Hou ChunMing

Hou ChunMing

Hou ChunMing in late 1980's

Hou ChunMing (b. 1963, Taiwan) has developed a unique, multidisciplinary practice in career
spanning over 30 years. Hou was not only one of the pioneers who were associated with theending of martial law from the 1980s and 90s Taiwan, but as a highly experimental, innovativeand controversial artist - his thesis exhibition in 1987 was shut down by the school.
Hou ChunMing 's works are not about clean and gorgeous contemporary expression, nor about
the grandiosity of the overwhelming group consciousness, but recordings of private secrets thathave been long ignored or hidden and the liberation of the body, which is a carrier of spirit. Thatalso reveals how the next generation should face the rivalry, irony, and sarcasm and look for"true freedom" for human beings. He takes 'body' not only as a way to provoke authoritarianism
but also focuses on its character in Eastern folklore religion as psychic media.
Hou Chun Ming was invited twice to attend the Venice Biennale in 1995 and 2013, respectively.
His artworks are included in the collections of The Ludwig Forum for International Art, Fukuoka
Asian Art Museum, M+ in Hong Kong, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Tainan Art Museum, Kaohsiung
Museum of Fine Arts, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Dimension Endowment of Art,
Wenhsiu Collection, Five Dime, and White Rabbit Gallery.

Early WorksHou's early works in the 1980s coincided with the martial law lift, but rather than responding to theemancipation of society and the 'larger self,' Hou's response is a collision of the taboos regards tobody, sexuality, and ego in Asian society, as well as a rebellion challenges the traditional academic
aesthetics. With his impactful themes and visual expressions, Hou became one of the leading figures
in Taiwan's avant-garde artists at the time and the first and most significant one who explored theeroticism of human desire in Taiwanese contemporary art.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Hou created one of his iconic large-scale prints, 'Gods Searching,' whichfeatures enigmatic, surreal, and erotic immortal-like characters alongside traditional Chinesemonition-like texts. This series serves as a powerful symbol of the ‘body liberation’ as well as theresurgence of ‘Taiwanese people's free will’ which begins to reconnect with their innate life force
after had long been suppressed by political ideology.

'Swan Laying Eggs' and 'Phallus Horse,' featured in Hou's first solo exhibition, 'Little Women,'which shocked the Taiwanese art world, are two of Hou's rare oil paintings from the 1980s.In'Swan Laying Eggs,' the Greek mythology story of Zeus and Leda is merged with a landscape ofChinese literati painting. The artist appears as a figure in the lower right corner who seem at aloss, alienated, observing the scene of the East and the West intercourse while the egg represents
a new and unknown hybrid life created through the fusion of two cultures.
One the other hand, ‘Phallus Horse’ is a buzzard creature painted on printed fabric, thefantastical images of genital and animals emerging with repeated patterns conveying theunrestrained imagination of the artist.
In addition, The horse is an image that refers to wealth and power in traditional Chinese
paintings; Hou painted it as a huge phallus indicating his rebellion against tradition and blending
gender awareness at the same time. 'Swan Laying Eggs' and 'Phallus Horse' are directly frommajor private collections in Taiwan.

(L) Hou ChunMing, Phallus Horse, 1986, oil on floral cloth, 123 x 123 cm(R) Han Gan, Night-Shining White, 618–907, ink on paper, 35.4 cm x 11.4 m

Hou ChunMing
Swan Laying Eggs
1988
oil on canvas
150 x 120 cm x 2

Hou ChunMing
Bell Sound1988
charcoal on grey
142.5 x 110.5 cm

Hou ChunMing
Phallus Horse1986
oil on floral cloth
123 x 123 cm

Hou ChunMing
Oops
1986
acrylic, ink and pencil on floral cloth
100 x 95 cm

Printed Fabric
Paintings

Like ‘Phallus Horse,’ since the 1980s, Hou started to paint on printed fabric, a common andeasily found fabric across Taiwan. Yet, the bed-sheets-like patterns also symbolize desires,
also being ironic to the elitism that traditional bird-flower painting represented. Of Hou’s deep
involvement in Taiwanese avant-garde art during the post-martial-law era, he is also a significant
figure in the history of Taiwan’s theater culture. His printed fabric paintings were commonly seen
in his collaboration with Taiwanese little theatres. His actively involved led him to become thesoul of contemporary art and theater in the 1980s. Such transdisciplinary cooperation reflected
the valued decentralization spirit of the experimental theater at the time.

