2014/10/05
Yi&C, a passionate advocate of contemporary art, is hosting its first-ever contemporary ink painting exhibition this year. The aim is to integrate contemporary ink artworks into home living, sparking a vibrant dialogue between art and daily life, and guiding art enthusiasts through the seamless fusion of creativity and domestic space. Taiwanese contemporary ink artist Peng Kang-long presents his “Floral and Stone Narratives” series, featuring over twenty new works that reinterpret the traditions of ink painting with fresh perspectives, demonstrating innovation and transformation within a contemporary context.
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Exhibition period | October 31 (Fri.)– November 27(Thu.), 2014
Address | Oct. 31, 2014 Yi&C Contemporary Art Opening
Media and VIP Opening | 14:30-15:30 / Yi&C
Opening Reception | 17:30-20:30 / Yi&C
Yi’s Furniture & Projects Consulting Co. Ltd | 22,Lane 252, Sec. 1, Tun Hua S. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan
Tel: (02) 2781-3131 E-mail: info6@yi8c.com
Media liaison : Anne Sung , Leo Kao
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More Than Ink?
“Floral and Stone Narratives” – Peng Kang-long Contemporary Ink Painting Solo Exhibition
Yi Ya Ju: A Curated Vision of Contemporary Ink Painting – Peng Kang-long Solo Exhibition “Flora and Stone”
Focusing on refined humanistic taste and spatial aesthetics, Yi Ya Ju has, in recent years, boldly introduced contemporary art across disciplines. By skillfully integrating artworks within domestic spaces, Yi Ya Ju not only offers audiences a refreshing and distinctive perspective but also provides an exemplary model of art in the home. This year, Yi Ya Ju presents the solo exhibition Flora and Stone – Peng Kang-long Contemporary Ink Painting, gathering over twenty of the artist’s latest works in its Contemporary Space Gallery. The exhibition showcases Peng’s synthesis of Eastern and Western aesthetics, a dialogue between past and present, and introduces a fresh visual language representing contemporary ink art.
Peng Kang-long excels in innovative forms of ink painting. His work uniquely bridges contemporary perspectives with the philosophy of traditional landscape painting, establishing him as a pioneering figure in Taiwanese contemporary ink. Employing traditional ink as a foundation while incorporating new media and techniques, Peng develops a distinctively personal ink painting aesthetic. His recent works have been widely exhibited across Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong, including at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Beijing International Art Fair, and Shanghai Urban Art Fair, and are collected by private collectors worldwide. In 2014, he was invited to Sotheby’s Hong Kong / 聚 – Contemporary Literati Art and the Art Apart exhibition in Singapore.
Since 2013, Peng’s paintings have opened new horizons for appreciating ink art. In his solo exhibition Fang Zong, his style took a noticeable turn from the previously monumental and weighty landscapes, embracing lighter depictions of flora. By exploring the microscopic universe of plants, Peng guides viewers toward a spiritual connection with nature.
If his paintings were likened to poetry, they might more accurately be described as lyrical prose, inviting careful and reflective reading. In the new Flora and Stone series, flowers and plants serve as his textual medium. Across over twenty new works, Peng boldly moves beyond poetic refinement and leaves little blank space, instead creating immersive landscapes of abundant flora. Detailed depictions of countless plants fill the canvas, perhaps reflecting an understanding that “empty space” may provoke skepticism in contemporary viewers. Instead, he meticulously arranges visual cues, like prose, to guide viewers in interpreting the world through a modern lens that often relies on material reference.
This approach highlights the defining characteristic of Peng’s work: a continuous exploration of the position of Eastern ink painting in contemporary society. From Fang Zong onward, his brushwork—sometimes sparse, sometimes layered—applies a casual, everyday visual language to familiar flowers and plants. He patiently translates his inner vision onto the canvas, achieving the lyrical and contemplative qualities of poetry through prose-like techniques, allowing his works to be read repeatedly, like savoring tea.
Where Western oil painting constructs tangible, layered materiality on canvas, Peng’s ink captures contrast between black and white, creating a realm that is both objective and spiritual, immaterial yet perceptible. His contemporary ink remains grounded in this tradition while expressing a subjective mental universe.
