illusive illusion

Are you happy?

Happiness is a great feeling, making the edge of your lips rise without you even realizing it. It’s a joy that cannot be concealed.

Monroe the panda, the master of the farm, cruise around on the golden beetle. Monroe, accompanied with the little phoenix, came from Korea, by way of Japan, giving out seeds of happiness along the journey. Now, wearing a halo in gold, Monroe brings along elephants, lizards, sacred tortoises and robots; all of a sudden, the farm is filled with fish jumping out of the water, flower blossom, horse neigh, insect sounds, and kittens as well as puppies hopping around. From the earliest Chaos to creatures of the future, the farm has them all; they excite your senses and challenge your imaginations. In a word, they expand your horizons.

Yang Mao-Lin Panda Sarasvati-MonroeⅡ 129x77x88cm 2008 Bronze sculpture with Gold Foil

And so you realize: the past and the future, all the times come to peace in the Happy Farm here at Metaphysical Art Gallery. Aside from all the appearances and images, happiness is also about profound creativity; here it’s through the artist’s hands and paintbrushes, turning intangible imaginations into something material and tangible. It may look totally spontaneous at first, like Hung Yi’s spotted cat, in sunglasses and stubbornly living in a birdcage. Or it may be Hwang Ming-Che, who disguises as a bull’s head that also happens to be a bullseye, in the provoking magenta color, full of dramatic self-sarcasm. But none of the disarray, confusion of reasons can compare with Gary Baseman’s world. It’s a paradise of bareness, where all that is primitive, pretty, ugly, evil, good, on the inside or outside, is cleansed and has its redemption here. And what turns out is a fine paradise, innocent and naïve. And you see Monroe says to him, wittily, “your paradise is but a piece of imagination in a corner of my farm.” So, we see Shozo Araki’s pacing shadow, smiling…

Wang Pan-Youn To Wish 93x93cm 1988 Oil on canvas

Is this all reality or illusion? Monroe says, “happiness is capturing illusion in reality. You long for having it, and you can always have it anytime you want.”