On these fabrics, he paints bold and rebellious sexual organs, as well as bizarre figures.
However, the sex and violence in Hou’s works are no longer his private desire - they are thetopics that the public refuses to address. Hou once invited participants to do nude drawings oftheir own bodies, allowing them to portray their physical and inner conditions in an unabashedstate. This exposure of the human body and taboo issues were contained in his studio, but theresult of the painting elaborated their psychological states. As one of his most important creative
methods, Hou sees this as a way of ‘copying.’ The process copies the exterior and interior
aspects of a human, and also resembles a dialectical relationship between artist and subject.

After 35 years of making art, Hou inspired by his early works
and reflected on his career, he created “Jinn-son Bang,” aseries of floral cloth paintings he made with elements he had
developed previously in 2021 and 2022. Through combining
the present international context with local floral cloth, Houalso created a series of brand-new images.
The choice of the floral cloth could be seen as his recent
focus on desire and childhood. In the series, many works are
made with embroidery, recalling the lines of his prints series
since the 1990s. What these “Hou-styled” images bring tolight is not only a future reference of opposing, satirizing,
and teasing, they also express the status of an artist who isnearly 60 years old.

Hou ChunMing
Blue Flower
2022
acrylic on printed fabric
110 x 85 cm

Hou ChunMing
Double Blue2022
acrylic on printed fabric
110 x 84 cm

Hou ChunMing
Let it Fly
2022
acrylic on printed fabric
86 x 88 cm

Hou ChunMing
Gathering2022
oil on printed fabric
87 x 87 cm

The Flag Carriers‘The Flag Carriers’ is Hou’s recent series regarding spirit medium in Taiwan temples. In Taiwan,
religion is a combination of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, as well as the folk beliefs ofimmigrants that is based on the native land, and mediums play an important role in folklore
religion, which is close to a psychic. Mediums carry flags that represent the deity, and throughwhich they let the deity possess their body serving as a bridge of communication to answering
people’s questions.

Interview at Shueimen Temple

Interview at Qingcheng Temple‘The Flag Carriers’ is an extension of Hou’s long paid attention of ‘body.’ The body of medium
is a portal for conveying deities’ messages in order to resolve people’s struggling, and after
the deity leaves, medium is no different to us. The series is the artist's study/exploration of thepsychic body by interviewing the mediums. First, he visits the temple as a worshipper to ask
questions, then interviews the medium's thoughts and invites them to draw out their feelings forthe deity over his/her full-sized body outline alongside Hou's. In the works, we can see different
personalities and auras of each deity interpreted by mediums and the artist and the relationshipbetween the two.
For Hou, the body synonyms desire. The theme is extensions of the body and variants of desirethat have run through his work series for 30 years and still counting. But when it comes to theFlag Carriers, the medium is a desexualized existence as the portal of deity. "When we talkabout physical desire, it is often self-related; on the contrary, since deities borrow the medium's
body, it is desexualized." the artist said. Therefore interestingly, this desexualized body/voicesubtly corresponds with Hou's role as an artist in the interviews. "I am like a cultural medium, areceiver and transmitter of messages in a broad sense. I am fascinated by this identity."Hou ChunMing
Medium of Jiutian Xuannu - Cihsin Temple - Wu Xiu Lian2019
ink and colors on paper
312 x 304 cm

Hou ChunMing
Medium of Xuantian God - Xuanthang Temple - Zhang Li Qua
2019
ink and colors on paper
312 x 304 cm

Hou ChunMing
Medium of Wufu Erjhen - Shueimen Temple - Xu Yi Yun2019
ink and colors on paper
312 x 304 cm

Hou ChunMing
Medium of Emperor Wuying - Qingcheng Temple - Chen Wei Ting2019
ink and colors on paper
312 x 304 cm

Hou ChunMing
Medium of Jhunti Fomu - Xuanyin Temple - Zhou Fang Ru
2019
ink and colors on paper
312 x 304 cm

Hou ChunMing
Medium of Guangze the King - Shengwang Temple - Lin Chong Wei
2019
ink and colors on paper
312 x 304 cm

Relevant Archive

The Wild Eighties: Dawn of a Transdisciplinary Taiwan
2022, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