Through clusters of delicate flora, Flora and Stone constructs mountains and waterscapes within the artist’s imagination. His technique is increasingly fluid and confident, as brushstrokes capture fleeting ideas that bloom across the paper. On closer inspection, the seemingly realistic plants reveal unusual proportions, offering viewers an engaging interplay of distance and intimacy. Overlapping strokes create layered spatiality, where flowers reveal traces, landscapes emerge subtly, and the natural world on paper gains autonomous vitality.
Peng admits that Flora and Stone reflects his deep contemplation of contemporary relevance in art. The intuitive creative process allows flora to spread across the paper like cells, forming an organic “natural reality.” This approach liberates traditional ink painting from historical constraints and transcends the limitations of objective forms, granting the artist greater creative freedom.
Just as Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time is considered a cornerstone of Western stream-of-consciousness literature, Peng’s Flora and Stone series represents a timely and unique perspective on contemporary ink. By breaking free from traditional landscape conventions, the series projects the artist’s present-day vision, constructing a microcosm of flora and rock that reflects his response to contemporary environments. Flora and Stone is not only an exhibition of contemporary ink but also a new chapter in its evolving narrative.
The solo exhibition Flora and Stone – Peng Kang-long Contemporary Ink Painting will be held at Yi Ya Ju Contemporary Space from October 31 to November 27. The official opening is on October 31 at 2:30 PM, with a reception at 5:30 PM. Peng Kang-long will attend in person, unveiling a monumental seven-meter work Flora and Stone Collage created specifically for this exhibition. Peng explains that “collage” (掇) signifies the act of selecting the essence. This grand piece will be revealed as the highlight of the opening.
Yi Ya Ju approaches furniture and art with broad, nuanced aesthetics. Returning to life’s essence and resonating with the spirit to enrich life—this is the philosophy Yi Ya Ju conveys. By presenting Flora and Stone, Yi Ya Ju not only celebrates the abundant energy of Peng’s work but also emphasizes the sense of space and boundless temporality within his paintings, enhancing and harmonizing the subtleties of home interiors. Yi Ya Ju continues to recommend promising art collections, demonstrating exceptional humanistic taste.
Artist Biography │ Peng Kang-long
Peng Kang-long, a master of contemporary Taiwanese ink painting, is known for his innovative approach.
Born in Hualien in 1962, he was nurtured amid lush mountain ranges, forming a unique spatial sensibility. These towering mountains became the archetype of landscapes in his artistic consciousness. His works embody a sense of detached independence, escaping material constraints to explore life’s most primitive and untamed essence.
In recent years, his paintings integrate contemporary perspectives with traditional ink, employing new media and techniques to create a highly personal ink aesthetic. His works have been widely exhibited across Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong, and collected internationally. In 2014, he was invited to Sotheby’s Hong Kong / 聚 – Contemporary Literati Art and Singapore’s Art Apart.
Education and Selected Exhibitions
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1962: Born in Hualien
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1983: Entered National Institute of the Arts, Department of Fine Arts
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1988: Graduated, 2nd Ink Painting Class, Department of Fine Arts; invited to Dunhuang Newcomers Exhibition; selected for Nanying Art Exhibition
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1989: Selected for Xiongshi Newcomers Exhibition
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1991: Taipei Changjiang Art Center – New Ink Series / Peng Kang-long Ink Painting Exhibition
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1993: Qingyun Art Center – 2nd Exhibition
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1998: Zhen Cang Art Center – 3rd Exhibition
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2004: Invited to Shiyang Shan Fang
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2006–2007: Taipei Fine Arts Museum – Ink Transformation Exhibition
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2010: Group Exhibition – Wrinkled, Lean, Transparent, Ugly: Ink Paintings of Unusual Rocks
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2011: Solo Exhibition – Writing Poetry in Sketch and Ink
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2012: Solo Exhibition – Beita Shan Shui
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2013: Solo Exhibition – Fang Zong; 16th Beijing International Art Fair / 3rd Shanghai Urban Art Fair
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2014: Art Apart, Singapore; Sotheby’s Hong Kong / 聚 – Contemporary Literati Art
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Romance of Trees, Flowers, and Stones-Peng Kang-Long Chinese Contemporary Ink. Solo Exhibition
Exhibition period | October 31, 2014 – November 27, 2014
Address | Yi’s Furniture & Projects Consulting Co. Ltd Contemporary Arts Gallery
Tel :(02) 2781 3131
Fax :(02) 8773 3688