Initiator and Champion of Neo-Iconography
Artist with Historical Vision & Cultural Mission
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The Neo-Iconography of
"Art as a unifying tool to rebuild the world..."
Dr. T. F. Chen is a painter, art
historian, writer, philosopher, visionary, and founder of the
T. F. Chen Cultural Center in NYC -- a non-profit organization
focusing on international cultural exchange and a Global New
Renaissance. A recipient of a Global Tolerance
Award (2001, at U. N.) Dr. Chen was designated a "Cultural
Ambassador for Tolerance and Peace" by the Friends of the
United Nations to continue his lifetime of work dedicated to
peace, tolerance and love; and for his art of multiculturalism
-- a body of work that reflects the achievements of our humanity
and inspires worldwide cultural harmony and progress.
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Dr. Chen's artistic life spans more than
half a century. Born in Taiwan and educated in France, Chen was the
first Asian scholar to earn a Ph. D in modern art history from La
Sorbonne, where he established "Five - Dimensional World Culture"
in theory (1969) and initiated "Neo-Iconography"
in painting. Chen has produced more than 1,000 paintings in his signature
Neo-Iconography style and has published over a dozen books in English,
Chinese and French concerning his art and his theories of an upcoming
New Renaissance. Recognized as "one of the twenty most influential
artists in the world today (Dr. Thomas McEvilley, art critic),"
Chen has conducted more than 100 one-man exhibitions worldwide. Chen's
works are featured in over two-hundred textbooks (including
Arts & Ideas), countless articles, newspapers, art magazines,
etc.; and are collected widely both privately and publicly such as
the Museum of Modern Art, Paris; the Smithsonian Institute; the Taipei
Fine Arts Museum; etc. His series include "The Spirit of Liberty,"
"Humanity," "Post - Van Gogh," "East
- West," "Space Age," "Princess Diana,"
"Jade Mountain Love and Peace," "9/11,"etc.
Dr. Chen holds the honor of beinginvited
to speak and exhibit at the "State of the
World Forum," in 1998 and 2000, a gathering of over 1,000
prominent world leaders in the fields of business, science, politics,
education, technology and the humanities. Chen has also been invited
to launch a World Art Campaign under the theme: "Building
A Culture of Peace and Tolerance through the Arts". The project
will act as a catalyst, igniting the inner vision of local communities,
children, art lovers and all people worldwide, to inspire artwork
in the spirit of peace and to continue bearing the positive message
of the United Nations.
Neo-Iconography is a daring new
form of communication. It unites East and West, past and present,
by organizing and combining familiar "icons" in unfamiliar
ways. Like a passionate art collector, Dr. Chen assembles images he
treasures and places them together in contexts that defy time, space,
and cultural barriers. The result is an eclectic composition, which
may be startling, puzzling, joyful, sorrowful or humorous. "Neo-I"
is a daring form of art because it challenges both the artist and
the viewer to be enchanted by new meanings for established images.
Each painting has a visual impact with a philosophical underpinning.
Excerpts from
Chen's Speech:
"We need a culture based on LOVE
instead of POWER, HUMANISM instead of MATERIALISM, HEART instead
of MACHINE, CREATION instead of PRODUCTION, and HAPPINESS instead
of WEALTH; a culture of TO BE (and TO LOVE) instead of TO HAVE,
not just HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, but also SOULWARE."
- Artist Association International, Paris
"Entering the 20th century, the
well-developed "Four Dimensional Culture of Divergency" produced
the most powerful nuclear weapon which put the entire humanity
under the threat of total destruction in a few minutes. Out
of such a background arises a common and shared consciousness
of pursuing a "World Family" in fraternity. Under such
a cultural environment and social background is born my view
of 'FIVE DIMENSIONAL UNIVERSAL CULTURE in LOVE.' What is open
in front of us is not merely a new expression in art, the Neo-Iconography
which is an aspect of our Post-Modernism in aesthetic creation,
but the advent of a NEW RENAISSANCE in a global scale for all
humanity, the shared task for our Post-Nuclear Age."
- Taiwan Museum of Art, Taiwan
"Neo-I is the beginning of a world
art renaissance, which weaves together ICONS, cultural images
with symbolic meaning to produce FRESH and PRECISE VISIONS of
universal consequence, a new universal culture of the FIFTH
DIMENSION combining TIME, SPACE, and CONSCIENCE."
- 9th International Conference on the Unity of Sciences, FL
"Neo-I, a kind of Conceptual ArtÚ
The essence of Neo-I is LIBERTY-Liberty of Mind, Freedom of
Tongue, Liberty of Hand (unlimited techniques), Freedom of Interpretation."
- Gallery New World, Taipei, Taiwan
"POP ART is the precedent to Neo-Iconography,
and Neo-Iconography is a philosophical flowering of Pop Art
or its realization of an historical mission. POP ART responds
to mass culture, while Neo-I to Universal Civilization. POP
ART emphasized vulgarity, while Neo-I, universal concern; POP
ART reveals secularism; Neo-I, universalityÚ Neo-I is
an art of life: the artist tries to use art to convey his/her
concern, to seek truth, to preach; yet does so through icons
and artistic treatment of visual manifestation of social life. Neo-I
selects icons from every possible culture, of different time
and space, more historical than social is the interpretation
of certain philosophy. Moreover, Neo-I is prone sometimes
to be an art engage, fighting for some ideas and ideals; therefore
is quite political, social and cultural, besides aesthetical."
- Lucia Gallery (SoHo), NYC
"I belong to a new generation in
civilization, a new universal culture in which we are now living
which synthesizes a new society for everyone. I am neither
Eastern nor Western -- I belong to both at the same time,
the whole."
- John Hopkins University, MD
"Every moment in your life is unique.
If you have done something good in this moment, that is eternal."
- Taipei Fine Arts Museum |
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