The Wild Eighties: Dawn of a Transdisciplinary Taiwan
2022, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

Sin and Punishment
1996, Taipei, Taiwan

Sin and Punishment
1996, Hong Kong

Sin and Punishment
1996, Hong Kong

Sin and Punishment
1996, Hong Kong

Little Women
1988, Yong Han Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

Little Women
1988, Yong Han Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

Hou Chun Ming Exhibition
1987, Wing Fung Building, Taipei, Taiwan

Hou ChunMing
1963
1987

Born in Chiayi, Taiwan
Graduated from National Arts Academy (Now Taipei National University of the Arts)

Solo Exhibition
2022
Taipei Dangdai, Each Modern, Taipei, Taiwan
Hou Chun Ming’s Solo Exhibition: the Needle Flesh, the NCCU Art and Culture Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2021
Break. Youth Hou Chun Ming, Cans Space, Taipei, Taiwan
2020
The Flag Carriers – A Tainan Residency Interview Project with Taiwanese Shaman, Mizuiro
Workshop, Tainan, Taiwan
Hou Chun Ming Solo Show – Be water: Hong Kong queer. Hong Kong body, Hiro Hiro Art Space, 		Taipei, Taiwan
2019
Hou Chun Ming’s Solo Exhibition : Body Festival, Mizuiro Workshop, Tainan, Taiwan
2018
The Carving Board of Body Map, Art Central, Mizuiro Workshop, Hong Kong
2017
Knead and Gain “Body Map” Interview Project, Tunghai University Art Galley, Taichung, Taiwan
2016
Hemimetabolism: Hou Chun Ming’s Art & His Manuscripts, National Central University Art Center, 		Taoyuan, Taiwan
The Asian Father Interview Project: Fathers of Male Homosexuals in Hong Kong, Hui Gallery of theChinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
You Can't Admit Your Mistakes in Any Case, Zi Space, Taipei, Taiwan
2014
Hou Chun Ming’s Solo Exhibitions: Had to Write, Huwei Salon, Yunlin, Taiwan
The Asian Father Interview Project: Chiayi Episode, Meiling Fine Art Museum, Chiayi, Taiwan
2013
Happy Amulet, Lee Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Collections of Talisman, Sincewell gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2012
Something Good to Say, Cans Tea & Book House, Taipei, Taiwan
Hou Chun Ming’s Solo Exhibitions, Mogan 99 art center, Shanghai, China
2011
Hou Chun Ming’s Solo exhibition: Portrait Chronological Exhibition, InART space, Tainan, Taiwan
2010
Mandala of Love, Ai Kowada Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
The Asian father interview project: Bangkok Episode, Ver Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, INDEXG Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2009
the Asian father interview project: Taipei and Taichung Episode, L’orangerie Non Gallery, Taipei, 		Taiwan / National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
Hou Chun Ming’s Solo exhibition: The Multifaceted Prince, Art Stock 20, Taichung, Taiwan
Collision between Taboo and Desire: Hou Chun Ming’s Works of Print 1992-2008, National Taiwan 		Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan / Culture and Tourism Bureau, Miaoli County, Miaoli, Taiwan
The Announcement of Hou’s Resurrection, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Chiayi City, Chiayi, Taiwan
2008
In the Name of God, PYD Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
The Asian father interview project:Yokohama Episode, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan
Confession by Chung-Ming at Age 47, L’orangerie Non Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2007
Lace Whipping, The Grain Rain, Amorous Affair, Art Taipei, L’orangerie Non Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
The Rise of Dragon˙The Flight of Phoenix, Cans Book Shop, Beijing, China
Journal by Pillow, 107 Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan
Calm Down at Toufen, Moon Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan
2006
Journal by Pillow, Cans Book Shop, Beijing, China
2005
Going Home:The Reshaping Trilogy of Hou Chun Ming’s Life, Lian Ting Living & Art Space / New 		
Taipei City Library:Branch of Wanli/Yannick, Taipei, Taiwan
Mind Writing, Dadaocheng Museum / China University of Technology / Cao Shan Dong Men Art 		Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
2004
Hometown Plants, Hwataoyao, Miaoli, Taiwan
2002
Mido’s Father, Wind Mountain Cloud Water, Chiayi, Taiwan
2001
Ali Temple, Galerie Pierre, Taichung, Taiwan
2000
Crawling on the Belly, Hanart Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
1997
Sinner in Paradise, IT Park, Taipei, Taiwan
1995
Hou Chun Ming’s Print Solo Exhibition, Najota Gallery, Yokohama, Japan

