Artists
Photo Credit: NIU Chun-Chiang
SU Hui-Yu
SU Hui-Yu
| Location | Czech Republic / Český Krumlov |
|---|---|
| Residency | Egon Schiele Art Centrum |
| Year of the Grant | 2013 |
| Work | (Work in progress for 2014) |
| Personal Website | SU Hui-Yu's Personal Website |
Focusing on pop culture, violence in the media, reality TV, and the politics of fear, he has created staged video productions and still images that represent a sophisticated use of technology and an acute understanding of his contemporaries' response to their world. His work has received both national and international recognition and has been exhibited at 2010 Taipei Biennia, MID_E International Contemporary Art Exhibition in San Sebastian(2010), AFA Beijing Contemporary Art Centre in Beijing(2009), FEM Foundation in Madrid (2007); VT Artsalon in Taipei, Sparwasser HQ in Berlin, and the Cultural Centre of Taiwan in Paris (2006); and MOCA Taipei(2005). In 2009, SU was awarded the Asian Cultural Council's Fellowship Award(ACC) to conduct research in contemporary art through an international residency program in New York City .
Artist Statement:
In my work, I have always paid close attention to the relationship between public media and contemporary life. Since my 2010 series Stilnox Home Video, I have also begun research in how drugs, anxiety, and psychological illnesses present themselves in our contemporary life.
Psychiatry, as well as the treatment and regulation of psychological illnesses, are all concepts originated from the West. I hoped to study such topics in other cities through this residency program. Europe was a key zone of interest, since the old-school ‘anti-psychiatry’ ideology is a phenomenon worth studying. An internal desire to be in relation to someplace peripheral, foreign, and far away urged me to seek a residency location that was completely different from the urban environment that I was accustomed to in Taipei. I wanted to go to a place that was relatively unfamiliar and would generate an isolated feeling that might lead to new inspiration.
Residency Recollections:
Compared to the cosmopolitan residency programs located in New York City or Paris, the Egon Schiele Art Centrum residency seemed much more unique and precious to me. Due to its location in the ancient town of Český Krumlov, a World Heritage site, the Egon Schiele Art Centrum can provide its artists with a working environment that is quiet, calm, and beautiful. Although Český Krumlov can be categorized as provincial, living there is still quite convenient because of its tourist attractions. However, due to its rural location, the Art Centrum does not emphasize showcasing artists’ works and connecting artists in its residency program. It is a place that is more suitable for artists who need to focus on studio work, who are seeking development in their inspiration, and who are experiencing transitions in their practices.
Český Krumlov and the Art Centrum are conveniently located in relation to other important art cities in Central Europe. It takes about three hours to get to Prague or Linz, one and a half hours to go to Vienna, and five hours to get to Munich by shuttle bus. This means that artists in residence can easily arrange trips to go to these cities and experience Central European, German, and Bavarian cultures, as well as their history and contemporary art scenes.