Hung Tung-lu

In collaboration with Hanart TZ Gallery 

Hung Tung-Lu is one of those “new, new humans”, the Taiwanese equivalent of “Generation X”. He grew up with cartoons, mostly imported from Japan, and pop culture icons, which he appropriated and mixed with religious and historical imagery. He photographs cartoon idols such as Sailor Moon, Chun-Li or Ayanami Rei in front of blurry medieval religious paintings. The plastic mannequins of Hung Tung-Lu’s work, taken from these popular Japanese cartoons and video games, were created to represent an imaginary future. By superimposing the new on the old, he canonises old cultural images with irony. Specifically, for those who believe more in virtual reality and role-playing than reality and history, the possibility of redemption and hope seems to lie in elevating holiness to a level of weightlessness. 

Plastic mannequins, artificial flowers and electric lighting dominate the icons of Hung Tung-Lu, new icons of a new cult, where commerce becomes religion, and religion commercialised with video game and cartoon stars replaces orthodox beliefs.

But since the consumerist logic transcends the barrier of countries, the direct result of globalisation is not the loss of cultural identity but the contribution of a multicultural identity. We can all relate to the art of Hung Tung-Lu because he grew up with us, with our benchmarks.