1993

1992

1991
1990

Hou Chun Ming’s Solo Exhibition: A Myth of Mr. Hou, IT Park, Taipei, Taiwan
Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals, Lion Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan /New Vision Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan / Neo-eco Art Environment, Tainan, Taiwan
The Resentful Soul, Apartment No.2, Taipei, Taiwan
Erotic Paradise, Arp Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Hou Chun Ming’s Three Prints: God of War, IT Park, Taipei, Taiwan
The Wedding of Hou’s Family: Red on the Ground, Taipei Dignity, Taipei, Taiwan
A Myth of Mr. Hou: Detoxication, Auditorium at College of Fine Arts, Lujhou, Taipei, Taiwan
Desire Punishment, City Art Gallery, Hong Kong, United Kingdom

Group Exhibition
2022
The Wild Eighties: Dawn of a Transdisciplinary Taiwan, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
PAPRIKA, Each Modern, Taipei, Taiwan
Print Out Times – 2022 Taoyuan International Print Exhibition, Taoyuan Arts Center, Taoyuan, Taiwan
2021
Since the Prime Meridian Is Met: Commemorating the 20th Year of Moon Gallery, Moon Gallery, 		Taichung, Taiwan
2020
Re-visiting Landscape, Chiayi Art Museum, Chiayi, Taiwan
Paying Tribute to Gods: The Art of Folk Belief, Tainan Art Museum, Tainan, Taiwan
The Topography of a Decade: The Fund-raising Exhibition for the 10th Anniversary of The Cube 		
Project Space, The Cube 7F, Taipei, Taiwan
Paying Tribute to Gods: The Art of Folk Belief, Tainan Art Museum, Tainan, Taiwan
The Topography of a Decade: The Fund-raising Exhibition for the 10th Anniversary of The Cube 		
Project Space, The Cube 7F, Taipei, Taiwan
2019
YAO-CHI CITY: Taiwanese Paranormal Literature and Contemporary Art Exhibition, Taiwan 		Contemporary Culture Lab, Taipei, Taiwan
Mulan, Make Up! Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
2018
Tomb of Soul, Temple, Machine, and Self, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
A solitary male phoenix dancing in front of a mirror, Cans Space, Taipei, Taiwan
Towards Mysterious Realities, Total Museum, Seoul, Korean
Diversity Via Nature: Religion, Gender or Art?, Pon Ding, Taipei, Taiwan/Tentacles Art Space, 		Bangkok, Thailand
2017
The Terrain of Taiwan Contemporary Art, Double Square Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Spectrosynthesis – Asian LGBTQ Issues and Art Now, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan
2016
Self-cultivation: The Personal Technology of Living Soma, Ying Art Center, Shanghai, China
Underground Adventure, the Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
The Possibility of an Island:Taiwan Biennial 2016, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung,TaiwanTowards Mysterious Realities, TKG Plus, Taipei, Taiwan
2015
Shoot the Pianist – The Noise Scene in Taipei 1990-1995, University of London, London, United 		
KingdomBlack Gold Section Art Festival:Inside Out, Art Site of Chiayi Railway Warehouse, Chiayi, Taiwan
2014
Ten Million Rooms of Yearning. Sex in Hong Kong, PARA-SITE, Hong Kong, China
POST POP: EAST MEETS WEST, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
10th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China
The Pioneers of Taiwanese Artists: 1961-1970, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
Hot soul: Joint Exhibition of the Artists in Taiwan, the Exhibition Hall of Chiayi Performing Arts Center,
Chiayi, Taiwan
Art Taipei, ArtDoor Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2013
Majestic Island: The Development of Modern Art in Taiwan 1911-2011, National Art Museum of China,
Beijing, China/China Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Boundaries on the Move: A Cross-Culture Dialogue, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel
Turn Art Taiwan, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
55th Venice Biennale: Voice of the Unseen, Venice, Italy
Gazing into Freedom: Taiwan Contemporary Art Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina,
Republic of Serbia

