Hwang Buh-Ching was born in Lukang, Changhua, 1948. He received his MFA from the Department of Plastic Art, University of Paris St-Denis, France in 1987. He currently lives in Tainan as an artist teaching at the Department of Architecture, National Cheng Kung University.
Hwang Buh-Ching is an idiosyncratic talent and one of the most consistent mix media artists in Taiwan. In 1999, he was invited to represent Taiwan at the Venice Biennale. His installation work “Feast in the Wild” combines diverse plant seeds to represent the natural vibrancy of Taiwan and outdoor banquet to display unique Taiwanese culture. During the 2012 Olympics, Hwang led architecture students of National Cheng Kung University to create a large site-specific installation “Gaze,” of which he incorporated natural elements, cultural concepts, and engineering designs in the exhibition, merging various disciplines in an artwork that allows interactive interpretation. For many years, his mixed media and installation exhibitions travel to Shanghai, Macau, Hungary, Quebec, London, and Korea. His important works of different periods are collected by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, and National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.
Homeland: Edge of Desolation is Hwang Buh-Ching’s solo show. The show gathers Hwang’s thirty-four mixed media and installation works and introduces them in four themes, presenting the artist’s observation of nature, home, environment, and civilization. Through these four aspects, he expresses his sentiments and suggests how art can improve the cultural depth of society in this fast changing time.
This exhibition is divided into four themes. “Message to the Ocean” traces the artist’s childhood memories and presents his imagination of the ocean. This theme can be seen as Hwang’s spiritual realm in which he interprets life and death through art. “Caring for the Environment” displays Hwang’s mixed media works that give objects a new visual language and serve as his ode to nature and the local environment. “Industrial Desolation” introduces works made from deserted objects from our society and forms a thought-provoking artistic vocabulary. By viewing these works, audiences are inspired to think about the harms of industrial production and consumerist culture. “Life‧Love” extends Hwang’s care for nature to the love of life. It shows Hwang’s concern for the diminished quality of environment, infiltration of industry in society, and the decline of humanist values. Here presents a unique bond and representation of his love for nature and his family and wife.