Yang Jen-Ming is turbulent and beauty.

His commotion came from his heart and from the dark night, but he was always unwilling to let his own turmoil be exposed so unscrupulously, just like he actually loves beauty in his bones; but he doesn't want people to feel his addiction to beauty, so when the restlessness is about to break through the collapse of the heart, he is always used to teach him to return to a sort of orderly law.

For most people who know the art of Yang, Jen-Ming, few people apply the "orderly" framework to his works. However, you rarely see the work of an artist, like Yang, Jen-Ming! His art reveals defense, contradictions, and entanglements everywhere, but these psychological traits, strictly speaking, are all hidden in the picture by him. If not careful, I am afraid that he will not be able to detect such internal conditions. Because the content of Yang, Jen-Ming 's "choice" that appears on the outside of the screen is always cold, soft, harmonious, and smooth.

Yang, Jen-Ming may not be convinced, I chose a word "soft" that is extremely inconsistent with his appearance! After all, the artist’s appearance is like a Rocker from the past to the present, who only sings for the interested people, and his art gives people a masculine scent. However, I always feel that Yang, Jen-Ming’s true self is not all the masculine scent he has shown. He actually desires to be known and understood to a certain degree; such a mentality is undoubtedly the desire to be "visited", just like in his early works, those hooks shaped like question marks; from a certain angle, they are more like keyholes, symbolizing a universe waiting to be opened. Yang, Jen-Ming continues to convey a psychological attempt to get closer to others through his works. However, such a psychological attempt is really like that Rocker. Many very good Rockers may not be able to arouse considerable public resonance. However, as a Rocker, they will never be easily swayed by the value orientation of the society. They will always choose to sing the heavy quilt of life from their deep heart. There is too much loneliness in it, but also hidden soft emotions from the heart. And Yang, Jen-Ming 's inner soft emotions are also covered by the dark and heavy layers that he releases silently in his pictures.

The dream of studying is broken, but art never stop.

Strictly speaking, Yang, Jen-Ming 's creation during 1989-1990 is really hard to be called outstanding, but it is the best time for laying the foundation for his future creation. The reason why I say this is because Yang, Jen-Ming graduated from the Western Painting Group of the Fine Arts Department of Chinese Culture University in 1985. In Taiwan’s fine arts education development system, the students of the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese Culture University receive quite strict painting training, especially in realistic painting. In terms of skills, students of the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese Culture University are quite outstanding representatives. It's just that, although the teacher can hone the skills of the students in every possible way, the gradual progress of thinking depends on the students themselves to sort out. Like many students who graduated from the fine arts department in Taiwan, Yang, Jen-Ming did not grasp his artistic personality so accurately at the beginning. In 1988, his original intention was to continue his studies in France. However, solid technical training could not make him assimilate into the subject. Yang, Jen-Ming suffered a great learning setback in language and subject. The biggest problem is his life environment from simple to difficult, but it is beginning to test this young man who single-mindedly wanted to be an artist; he constantly made his own unique in his creation. Yang, Jen-Ming didn't stay in France for a long time, and his studying dream were broken; it does not mean that his artistic dreams were broken. After returning from France, Yang, Jen-Ming’s extended creations have quite obvious Chinese ink painting methods in them. He tried to use different painting methods to construct the block surface, produces a different touch in the texture between the block surface, this attempt should be a very good experience period for him in the future between "open and close" in the composition screen. However, during this period of 1989-90, there were slightly imagery characters and entangled totems.

It turns out that all temptations are thorns

I try to put Yang, Jen-Ming 's 1991-92 "New Plants" and "Grafting" series, 1991-1995 "Intellectuals" series, 1992-1994 "Black Water" series; these four early classic series will be discussed side by side. Because, I found that these four series are connected with each other, and the use of symbols is more extensive. For this reason, I think Yang, Jen-Ming has begun to enter the realistic meditation period of creation, and he has really begun to gradually produce energy from the inside, also make a corresponding mapping with the external environment.

