Unfinished, Huang Huacheng

Museum displays lacking originals have always presented historical research challenges. However, this point of view has its own paradoxical character. The method of displaying original documents and reproducing archival records is where the narrative of history is constructed. The existence of material "real" does not guarantee its "authenticity." However, replica cultural relics revealed by interpretation perspectives may be better able to create "real" value and cultural significance related to us. "Unfinished, Huang Huacheng" is a retrospective study of a deceased artist with only three original works extant. The Taipei Fine Arts Museum attempts to use the contemporary perspective of Huang Huacheng's colleague Zhang Zhaotang and the splicing of contemporary image researcher Zhang Shilun, through field interviews, The collection of audio-visual images and documents, and the reproduction of works and cultural relics, allow us to recreate the legendary creative career of Huang Huacheng, who has been praised endlessly.

Huang Huacheng, who achieved success during the Cold War and was strongly influenced by American culture, occupies a very special position in the history of Taiwanese art. He is not only a cross-disciplinary pioneer, fundamentally speaking, his creations are not limited by existing genres, but start from conceptual manipulation and symbolic subversion. He was not a member of any art association. In 1966, he founded the one-person "Greater Taipei Painting School". The artistic concepts he displayed further became the pioneer of Taiwan's avant-garde art movement. Although I sincerely look forward to recreating Huang Huacheng in the context of museum display, the lack of historical materials and the absence of archives have always made it an impossible task. Fortunately, last year we received Zhang Zhaotang's trust, providing many historical materials from that year, and his willingness to use his own experience to restore the time and space background of the past, so that the historical materials for the preparatory research for this exhibition are gradually in place. At the same time, Zhang Shilun has been studying Huang Huacheng's design, theater and conceptual art creations for many years, and has collected more than a hundred book covers designed by Huang Huacheng in an attempt to grasp clues and connect Huang Huacheng's diverse and unique genealogy of art, literature, art design, screenwriting, drama performance, etc. On this basis, the museum specially invited Zhang Shilun to serve as guest curator. With the help of unearthed and copied historical materials, narrative and compilation, Huang Huacheng's creations can be reappeared. Coincidentally, during the process of excavating historical materials, three pieces of Huang Huacheng's remaining works were donated to his alma mater during his college years. They became the beginning of the exhibition and launched a series of journeys back to Huang Huacheng's career.