'This exhibition presents: The works of 23 Taiwanese contemporary artists who, since the 1990s, have springboarded their creative explorations from local historical and cultural contexts, as well as individual life experiences. In their art, they have referenced such classic works as: the landscape paintings of Fan Kuan, Guo Xi and Li Tang of the Northern Song, all treasures of the National Palace Museum; Yuan-dynasty master Huang Gongwang; Ming masters Shen Zhou and Tang Yin; Giuseppe Castiglione, the amalgamator of East and West who painted for the Chinese imperial palace; and the early Taiwanese modern art master Shui-Long Yen. Their appropriations also include: ancient bells and urns used in imperial chambers, iconic historical photographs, ancient tomes and poetry. Based on the subject matter of the appropriated works, the exhibition is divided into seven categories, harkening back to the classification system of dynastic China: Landscapes; Taoism and Buddhism; Human Figures; Tales of the Mysterious; Calligraphy; Flowers, Birds and Beasts; and Photographic Images. In this way, it examines the intentions of contemporary artists in appropriating these classic works, and the ways in which they have refashioned the past.

'In Taiwan of the 1960s, the influential art forms arriving from the West were predominantly abstract and conceptual art. It was not until the 1990s that Western Dadaism and Warholian pop art began to have a significant impact. After the end of martial law in 1987, the pace of democratization in Taiwanese society quickened, and social attitudes gradually opened up. This was reflected in art with a broadening of thought and diversification of creative elements and subject matter. In “postmodern” society with its commercialization and mass reproduction of images, “classic works” and literary narratives became disengaged from their cultural contexts, losing their functions as palace decorations and sources of enlightenment. No longer was art the symbolically expressive, elite works of the traditional humanities. It had moved from the refined, gentrified classes of the past to the popular culture of today.

'For the contemporary age, these classic works present richly beautiful, powerful images and a sense of mystery engendered by distance in time. Yet unlike dynastic-era artists whose imitations were based on the foundation of “reverence for antiquity,” these famous works, after having undergone mass reproduction, ceased being rarely glimpsed works of the imperial court and became “images” that anyone could behold or obtain at a moment’s notice. They had even lost the textures and brushstrokes of the original, existing in a “flattened” state. Ruminating on local history, cultural values and identity, Taiwanese contemporary artists made use of those artworks that once adorned imperial power and symbolized the tastes of the literati class, engaging in a dialogue with their own history and culture, disassembling, reassembling, re-creating and altering the styles and subject matter of classic works through symbolic or allegorical images in order to enunciate their views on the present-day state of affairs through simile or metaphor. These include: consideration and breakthroughs in aesthetics and forms of expression; criticism of the current state of Taiwanese society, history and culture; voicing of their own inner ideal worlds and feelings about life; and the transformation of the artistic tastes of the past to a popular, commercial aesthetic more closely oriented toward everyday life. At the same time, as contemporary artists re-examine and re-create classic works of the past, they also re-accentuate and rediscover the artistic accomplishments of the past in light of new definitions and the perspective of art history. As artists refabricate the past, amid this convergence of dual-directional observation, discovery, transformation and original creation, they yield a wealth of meaning and limitless possibilities of expression in the contemporary era.' (from website of Taipei Fine Arts Museum)

本展呈現1990年代以來，23位臺灣當代藝術家從在地的歷史文化脈絡，及個人的生命經驗中出發，透過過去的「經典」之作而再創新作，包括：臺北故宮鎮院之寶──北宋范寬、郭熙與李唐的山水畫；元代四家中的黃公望；與明四家中的沈周及唐寅；清代中西合璧的宮廷畫家郎世寧；與臺灣早期重要的前輩畫家顏水龍。除此之外，挪用者還包括：皇室使用的鐘鼎古器物、重要的歷史照片、及古代典籍與詩詞等。展覽依據藝術家所挪用的作品主題，回歸古代分門的方式，分為山水、道釋、人物、神怪小說、筆勢、花鳥畜獸與留影等七類，藉此觀察當代藝術家使用這些經典之作的「意圖」以及如何「再造往昔」。

臺灣1960年代主要受西方抽象藝術、觀念藝術影響，西方達達主義及沃荷普普藝術的影響自1990年代才正式展開。自1987年解嚴後，臺灣社會民主化的步履加快，社會風氣也逐漸開放，反映在藝術上則是思考更為開闊、創作內涵及表現主題也更加多元化。在商業化、形象大量複製的「後現代」社會中，「經典之作」及文學典故脫離它的文化脈絡，失去為宮廷殿堂裝飾及教化的功能、也不再是傳統文人表意抒懷的精英之作，從過去高雅的貴族仕紳階級走入現今大眾及通俗文化中。 對當代而言，這些經典之作擁有富麗堂皇的形象，以及因時空差距所造成的神祕感。與古代藝術家摹仿是以「尊古」為基礎有所不同，這些名作經大量複製後，已不再是難得一見的殿堂之作，而是人人經常可見、隨手可得的「形象」，甚至失去原作所具有的質地與筆墨，而呈現「扁平化」的樣態。 反思在地過去的歷史、及文化的價值與定位的同時，當代藝術家透過使用那些曾經在歷史上妝點皇室權勢、象徵士大夫階級品味的藝術，也同與自身歷史文化展開對話，將經典作品的風格或主題，以象徵的符號或隱喻式的圖象，拆解、聚合、重塑與異化的手段，比喻或隱喻的說出他們對現況的看法，包括：美學及表現形式上的反思與突破；對在地社會現況與歷史文化的批判；對個人內心理想世界及生活感懷的抒發；以及從過去藝術品味轉向生活化、商業化及平民化，同時更貼近大眾生活美學。與此同時，往昔的經典之作透過當代藝術家的再觀照與再創造，也再度激化及發現他們在當代的新意涵與美術史上的藝術成就。經由藝術家之手，再造往昔的雙向觀照、發現、轉換與創新的交會中，呈現出當代的豐富意涵與表現上的無限可能性。