First of all, I would like to offer an explanation especially for the realism meditation period. What I call realism should be a generalized realism, not the realistic painting mentioned in traditional art history. In these four series, Yang, Jen-Ming no longer has the combination of linearity and block surface that he showed when he first returned to Taiwan, and even no excessively imagery character writing. Among the dislocations of many mathematical patterns such as cones, sections, cylinders, spirals, ladders, circles, etc., he uses geometric shapes as the basis to return the reference point of thinking to a pure object. This object is based on a structural building, rather than trying to apply the character of the so-called object shape as a supplement to emotional language. Because these geometric or mechanical figures have a sense of volume, they can get close to each other. To a certain extent, they are quite capable of grasping the moving and uncertain relationship of human ideology. And because of the neutral character of these integrative bodies, they often don’t let the viewer fall into the traditional gimmick of emotional interpretation. For Yang, Jen-Ming is undoubtedly close to the ambiguous atmosphere of his personality, and it also returns to the Rocker role I mentioned at the beginning.

Yang, Jen-Ming has never answered positively, how he himself started to create the "New Plant Man" series. However, this series is a continuation of his performance after returning from France, and there is a psychological factor must be put forward as a background explanation. For Yang, Jen-Ming, dreaming of studying in a foreign country is cruel, at the end cruelty brings him far more sweetness than imagined. I personally think that Yang, Jen-Ming originally hoped that he was like a plant that can be transplanted, that he can live in a foreign country. Such a general rule is a common idea that many intellectuals once embraced, they just want to be transplanted and able to be transplanted, it does not mean absolute success. Being drowned in the black water or drew nourishment from the black water, doesn't it also show the anxiety and confusion of the artist at that time. In 1991, the irregular cones in the work of "New Vegetative-Intellectuals" projected branches and stems, so much like the nature of life that can be tempted forward, but Yang, Jen-Ming did not describe this consciousness at all. The multiple buds on the branches are the bearers of many opportunities; it can also be said that the future cannot be predicted. In the "Transplant" series, many spiral-shaped diamond-shaped objects appeared, and the background of the works of this period showed many different grid-like blocks with bad subsoil. Deepen Yang Renming's ability to penetrate the inner layer of different soil nutrients during the transplant process. In my personal opinion, "Intellectuals" is the most ridiculous and humorous representative in his many creations. For example, in the 1992 "Intellectuals-Everyone Has Opinion" quadruplicate, he is based on four identical cross-sections cylinders bodies, except that the upper ends of these four cylindrical bodies have different patterns. Yang, Jen-Ming puts the intellectuals in a standardized specification, however he has his own independent thinking. Through the parallelism of the screen, the viewer can see whether the so-called intellectuals are in contrast or fusion in the process of corresponding to the society. Is it called intellectuals based on a common divisor under a collective specification? Yang, Jen-Ming repeatedly use this homogeneity to cite sections that conflict with social norms in this theme series, and use such a clumsy cylindrical body to point out the role of intellectuals, this is enough to make People smile.

The "Black Water" series is the most religious in Yang, Jen-Ming 's overall creative line, and it is also the representative that can return to his inner destiny. Yang, Jen-Ming is a devout Christian. There are many sharp spears, iron fences with hooks and double halberds in his works. He shows a kind of inner barrier and a representative of alienation in his paintings, the strong iron fences on the surface are a penetrating rather than a barrier. However, for artists like Yang, Jen-Ming, his inspiration is derived from the more abstract conscious inner emotions. Such creative expression is not packaged under the glamorous appearance and delicious sugar coating, but the inner expression of melancholy, which is mean the artist's personal persistence and choice. I always feel deep loneliness from Yang, Jen-Ming 's heart is brought to the extreme in the "Black Water" series, because when people hope to be a new plant, trying to find new soil damage through transplantation. After all, there is still a emotion of being watched by an iron fence but unable to get involved in being close to the nature of the environment. In Yang, Jen-Ming 's creation of the "Black Water" series, many pictures show the appearance of tangled thorns, black lines glued, and superimposed totems. The so-called "Black Water" is more similar to black viscous asphalt. Here, Yang, Jen-Ming talks about the struggle in life, the depression and predicament brought about by the environment, but it seems that the harder he is, the deeper he will indulge. What I am more interested in is the appearance of spikes. There are many different interpretations of thorns in Christian psychology. It is a kind of humiliation, as symbolized by the cross, also means salvation and can be regarded as a supreme honor. Yang, Jen-Ming 's sharp objects in the "Black Water" series always remind me of the Christian crown of thorns! His artistic career has not been smooth, but he has never detracted from his original intention of creation under the warm or weakness applause of the environment. The spear that appeared in "Black Water" can of course be regarded as a kind of religious spirit in his heart, but it can also be seen as the collision and incompatibility brought by the real environment. Although the works of this series are heavy and dense, they can best demonstrate the radiation of Yang, Jen-Ming 's energy. It is also the only link in his creative vein that exudes the religious complex of the Middle Ages. In this series, Yang, Jen-Ming proves to everyone that his creations contain solidity is indeed inestimable, and this series can be said to be his personally representative stage creation.

