The Hantoo Landscape
Hantoo Group Exhibition
Hantoo Group Exhibition
DATES｜NOVEMBER 05, 2022 - DECEMBER 03, 2022
OPENING｜NOVEMBER 05 (Sat.) 15:00
discourse
In the early summer of July 14, 1998, eight former members of the Taipei Art Group, either baring their upper bodies or wearing tank tops, all squeezed in a tiny, narrow art studio at the foot of Xiangshan. After hours of discussion, with their faces reddened and covered in sweat, they cheered and confirmed the birth of a new art group. In September of the same year, they swiftly launched the art group’s first exhibition – Hantoo Art Group Major Exhibition, announcing the emergence of a fierce local art group in Taiwan, named “Hantoo Art Group.”
Before the turn of the century, they upheld the idea that art should stem from things that can be learned. Art should converge with social trends. Art should manifest intense outward-projecting will stemming from sensitive social experiences. They hoped to think about, reflect on, and self-disciplinarily critique cultural subjectivity to precisely achieve authentic art expressions derived from this land, and connect them into a Taiwanese art history with historical implications that could afford further reflection and become future legacy.
Even though twenty-four years have passed, these artists have not slacked off. In addition to consistently bettering their own art, they have also presented group exhibitions almost every year to booster their morale. Having exhibited in major museums and art galleries in Taiwan, they have also exhibited extensively in Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and China. So far, the art group has presented a total of forty-three group exhibitions. In 2013, they collaborated with the Association of the Visual Arts in Taiwan (AVAT) to establish the non-profit art space – FreeS Art Space, to encourage younger-generation artists, while realizing their mission and original intention of social practice.
Text by LU Hsien-Ming
Before the turn of the century, they upheld the idea that art should stem from things that can be learned. Art should converge with social trends. Art should manifest intense outward-projecting will stemming from sensitive social experiences. They hoped to think about, reflect on, and self-disciplinarily critique cultural subjectivity to precisely achieve authentic art expressions derived from this land, and connect them into a Taiwanese art history with historical implications that could afford further reflection and become future legacy.
Even though twenty-four years have passed, these artists have not slacked off. In addition to consistently bettering their own art, they have also presented group exhibitions almost every year to booster their morale. Having exhibited in major museums and art galleries in Taiwan, they have also exhibited extensively in Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and China. So far, the art group has presented a total of forty-three group exhibitions. In 2013, they collaborated with the Association of the Visual Arts in Taiwan (AVAT) to establish the non-profit art space – FreeS Art Space, to encourage younger-generation artists, while realizing their mission and original intention of social practice.
Text by LU Hsien-Ming