文化現象。其展覽紀錄豐富，自1987年第一次個展於台北市立美術館以來，迄今已舉辦過數十次個展如2018年於彰化縣立美術館的「混種變態─楊茂林的神話學」，以及2016年於台北市立美術館的「MADE IN TAIWAN：楊茂林回顧展」；除了多次參與台灣各美術館的展覽之外，也受邀參加其他各國美術館舉辦的展覽以及2009年的第53屆威尼斯雙年展平行展「婆娑之廟─台灣製造」。

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“My personality can be described as: 50% deep-sea fish, 20% gold fish, and 30% tropical fish,” Yang Mao-Lin once said of himself. A statement that casually echoes his artistic practice.

"Wanderers of the Abyssal Darkness II: Somber Seas" is a continuation of Yang’s 2015 exhibition "The Quest for Mandala Episode I: Wanderers of the Abyssal Darkness". Leaving out “mandala” while turning it into a sub-topic in his artistic pursuit, Yang considers “somber seas” as a gradual state of composure in this series. After more than a decade dedicated to sculpture, his reflection on painting reignites his passion for the art form, a newfound connection rooted in his capricious personality. Returning to painting does not mean it’s a return to the artist’s past practice. In the “Wanderers of the Abyssal Darkness” series, Yang forgoes the hardcore, vigorous style that originated from Italy’s Transavanguardia movement, shifting toward a nuanced and elaborate composition. For Yang, he has now entered a new phase in his painting practice, facing yet another mountain he has to climb on his artistic journey.

The artist once said his practice always revolves around the things that spark his enthusiasm. Titling the exhibition “Wanderers of the Abyssal Darkness,” Yang conjures the image of the deep-sea fish, much like the way he sees himself — the 50% of him that is lonely and introspective evokes a creature living unnoticeably in the depths of the sea, yet endowed with awing, outlandish characteristics. The deep-sea fish was one of Yang’s favorites as a child. He characterizes himself in three kinds of fish, and reimagines himself as different kinds of life forms, anime or manga characters. Each phase always comes with a subject that he needs to investigate, as well as a role he needs to play. Just as he embarked on his artistic journey during Taiwan’s thundering post-martial law era, he spent three decades tackling nationalism in his practice, together the politics, history, and culture series in his work a means to wrestle with the social system and social norms. However, his 2016 retrospective Made in Taiwan at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum for him symbolizes an end to an era. It dawned on him — feeling outdated at midlife — that his critical attitude in his past practice is antiquated, and at this moment what he should scrutinize through his critical lens is none other than himself.

After thirty years of rivaling and confronting, now in his 60s Yang recontemplates the meaning of art after bidding adieu to a grand era, and rekindles a passion well suited for his current state of mind. As Yang deems his social responsibility completed, deeply buried childhood memories now resurface to a hunger and longing unquenched since his youth that propels him to explore the artistic road not taken.

❙ Artist: Yang Mao-Lin
Born in 1953, Yang Mao-Lin now lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan. Emerging from the roaring 1980s in Taiwan, he is one of the established artists on the Taiwanese art scene. He straddles mediums from painting, installation, to sculpture. A sense of humor masquerades his critical social observation, where a crossover of cultures shaped by colonization morphs into a singular cultural phenomenon. Since his first-ever solo exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in 1987, the artist has exhibited extensively, including Hybrid and Metamorphosis: Yang Mao-Lin’s Mythology (Changhua County Art Museum, Changhua, Taiwan, 2018); Made in Taiwan: A Retrospective of Yang Mao-Lin (Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, 2016); Temple of Sublime Beauty — Made in Taiwan (Venice Biennale, Collateral Event, Italy, 2009), as well as numerous group exhibitions in Japan, Korea, Hungary, France, and the U.S.