Chih-Chien Wang | Perceptions and narratives

Montreal artist Chih-Chien Wang presents, until November 6 at the Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto, As if there was only one story. A reflection, from photographs and documents, around our perceptions. An exhibition for lovers of introspection, accompanied by a narrative solo by the Berlin artist of Polish origin Aleksandra Cieślewicz.

Eric Clement
The Press

This exhibition is certainly the most political of Chih-Chien Wang, the one in any case where he pushes us to reflect on the trials of our time. Invited to occupy Studio 1 of the Maison de la culture — a challenge, given its long shape — the artist transformed it into a room for reflection. A reflection stimulated by all kinds of quotations inscribed on his works or placed on a desk where he has piled up white sheets on which are reported current events that he has commented on.

The space evokes a library room, a place of study, reading, introspection. The works are there to nourish the spirit. Everyone will find meaning in it and make their own deductions. It is by walking around the room, stopping to read the artist’s annotations, that a continuum of thoughts is woven that end up inhabiting us and making us make connections.

The black-and-white photograph of a landscape, taken during one of his trips, was enlarged and then digitized into some 800 pieces, each piece containing at its base a sentence on the news or remarks by Chih-Chien Wang . He provided the photo to a friend who made a watercolor of it, in three parts, displayed on one of the picture rails in the room and in which he “pixelated” details. An evanescent, almost abstract, supernatural countryside scene.

The exhibition includes images of the Earth seen from the universe accompanied by a reflection on the ways of considering what life is, our finitude, our smallness and at the same time our disproportionate power. With this power that the human being has to put an end to his existence as much as with his capacity to propel the species in the cosmos. At the same time, Chih-Chien Wang brings us down to earth with extracts on the creative power of anger or even allusions to the pressing threats of China against Taiwan, his country of origin.

This is an exhibition about, in these troubled times. But the person who visits it can only really benefit from it by taking the time to read everything. And there is stock ! Chih-Chien Wang invites us to take a break. It’s welcome.

Aleksandra Cieslewicz

At the same time, the artist was the curator of the exhibition Before it all disappears, presented in three parts at Studio 2. The idea was to have students create by trying to understand the “construction of knowledge, the impact of narration and the perception of reality”. The third part is a deployment of a Berlin artist, Aleksandra Cieślewicz, whom Chih-Chien Wang met in the German capital and invited to exhibit in Montreal.

The Polish-born artist having a lot to say, she split her solo into four, adding to her production those of Asa Lee, Sara Lewi and Lena Seiz… who are only aliases of herself! His presentation ideally completes the corpus of Chih-Chien Wang, but will take almost as much time to visit if you want to watch and read everything!

“Sara Lewi” presents a diary from 1962 annotated by a Frenchwoman, then reused in 1985 by a Pole and finally by “Sara Lewi” recently. The work in 25 photographs of diary pages leads us into a narrative where we notably come across Leonard Cohen, who came in 1985 to present a concert in Poland and meet members of Solidarność.

But perhaps the most gripping story is that of a document, including a photo of a supernova, that “Asa Lee” found in 2019 at a flea market and which was signed. After three years of research, she found the trace of the author of the document. By means of cyanotypes made from said document and other archives related to supernovae, the 30-year-old artist recounts this quest which notably allowed him to learn a lot about astronomical phenomena. And we discover an artist who is exhibiting for the first time in Canada and who loves this narrative branch of visual art that has visibly flourished in abundance at the Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto…