PAST

Officially opening in 1995 after nearly a year of planning, Shin Leh Yuan Art Space (SLY Art Space or SLY) is distinctive in being one of Taiwan’s few alternative space funded by non-permanent members. SLY’s members stay on board for two years, facilitating a modernist, experimental creative atmosphere for art. In particular, management of the art space centers on independence and the avant-garde, ensuring its unique standing in contemporary art. Even after two decades, SLY continues to see a constant influx of new talent, and the current exhibition seeks to address how we define ourselves through the progression of time and history, even as we have officially reached “adulthood”. At the core of the exhibition are the art archives detailing the history of the past two decades, along with promotional material, official papers, and manuscripts that demonstrate the development of contemporary art in Taiwan. The transition from handwritten documents to digital output reflects the differences between past and present. Each round table represents one class of SLY members, with the tables symbolizing the Taiwanese tradition of communal banquets at a round dining table, as well as the local identity reflected in the name of the art space itself, taken from a vintage Taiwanese cigarette brand. From the vantage point of SLY’s poetic existence amid the flowing torrents of history, we look upon the more than 100 artists feature in the many classes of members since our founding, a sampling of contemporary art in Taiwan in the past 20 years. Aside from the works of our members themselves, we also see the evolution through time of the means and media of expression: we witness how contemporary art in Taiwan has developed, from paint-on-canvas to mixed media, from art installations to new media. As a challenge to the open space of the Museum of National Taipei University of Education, SLY references Too Loud a Solitude by the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal, a work that spent two decades in the making. Using “likeness” as our concept, we read the past and present of SLY. For this exhibition, we have invited numerous artists who have shared in Shin Leh Yuan’s two-decade existence to form a narrative of time. “The Return of Founding Members” rolls back time to the first days of SLY, where we see the imprints of time and memory as we reflect upon how contemporary art in Taiwan has developed during this period. “The Experimental Spirit of Mixed Media and Space” shows how artists leap out from the bounds of conventional thought in their mixed media works challenge the concept of space. “The Beginnings of New Media Art and Imagery age” signifies the advent of our new, digital age, in which artists have begun utilizing digital images in their creations. As we trace these footprints, we see the continuous experimental and innovative spirit embodied in SLY art works. By weaving together historical documents and artistic works, the exhibition demonstrates SLY’s inherent and organic ductility, constantly breaking through and creating anew in preset dimensions. With a spirituality far exceeding its physical existence, SLY is constantly redefined in each and every time period. We forge along into our next 20 years, alongside the progression of contemporary art in Taiwan. ☞ Handbook Sly Art Space ☞ Webiste ☞ Facebook Page