Violence and beauty combine as a poignant metaphor for life throughout Gary Hong’s ethereal works in acrylic and glass on canvas. Using a uniquely experimental technique, Hong paints his surfaces and then applies a sheet of glass which he strikes, causing it to shatter into prisms of light. He then works back into the piece, allowing his fluid paints to flow through these fractures and mix with the layers of imagery beneath. Invoked in the linear and atmospheric structures of these compositions are elements of land and cloud formations and the energetic dance of cellular systems. Hong began his artistic training in traditional and abstract Chinese brush painting, something that has lent a sensitive freedom to the way he uses color and texture in his creations.

Born in Taiwan, Hong now lives and works in La Puenta, CA and has received worldwide acclaim for his art, including acceptance by the prestigious Salon de Automne Francais in Paris, France.

                                                                                                              

                                                                        By  Agora Gallery, NY   2010

Glass, Mixed media works

Through the glass where the light bends at the cracks, the colors and gestures float underneath. The cracks like a wound, tearing the heart and the peace. It was an accident, and I realized that the glass is as fragile as life. I painted behind and on the glass, the fragile ground. The colored ink went through the cracks and blended with the image underneath . It was interesting to see how they blended into each other.

 What fascinates me the most is not only its transparency, but the uncertain cracks. It combines beauty with violence, two things you wouldn’t instinctively expect to find together. Cracking seems a metaphor for life itself. We live out our lives amidst beauty and violence. We strive for peace at our heart but scream over unfairness.

My recent paintings with the cracking glass are to discover and explore a new form for painting
In the last few years, I have been searching for a new way to express my inner thoughts through my creation. I try to seek the breakthrough and to move beyond the previous creation pattern. During the creative process of long-term experimentation and practice, I gradually find out I should not just tight up with the traditional materials or forms. I found out the core ideology of Western Contemporary art is like the spiritual essence of traditional Chinese art, as art is concerned with the human being’s existence and spiritual pursuit. I feel I can’t regard the Eastern and the Western art as opposites.

Turning from discovering the diversity of possibilities to recognizing the uniqueness of necessity is the key point for me to really enter the new art world, and thus the goal of my creative work became clear. The experiments with the new concept to the new materials and new forms in painting led to new achievements in my works. Painting through the cracking glass or torn fabric, I obtained new understanding of the aspect of the ‘canvas.’ It creates a new visual effect, a multiple levels in painting space.

During my early art career, I learned the unrestrained and spontaneous Chinese calligraphy, and especially inspired by Monk Huai Su’s cursive style in Tang Dynasty. His spontaneous exuberance of the cursive script, strokes, and marks formed the complex pictures of abstract beauty. Through calligraphy, I can express my personal thoughts, morals, innermost sentiments, and the unrestrained freedom. In the mean while, my early experiences with the training of Freud’s consciousness theory also affect my practice and creation. In my recent works, I let the paint flows out of the brushes like notes of music, floating with cadence in a stream of intertwined rhythm and melody. My art is by no means a simple assembly of Eastern techniques, conceptions and a Western art form. It is more about expressing my inner thoughts through my own way.

Resume

GARY HONG
1953 Born in Taiwan
2010 Studied at Art Center College of Design
2005-2006 Studied at Pasadena City College
1999 Studied at the Graduate Institute of Fine Art of Tunghai University

EXHIBITIONS:
Solo Exhibitions:
2010 Taiwanese American Community Center, San Diego, CA
2008 Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, El Monte, CA
2007 Sandstone Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2007 Bluebird Art Gallery, Whittier, CA
2006 San Gabriel Fine Arts Gallery, San Gabriel, CA
2004 Fun Year Art Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan
2002 Chun Hwa Buro Art Center, Chun Hwa, Taiwan
2001 Capital Art Center, Taichung, Taiwan
1999 Capital Art Center, Taichung, Taiwan
1998 Man of Reputation Art Gallery of Taipei City Government, Taipei, Taiwan
1997 Sun Sea Art Gallery, Hsin-chu, Taiwan
1997 Pacific Cultural Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan
1997 Maioli Cultural Center, Maioli, Taiwan
1997 International Art Center, Taipei , Taiwan
1996 Tainan Provincial Hall of Social Education, Tainan, Taiwan
1996 Sotoshiya Art Salon, Tokyo, Japan
1995 Taichung Art Center, Taichung, Taiwan

