Poppy．Golden Lotus．Dopamine: Su Meng-Hung Solo Exhibition

The Tina Keng Gallery is pleased to present Poppy．Golden Lotus．Dopamine,the second solo exhibition of Su Meng-Hung at the Tina Keng Gallery, on view from December 22, 2012 to February 8, 2013 (opening reception: Saturday, December 22, 4:30-7:00pm). Su often presents contemporary assortments of traditional themes, borrowing from the floral paintings of Yuan Dynasty and others among the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, and incorporating interpretations and symbols of desire, lust and addiction in his work.

As underscored by the title of the exhibition, Su positions the poppy, in association with opium and its medical and narcotic properties; the golden lotus, noted from the given name of Pan Jinlian in the book Jin Ping Mei, which is also referred to as The Plum in the Golden Vase, or The Golden Lotus, written by Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng (“The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling”—clearly a pseudonym); and dopamine, a organic chemical released in the brain through food, sex, drugs, and neutral stimuli, but most often associated with consumption and addiction, aside one another. Su integrates painting, silkscreen, installation and sculpture, working in multiple layers as he considers the application of loaded symbols, transforming meaning and interpretation through his work. A sea of foiled clouds, the act of “copying” paintings from the masters, layering pigment upon pigment and sanding the work to create a boundless stretch of visual rush— fantastic, coital, hybrid, psychedelic, indulgence and abstinence, along with addiction.

Su Meng-Hung

Su Meng-Hung was born in Taipei, Taiwan (b. 1976), and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Changhua National University of Education in Changhua, Taiwan and Masters of Fine Arts degree from Goldsmiths College, University of London, London, UK. Su has recently obtained his Ph.D degree from the Tainan National University of the Arts, Tainan, Taiwan. He has held solo exhibitions at the Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei (2009), National Central University Art Center, Taoyuan (2009), the Galerie Grand Siècle, Taipei (2007 and 2008), IT Park, Taipei (2007) and Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (2003) and has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Taiwan and abroad, including Time Games: Contemporary Appropriations of the Past (2012), Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; Today．Contemporary Art in Taiwan (2010), Gyeongnam Art Museum, Changwon, Korea, Expenditure: Busan Biennale (2008), Busan, Korea.