What stops is the state of condensation...

After 1995, Yang, Jen-Ming 's " Aura" series can be said to be a warm-up for the next stage of theme creation. The artist uses the circle as the basic concept modelling, which is used as an introduction to the self-portrait, but it is also a metaphor for human nature's pursuit or imagination of aura. However, Yang, Jen-Ming did not directly endow the aura with a traditional image in this theme series, but to make the entire aura consciousness. Therefore, in the 1995 "Great Halo-Mask with Aura ", we can see that there is the black lines of the woodcut prints are arrogant. 

The work is quite similar to the multi-triangular composition of the work of 1989 "Insomnia Tonight", it is more hideous animal faces on the screen. Yang, Jen-Ming tried to adopt a multi-layered composition. This so-called multi-level is not just a single appearance of goodness; it is even a multilateral struggle between good and evil, beauty and ugliness. The theme appeal, through the halo to point out people's imagination of the changes in the current situation, also puts the spirit of creation in the internalized consciousness action, but this time he slightly limits it.

The series of “Unstable Connections” from 2001 to 2005, and “Moonlight ” from 2006 to 2006, during this period Yang, Jen-Ming put away the sharp spears of the past. The picture he appeared obviously moved from the so-called communication to harmony, but this did not come from a compromise after physical and mental suffering, but returned to the spore shape similar to the original biological; They are communion and division, but they will not sharply face each other. I think Yang, Jen-Ming has allowed himself to return to a purer consciousness. In the body, it should be in line with his age and experience growth, and no longer think that communication is a necessary tool to reach consensus. Moreover, sharpness has never been his nature. In this theme, Yang, Jen-Ming allowed his thoughts to move and incarnate into a linear free movement. From the overlapping process of lines and colors, the works of this period are reminiscent of Du Xiang (Marcel Duchamp, 1887-1968) with the very famous piece painted (Nude Descending, a Staircase) in 1912. In this work, Du Xiang completely deciphers the traditional modelling, and the mobility of vision and the image of brain movement are retained, mutually generating a corrective view of the on-going time. While the images that Yang, Jen-Ming makes appearing, with a kaleidoscope-like perspective transformation, or even the vividness of color, the movement of thoughts is so lively and noisy, but it has such a regular symmetry. For Yang, Jen-Ming, perhaps he put away the old spears and thorns, but relatively he did not compromise the inertia of the extreme cleanliness in his inner character. In his middle age, he always used a fairly calm attitude to regulate the rhythm of life, and those auras that appear at the intersection of the block surface and the circular line are not only the restless stupidity of young life, but also the middle-aged self's unforgiving of a certain dream, it’s also an indelible memory of life.

In the process of Yang, Jen-Ming 's artistic evolution, it is also tantamount to seeing Taiwanese artists of his age face the problems of self-discipline after the continue changing environment. Yang, Jen-Ming never intends to talk about the emotional issues of people and land in his works. He expresses from his extremely internalized consciousness itself.In the originally quite abstract issue of consciousness and behavior, he gave a realistic path for meditation. From his works, we can see how an intellectual like him is uncomfortable with the status quo and tries to escape. Restricting and seeking another possible place to settle down and stand for life, these transitions at each stage, strictly speaking, cannot escape the fate of indulging.However, this artistic Rocker has always insisted on humming his own tune, has always been able to blaze a trail and establish inner harmony after being with himself, and even achieved his own unique psychological aura.

ARTISTS

Yang Jen-Ming

REFERENCE

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