Su Hui-Yu

The Cinema of Séance

Exhibition

20/02/2021 –

– 28/03

28/03/2021

Note: Due to COVID-19 measures, the opening date of this exhibition is still to be determined.

Su Hui-Yu presents new work in The Cinema of Séance, his first solo-exhibition in The Netherlands. The work of Su walks a line between history and memory, on a collective, universal level and on a personal, individual level. Recalling a cult-genre of 1980s Taiwanese cinema, the works place the socio-political strife of that era in Taiwan squarely in the present, addressing not only memory, but also the re-imagination of taboos and cultural values from the past into the present.

Su’s works center around Taiwanese history, memory, re-imagination and transgression. The Cinema of Séance engages taboos of the past and the present while exploring the mechanism of oppression and liberation tied to the island country’s cultural values.

Taken together, a few years before martial law imposed by Kuomingtang (known as the Chinese Nationalist Party) lifted in Taiwan in the 1980s, a cult-genre of women’s revenge films emerged, providing an outlet to the era’s desire and the sexual repression under government rule. These productions also signaled the beginning of an immensely transformative period in the country.

Su Hui-Yu examines the borders of bodies, sexuality, along with the entanglement of socio-political conduct and prohibition. The artist paves the way for the possibility of reviewing and supplementing history with his reflective practice, the ”re-shooting” of early Taiwanese experimental films. Using cinematic effects and extreme violence, Su brings these cult-films to life in the works.

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About Su Hui-Yu: Su Hui-Yu was born in Taipei in 1976. He obtained an MFA from Taipei National University of the Arts in 2003, and has remained active in the contemporary art scene ever since. Su has been featured in renowned international film festivals, exhibitions and art institutes, including the IFFR (the Netherlands), OzAsia festival(Adelaide, Australia), the Videonale (Bonn, Germany), PERFORMA (New York, USA), Wuzhen Contemporary Art Exhibition (China), MOCA Taipei(Taiwan),, Taipei Fine Arts Museum(Taiwan), Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts(Taiwan), San Jose Museum of Art (California, USA), Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, Casino Luxembourg- forum d’art contemporain, Bangkok Arts and Culture Center(Thailand) and Power Station of Art (Shanghai, China). In 2017, International Film Festival Rotterdam dedicated a retrospective to Su’s video works, while his video piece Super Taboo had its world premiere in the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films. Su returned to the Tiger Short Competition in 2019 with The Glamorous Boys of Tang. More info on www.suhuiyu.com

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The title of this exhibition was inspired by Julian Ross’ essay on Su’s work, titled “Midnight Séance with Su Hui-Yu”

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Su Hui-Yu

The Cinema of Séance

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