Chen Chieh-jen
Chen Chieh-jen | Taiwan b.1960 | On Going (still) 2006 | 35mm film transferred to DVD, single channel. Continuous loop, colour, silent, 20:22 mins, ed. 4 of 5 | Image courtesy: The artist
b.1960 Taoyuan, Taiwan
Lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan
Chen Chieh-jen has been a significant figure in the development of Taiwanese conceptual art since the early 1980s. A self-taught artist, he was a prominent and controversial figure during Taiwan’s martial law period, and his practice directly reflects on the historical events through which he lived. Using the conventions of documentary filmmaking, Chen’s films weave together real and historical footage, often conveying a sense of disjointedness by moving slowly between past and present, prompting the viewer to consider the distinction between the real and the illusory. The individual’s experience in communal settings (factories, prisons and places of industry), and the situation of those existing outside the mainstream, are consistent strands in his work, including On Going 2006, to be featured in APT6. Chen’s films are elegiac commentaries on human resilience and issues of accountability, critically addressing social and economic inequities in contemporary society.
Exhibitions (solo): Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, 2008; Asia Society Museum, New York, United States, 2007. Exhibitions (group): 53rd Biennale of Venice, Italy, 2009; Istanbul Biennial, Turkey, 2007; Biennale of Sydney, Australia, 2006; 51st Biennale of Venice, Italy, 2005.
