Chuang Che
(1934)
Chuang Che (莊喆), a great pioneer of Chinese abstraction, combined bright colours, a turbulence of forms, a sense of transparency, and various paint effects in his abstract landscapes. From this improbable chaos arose a perfect harmony, filled with joy and melancholy, from which emanates a sense of boundless freedom.
Born in 1934 in Peking, Chuang Che comes from a family of scholars. His father was a well-known calligrapher and curator of the Palace Museum in Peking. In 1948, he played an active role in the transfer of the Palace Museum’s works to Taipei. Chuang Che was fourteen when this important event took place. Traditional Chinese painting has remained an inexhaustible source of inspiration throughout his career.
In 1954, Chuang Che entered the Department of Fine Arts at the Taiwan Provincial Normal University, where he met Chu Teh-Chun, who was a teacher there. In 1958, he joined the Wuyue Group (Fifth Moon Group), in which he played a major role. In 1966, he received an endowment from the Rockefeller Foundation that enabled him to make his first trip to the United States.
In 1973, he moved to the United States. In 1992, the Taipei Museum of Fine Arts held a major retrospective of his work.
Chuang Che invented the Third Way, a unique artistic concept that sought to merge Asian and Western aesthetics.
Personal exhibitions
—2023 – Art Basel Hong Kong with Galerie Vazieux, Hong Kong
2022 – « Chaotic Harmony », Galerie Vazieux, Paris, France
2020 – « As Lofty as a Mountain » Rétrospective 1960-2019, Asia Art Center, Taipei, Taïwan
2019 – Suspending the Ephemeral, Vazieux Art Gallery, Paris, France
2015 -Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan, Retrospective Exhibition
2012 – Asian Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2007 – National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2006 – Asian Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2005 – Museum of Fine Arts, National University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
– National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan 2002 Guangdong Art Museum, China
– He Xian Ning Museum, China
1992 – Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
1982 – Art Center, Kowloon, Hong Kong
1980 – National Historical Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1977 – Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
– Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, Michigan, USA
1974 – Oberlin College Asian Society, Oberlin College, Ohio, USA
1972 – Newark Museum of Art, Newark, Newark, New Jersey, USA
– Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, USA
1970 – Museum of Fine Arts, Flint, Michigan, USA
1968 – Museum of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
1965 – National Art Center of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
Public exhibitions
—– Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
– Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio,
– United States Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States
– Institute of Art Detroit, Michigan, United States
– Museum of Art Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
– National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
– Saginaw Museum of Art, Michigan, United States
– Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
– University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Groups exhibitions
—2024 – « The Birth of Modernist Art Movement in Taiwan », National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
2023 – Taipei Dangdai with Galerie Vazieux, Taipei, Taiwan
2022 – « L’Encre en mouvement », Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France
2022 – Taipei Dangdai with Galerie Vazieux, Taipei, Taiwan
2021 – « Landscapes of the Soul », Asian Art Museum, Nice, France
« Transgression throughout the Volatile World », Asia Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2019 – « Zeitgeist: Abstract Art of Eastern Origin », Asia Art Center, Beijing, China
2017 – « From China to Taiwan : the Pioneers of Abstraction », Ixelles Museum, Brussels, Belgium
2016 – « Asian abstraction : the way to the West », Galerie Vazieux, Paris, France
– « 1960 – The Origin of Taiwan’s Modern Art », Asia Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2014 – « Abstract/Symbol/Oriental » Galerie Liang, Taipei, Taiwan
2010 – « Spirit of the East II – Bridging », Asia Art Center, Beijing, China
2008 – « Accumulations- The Spirit of the East », Asia Art Center, Beijing, China
2006 – « The Third Space: Chinese Text of Abstract Art », Shanghai Art Museum, Ningbo Art Museum, China
2005 – « Abstraction Gesture », Tenri Cultural Center, New York, USA
– « China Contemporary Art », Minnesota University Art Museum, Minnesota, USA
2003 – « Taiwan Paintings in the Sixties », Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
