Lot  039 Ravenel Autumn Auction 2023

Ravenel Autumn Auction 2023

2011-25

Hsu Yunghsu (Taiwanese, 1955)

2011

Stoneware; unique piece

155 (L) x 40 (W) x 202 (H) cm

Estimate

TWD 800,000-1,200,000

HKD 195,000-293,000

USD 25,000-37,500

CNY 183,000-274,000

Sold Price

TWD 1,560,000

HKD 387,097

USD 49,571

CNY 354,545


Signature



PROVENANCE
Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei
Acquired from the above by the present owner

EXHIBITED
Becoming, Refrain: Hsu Yunghsu Solo Exhibition, Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei, February 18 - March 18, 2012

ILLUSTRATED
Becoming, Refrain: Hsu Yunghsu, Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei, 2012, color illustrated, pp. 32-33
This lot is accompanied with a certificate of authenticity issued by Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei.

+ OVERVIEW

Hsu Yunghsu was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1955. He was awarded a BA from the National Pingtung Teachers College, and was awarded an MFA from Applied Arts at Tainan National University of the Arts where he studied ceramics at the Graduate Institute. He also received Grand Prix, The 8th International Ceramics Competition Mino, Japan and 2021 Taiwan Ceramics Awards The Excellence Award, just to name a few. He held solo exhibition “Yunghsu Hsu: A World Made Light” at Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in 2019, “Monad·Epimorphism” at Taipei Double Square in 2021, “Object / Self ” at Juming Museum in 2021, “Boundary” at Tainan San Gallery in 2022, “Ever-growing Gestalt ” at Kaohsiung Lotus Art Gallery and so on.

In his early days in the United States, Hsu Yunghsu experienced a profound sense of interpersonal detachment while being in a foreign land. The unrelenting loneliness and isolation he felt within couldn't be resolved, which eventually became the starting point for his ceramic art. He began crafting delicate ceramic pieces, leaving his fingerprints on their surfaces. These fingerprints served as connections and contrasts, almost like stubbornly preserving an inner warmth in this cold and unforgiving world.

Hsu Yunghsu’s studio in Tainan houses several of Asia's largest kilns, where he transforms dense clay into towering, thin-layered, high-temperature ceramic artworks measuring several meters in height. He initially described the "extremely large, extremely thin" transformation of clay as a self-imposed challenge, but through his exploration of material thresholds, he found his own artistic boundaries. This process helped alleviate the indescribable frustrations he was experiencing at the time, leading to the development of a unique "Anti-Ceramics" aesthetic. It challenges the limits of ceramic materials and introduces a fresh perspective on contemporary ceramics.

He shapes clay with the whole of his body, maximizing its extensibility. This is a series of silent yet resonant dialogues, a self-meditation that leads into different states of being and realms. His determination is transmitted from his hands to the material, flowing through gentle curves, echoing within delicate cavities, and leaving behind only fingerprints and the textures formed by the pressure of his fingers on the surface of the ceramic works.

The artwork “2011-25”was exhibited at Tina Keng Gallery “Hsu Yung Hsu Solo Exhibition: Becoming‧Refrain”in 2012, featuring 32 new works that showcase the artistic culmination and integration of past six years. Among them are numerous "miniature units" that compose sculptures, resembling clustered corals, gathered petals, or tightly woven honeycombs. These creations form mysterious three-dimensional inner spaces, like self-contained microcosms, brimming with vitality and stored energy that beckon viewers to explore further.

"Transcendence - from life to life, from artistic creation to artistic creation, from artistic creation to life." For Hsu Yunghsu, art is not merely about fleeting inspiration or interpreting beauty. Art is the self, it is life, and it is an inseparable part of life, even transcending life itself.
Related Info

Select: Modern & Contemporary Art

Ravenel Autumn Auction 2023

Saturday, December 2, 2023, 4:00pm