Group Exhibitions(Selected):
2016  Orange County Taiwanese American Heritage Week Art Exhibition, CA
         '2016 Group exhibition of artists from North America - Migration", Taipei, Taiwan
2015  "2015 Art Auction",  Oceaside Museum of Art, CA
2015  "Chaos Theory" Exhibition,  Orange County center for contemporary art, Santa Ana, CA
2014  Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Tswei-heng gallery, Taipei,Taiwan
2014   Orange County Taiwanese American Heritage Week Art Exhibition

          Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, El Monte, CA

2013 " Miniatures and More " Juried Exhibition, Whittier, CA
          Neoart League Exhibition, Whittier, CA
         Orange County Taiwanese American Heritage Week Art Exhibition
         Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, El Monte, CA
          53rd Annual Festival of Fine Arts, Hillcrest Congregational Church, CA
         Neoart League Exhibition, Whittier, CA
2012  Participated in " International  Art  Festival " , The Museum of Russian Art, New York, NY
         Orange County Taiwanese American Heritage Week Art Exhibition, CA
          27th Annual Made In California Juried Exhibition, City of Brea Art Gallery, CA
          52nd Annual Festival of Fine Arts, Hillcrest Congregational Church, CA
          Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, El Monte, CA
2011  Orange County Taiwanese American Heritage Week Art Exhibition, CA
          CCAA Museum of Art Fall Juried Show, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
          Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, El Monte, CA
          51st Annual Festival of Fine Arts, Hillcrest Congregational Church, CA
          Agora Gallery, New York, NY
2010   Agora Gallery, New York, NY
          Andrews Art Museum, Andrews, NC
          Orange County Taiwanese American Heritage Week Art Exhibition, CA
2009  Museum X of Contemporary Art, Pomona, CA
          The Finer Arts Festival, Laguna Beach, CA
          Neoart League Exhibition, Whittier, CA
          Orange County Taiwanese American Heritage Week Art Exhibition, CA
          Neoart League Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA
2008  Orange County Taiwanese American Heritage Week Art Exhibition, CA
          Neoart League Exhibition in Taiwan
2007  Orange County Taiwanese American Heritage Week Art Exhibition, CA
2007  Los Angeles Gallery Row Art Tower Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

AWARDS:
2013 Third place, " Miniatures and More " Juried Exhibition, Whittier Art Association , CA
2010 Accepted into " Abstractions of The Mind ", ArtScene Today International Art Competitions
2010 Accepted into " 2010 Spring/Summer Show", The American Juried Art Salon
2010 Honorable Mention, 50th Annual Festival of Fine Arts, Hillcrest Congregational Church, CA
2009 Accepted into " Salon of Automne Francais, Paris, France" and was exhibit in Paris, France
2007 3 rd Award,2007 Member’s show, Long Beach Fine Art Association , CA
2006 Accepted into “ The 23rd Annual Art Competition, the Artist Magazine”
2003 Accepted into “ Salon of automne, Francais, Paris, France”and was exhibit in Paris, France
1996/1998/1999/2000/2002
         Accepted into “ Salon des Artistes, Francais, Paris, France”and was exhibit in Paris, France
1994/1996
         ”International Exchange Award, the 20th, 22nd, Japan IMA Modern Art Exhibition, Japan”
1993 Accepted into “ the 49th Japan Modern Art Exhibition, Japan”and was exhibit in Tokyo, Japan
1992 Accepted into “ the 13 rd International Fine Art Exhibition, Japan”and was exhibit in Tokyo, Japan