Co-organized by the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles of the Ministry of Culture (Taiwan) and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the exhibition "Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War" will debut on April 3, 2025. Featuring nine works—including multimedia installations, videos, and paintings—the exhibition captures Taiwan’s Zeitgeist through poetic visual narratives. Using seemingly ordinary yet significant moments such as military exercises and civil movements, Yuan conveys the Taiwanese people's desire for security and peace. This marks Yuan's first solo exhibition in the United States and will be on display until July 7, 2025.
The theme of this exhibition expands from the artist's personal experiences to broader global tensions. The new video work "Everyday War," which shares its title with the exhibition, uses the spatial layout and camera movements of a living room space to metaphorically express the anxiety of present-day Taiwan. The kinetic installation work "Prophecy" reproduces the dining table and chairs that are subjected to violent vibrations, allowing the audience to reflect on the causes behind the drastic changes. Meanwhile, the video work "The 561st Hour of Occupation" revisits the moment protesters entered Taiwan’s parliament, capturing the event from a rational yet striking perspective. Amid today's economic and political turmoil, Yuan uses various media to reflect the anxiety of the individual scale under contemporary social issues, prompting the audience to think deeply about the relationship between daily life and civil society.
A pioneer of video art in Taiwan, Yuan Goang-Ming has been active in the international art scene since 1984. In 2024, he was selected as the representative artist of the Taiwan Pavilion at the 60th "Venice International Art Biennale," curated by Abby Chen, contemporary art curator at the Asian Art Museum. His exhibition in Venice was widely acclaimed, receiving media coverage in seven languages, including English, German, and Italian, and resonating with global audiences. Building on the same curatorial vision while expanding to include new works, “Everyday War” has been reimagined for a newly customized gallery at the Asian Art Museum. The exhibition aims to introduce the artist's interpretation of contemporary Taiwanese society and global issues with American audiences.
The Asian Art Museum is recognized worldwide as one of the cultural institutions dedicated to Asian art. Since 2019, it has expanded its curatorial scope to contemporary art to show the diversity, vitality, and mobility of Asia. After the opening of this exhibition, Yuan will also be invited to participate in the "Night of Ideas" event in the museum on April 5, which will greatly enhance the visibility of artists and make art a leading role in cutting-edge social trends.
For more information, please visit the official website: https://exhibitions.asianart.org/exhibitions/everyday-war/