2012

2011
2010
2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2002
1999

1998

1997

1996

Day of Chen Cheng Po: Recreate the Glory of Art in Chiayi City, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Chiayi
City, Chiayi, Taiwan
The Delight of Chinese Character Festival, the Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Art Taipei, ArtDoor Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Hui Aggregation:Cross-Strait Contemporary Art Exchange, Shanghai Xuhui Art Museum, Shanghai, 		China/Cheng Shiu University Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan/Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taoyuan 		County, Taoyuan, Taiwan/Luodong Cultural Working House of Cultural Affairs Bureau of Yilan 		County, Yilan, Taiwan
Artist in Wonderland: Kuandu Biennale, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
Time game: Contemporary Appropriations of the Past, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Death and Life of Fiction: Taipei Biennial 2012, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Art Taipei, Moon Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
International Paper Art Exhibition and Symposium, Taipei, Taiwan
Art Taipei, Moon Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
14th Festival de l'Imaginaire, St. Germain des Près, Paris, France
Yes, Taiwan: Taiwan Biennale, Taichung, Taiwan
Always (as it was), Tang Temporary Art, Bangkok, Thailand
Paper Symbol – Medium Extending, Tang Temporary Art, Hong Kong, China
Twelve Constellations, Sincewell gallery, Kaohsiung / Taiyu gallery, Chiayi, Taiwan
In the Name of God, PYD Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
A Kaleidoscopic View: Reinterpretations of Taiwanese Folk Images and Designs, Kaohsiung Fine Art
Museum, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Art Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
Intimate Trend: Painting from Sichuan and Taiwan, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
The Power of The Universe: The Frontier of Contemporary Chinese Art, Asian Art Center, Beijing, 		
China
Dare to Art – The Genealogy of TNUA Fine Arts College, Kuandu Museum ofFine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
The 15th JAALA Biennale, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, JapanThe Contemporary Landscape, MOCA, Taipei, Taiwan
Body Love, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan
The Mind Picture of Liu-chiao Family, Taoshan Humanity Hall, Chiayi, Taiwan
The Pebble Land Exhibition, Hwataoyao/ Homer Lee’s Art Center / East Gate Museum, Tainan / The
Cultural Affair Bureau of Miaoli County, Taiwan
The Fierce Chiayi Artists, Meiling Fine Art Museum, Chiayi, Taiwan
Contemporary Taiwanese Art in the Era of Contention, Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 		New York, USA
Art Taipei , Taipei, Taiwan
Modern Art Festival, Golden Dragon Kiln, Miaoli, Taiwan
I-ness: About Me, Kaohsiung Fine Art Museum, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Contemporary Taiwanese Art, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, JapanFin de Siècle Rituals: Contemporary Taiwanese Art, Taipei Gallery/Taipei Economic and Cultural 		
Office, New York, USA
the Installation Exhibition at Mountain 99, Nantou County, Taiwan
INSIDE OUT: NEW CHINESE ART, MoMA PS1/the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art / Asia Society
Museum / Monterey Museum of Art / Hong Kong Museum of Art / Tacoma Art Museum
Taipei Biennale: Site of Desire, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Fire at Night, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
Tracing Taiwan: Works on Paper, the Drawing Center, New York, USA
Three Generations of Hong Kong Reading, Museum for 1997 Hang-over, Hong Kong Arts Center, 		Hong Kong, United Kingdom
Transfigure in Middle Age, Landscape, City and Symphony: Taiwan Installation Art Exhibition in 		
Taiwan, Chiayi City Art Center, Chiayi, Taiwan
Container 96: Art Across Oceans, Copenhagen, Denmark
Out of Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, United Kingdom
Art Today at Taiwan, Ludwig International Art Forum Hall, Berlin, Germany
Biennale: The Question for Identity, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1995
1992
1991
1990
1988
1987

the 46th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Art Taiwan, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
Erotic Paradise, Extension vs Breaking, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
NTU the February 28 Massacre Community Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan
the Society Observation Exhibition, Lion Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Busan International Biennale, Busan, South Korea
Taiwan Document Cell Exhibition, U Theater, Taipei, Taiwan
a Trio Exhibition in October, Yunhan Culture Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
Graduation Exhibition,YFY Building, Taipei, Taiwan

Selected Public Collections
Ludwig Forum for the International Art, Aachen, Germany
Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, JapanWhite Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
M Plus Museum, Kowloon, Hong Kong
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung , Taiwan Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Tainan Art Museum, Tainan, Taiwan
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Sunpride Foundation, Kowloon, Hong Kong Dimension Endowment of Art , Taipei, Taiwan

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