HOU Chun-Ming (b.1963, TW) is one of the most influential artists in Taiwan. Soon after graduating from the National Arts Academy (Now Taipei National University of the Arts), he was first known by his installations and woodcut prints during the 90s that seriously challenged the status quo of Taiwanese politics and social taboos at the time through his uncanny and ritualistic provocations.

 

Following this path, HOU was invited twice to attend the Venice Biennale in 1995 and 2013, respectively. In recent years, he has focused on a quest of exploring the faiths and spirits of Taiwanese cultures through juxtaposed sketches and writings, which has become his most significant expressions of art.

 

Since 2008 HOU has been dedicated to 2 major projects: “The Asian Father Interview Project” in which HOU untangles the diverse love-hate Asian family ties by a series of interview with Asian fathers, and in the on-going project “Body Maps”, HOU once again uses ethnographic research techniques and methodologies to transform bodily desires into artistic expressions.

 

HOU’s latest solo exhibition “The Flag Carriers” in which he has conducted interview with 6 Tainan local Shaman (Ji-Tung) can be viewed as an extension of “Body Maps” indicating the artist’s view towards human body as a memory vessel has been carried to a deeper sense of a carrier between humans and gods.

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HOU has also published several books including Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals by China Times Publishing, A Suicide Message of Dying on Love at Age 36 by Locus Publishing , Grain Rain‧Amorous Affair by Cans Art, The Caution in Mirror by Psygarden Publishing, Legend Hou’s Sin & Punishment by Garden City Publishing, and Suffer from Desires：Hou Chun Ming's Free Drawing by Psygarden Publishing.