KAOHSIUNG CITY.- The word “park” is a neutral term for a designated area meant to support the growth of a specific industry. Using this title, the exhibition directly references Chang Sin-pi’s studio located within a betel nut farm—the site where his creative work originates. In his art, the southern land does not merely act as a backdrop or landscape but functions as a way of being deeply shaped by bodily memories and life experiences. His brush moves fluidly between memory and reality, as well as local places and identities. Meanwhile, the constructed scenes in his paintings are not simple representations of the natural environment in his hometown but serve as narrative spaces intertwined with the land itself.
In Chang’s 2021 solo exhibition at Absolute Space for the Arts, titled Tropical Paradise—Joint Boundary, he demonstrated that artistic creation embodies a sense of synchronicity, using the intertwined underground roots of plants as a metaphor for indistinct or entangled boundaries. The following year, he presented Tropical Paradise—A Vision Coincidence at Chengshiu Art Center, which built upon this idea by introducing the “field of view,” referencing the binocular vision range of human eyes to depict our living space — a world shaped and given meaning by humans, land, and bodily senses. This perspective further emphasizes that they all exist in a synchronous, interconnected, and mutually influencing manner. The 2025 solo exhibition PARK expands on the creative context of the Tropical Paradise series while focusing more on the act of “seeing” itself: How do we perceive the human-nature interaction amid humid climates and changing landscapes? How does merging visual and emotional experiences cultivate a bodily and ethical way of viewing? In this exhibition, the artist, viewers, and land perceive, respond, and engage together in a new kind of landscape.
The exhibition draws inspiration from Taiwan’s unique natural production structures and cultural landscapes as its starting point: sugarcane fields shimmering in the intense afternoon sun, betel nut plantations gleaming brightly in the humid air, and flowing waves and harbors hinting at historical and industrial changes. The artist skillfully captures the subtle luminous quality of these tropical scenes through layered paint and transparent brushwork, blending personal life experiences with reflections on the social environment. His images often carry a tenderness toward nature alongside critiques of cultural realities, prompting viewers to recognize the scars left by land transformation while appreciating the beauty of color and form.
Chang’s artistic vocabulary features transparent, moist, and penetrating brushwork paired with the depiction of light effects, reminiscent of afternoon sunlight filtering through the air in betel nut farms. The natural symbols in his images—such as rice paddies, tree shadows, and farmhouses—serve both as concrete imagery and metaphorical references, highlighting long-term issues of industrial change, land use, and social structures in southern Taiwan. His landscapes are dynamic rather than static, layered with memories and historical accumulation, transforming painting into a gentle yet resolute narrative of the land.
In terms of curatorial structure, the exhibition’s sections are organized thematically rather than chronologically, encouraging viewers to wander and explore the artworks while gradually immersing themselves in a spatial experience that interweaves the humid, warm climate with sensibility-driven viewing. Additionally, the exhibition reflects the artist’s recent focus on bodily sensations and connection with nature, using color and composition to explore humanity’s role and position within the natural order.
This exhibition, PARK, is both a continuation of the artist’s enduring creative journey and a contemporary practice informed by a deep retrospection on local experience, cultural memory, and visual ethics. In a world where global visual languages are becoming increasingly homogenized, Chang’s work reminds us that true viewing involves the ability to resonate with the place where one resides and a narrative force that continues to emerge from everyday, local realities.
Chang Sin-Pi (b. 1955, in Pingtung, Taiwan) lived in Europe from 1979 to 1993. He graduated from the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and has held multiple solo exhibitions in Germany, Austria, and France. Influenced deeply by German Neo-Expressionism and Italian Trans-Avant-Garde, he also joined the Vienna Secession, whose motto—“freedom for art”—continues to inspire his work.
In 1995, after his solo exhibition at Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), Chang returned to Taiwan and fully dedicated himself to his creative work. To reconnect with his artistic roots, he launched the “In Search of Art” project, which examined the relationship between original forms and self-expression. Unexpectedly, this project received an award at the Istanbul Biennial. He also organized community art groups and played a key role in the movement to repurpose vacant spaces, leading to the 2001 exhibition Land Debate. Creating works that reflect engagement with the land through painting, sculpture, and spatial installations, Chang’s art represents a new form of “Southern Secession,” shifting away from mainstream perspectives toward a localized, southern experience.
In recent years, Chang has used the theme “Tropical Paradise” for his solo exhibitions, with “betel nut farm” emerging as a key artistic and visual component, while incorporating a variety of symbols, including betel nut trees, pineapple fields, fishponds, coastal embankments, and tetrapods, into a comprehensive practice that spans productive ecology, social structures, and artistic expression. His work is characterized by fluorescent and other intensely bright colors that create a vivid sense of local narrative. He also emphasizes the relationship between humans and objects through the interplay of light and shadow, with brushwork often shifting between opacity and transparency. This approach captures the inherent uncertainty of existence and the bodily sense of “heat” in the South. Through years of observation and documentation, this land has shifted from a “lived field where nature and culture intertwine” to a “fractured landscape of artificial and economic dominance.” The artist's portrayal reflects not only the land and coastlines but also an experience of rupture and renewal, allowing for a measurement of distance between himself and the changing landscape.