2002 – « Oriental Essence: The Abstraction of Overseas Chinese Artists », Gary Snyder Fine Art, New York, USA
2001 – « Abstract Expression: Enlargement », Gary Snyder Fine Art, New York, USA
2000 – Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec, Canada
1999 – « Asian Succession – Modern Expression » organised by the Rutgers University Art Museum, New Jersey, USA, the exhibition took place in: Chicago Cultural Center, Fisher gallery, University of South California, Dean Lescher Art Center, Walnut Creek, Kaohsiung Fine Art Museum, Taipei Fine Art Museum and three museums in Japan
1998 – « Fundamental Element », Galerie Beatos, Vancouver, Canada
– Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, China
– Shenzhen Biennale, Shenzhen, China
1997 – « Root of China », Shanghai Art Museum, China
1996 – « Evolution of Ink and Paper », Taipei Art Gallery, New York, USA
1994-1995 – « Between East and West – Transformations of Chinese Art in the late Twentieth Century », Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
1992 – « Two Images – Paintings by Chuang Che and Ma Hao », Galerie 456, New York, USA
1991 – « Taipei – New York Confrontation of Modernism”, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei Art Gallery, New York, USA
– Fifth Moon and Ton Fan Group 35th anniversary, Contemporary art gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1990 – Forum international art festival, Hamburg, Germany
– « International Art Invitation Chicago », Illinois, USA
1989 – « The Progressional Exhibition of Contemporary Art », National Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1987 – « The Progressional Arts Exhibitions in the Republic of China », Taichung Museum of Art, Taiwan
1986 – Retrosepctive of contemporary Chinese art, Taipei Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
1984 – « Modern Chinese Painters », Itinerary exhibition organized by Detroit Institute of Art in Michigan Museums, USA
– « Contemporary Art – China and Greece », Galerie Rodi Karkazis, Chicago, USA
1983 – « Overseas Chinese Artist », Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan
1982 – « Chuang Che, Hao Ma, Chen Ting-Shih: Exhibition of Three Artists », Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong
1981 – Fifth Moon and Ton Fan Group 25th anniversary, Taiwan Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1979 – « Contemporary Chinese and Japanese », Summit Art Center, Summit, New Jersey, USA
1976 – « Source Detroit », Cranbrook Academy art museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA – « Three Contemporary Artists », Foot Hills Art Center, Golden, Colorado, USA
– « An Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art », Art gallery of the Asian Foundation, San Francisco, California, USA
1975 – « 10 Chinese Leading Artists », Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1974 – « Four Chinese Artists », Galerie Morrison, Taipei, Taiwan
1973 – « The Bienal de Sao Paulo », Brasil
– « Contemporary Chinese Paintings », Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
– « Contemporary Chinese Art », The Claremont and Pomona College, California, USA
1972 – Festival d’art de Laguna Beach, California, USA
– « Artist from Taiwan and Hong Kong », ASEA Gallery of Contemporary-Asian Arts, San Francisco, USA
1970 – Bienal Art Festival, Californie, USA
1969 – « Pintura China Contemporana », Madrid, Spain
1967 – Carnegie International Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
– « 6 Chinese painters », Taiwan Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1966 – « The New Chinese Landscape », Itinerary exhibition between the USA and Taiwan (1966-1968)
– Fifth Moon Group, Taipei, Taïwan
– « Modern Painting in China », M.I.T. Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1965 – « Chinese Modern Art Exhibition », Galleria Del Palazzo delle Esposiziono, Roma, Italy
– « Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition », Laren, Zwolle, Gravenhage, Delft, the Netherlands
– « Modern Chinese Paintings », Woodrow Wilson Society of the University of Princeton, New Jersey, USA
– « An Exhibition of Paintings by Asia’s leading Artists », organized by Cathy Airline Co
1964 – Fifth Moon Group, Taipei, Taiwan
– Fifth Moon Group, Galerie Dominion, Sydney, Australia
1963 – Biennale de Paris, Paris, France
1962 – First International Art Exhibition, Saigon, Vietnam
– « Chinese modern painting Exhibition », National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
– « International Salon of painting », Hong Kong
1961 – Biennale de Sao Paulo, Brasil
– Fifth Moon Group, Taipei, Taiwan
1960 – Fifth Moon Group, Taipei, Taiwan
1959 – Biennale de Sao Paulo, Brasil
– La Première Biennale de Paris, Paris, France
– Fifth Moon Group, Taipei, Taiwan
1958 – Fifth Moon Group, Taipei, Taiwan
