Sculpture

2001

Length:21 x Width:13.1 x Height:51.2 (cm)

Chen Ting-Shih (1913-2002, Changle, Fujian) was born into a literary family and trained from a young age in calligraphy, painting, and seal carving. During wartime upheaval in his youth, he adopted the pen name “Erh Shih” and produced hand-carved woodblock illustrations, which were printed directly onto publications. After relocating to Taiwan, Chen transitioned to modern printmaking and became a key figure in Taiwan’s contemporary art movement. He represented Taiwan in numerous international biennials and received first prize at the 1970 Korea International Print Biennale for his print Hibernation. In 1958, Chen co-founded the Modern Print Association with Lee Shi-Chi and Chiang Han-Tong, and actively participated in artist groups such as the Fifth Moon Group and the Modern Eye Art Society. In his later years, he turned to collecting scholar’s rocks and creating welded iron sculptures. His iconic piece Johnnie Walker was featured in the volume Masters of Iron and Space, securing his place in the global history of twentieth-century sculpture. Chen’s sculptures were typically assembled from discarded industrial materials, such as shipbreaking scrap metal, turbine blades, broken household items, and fragments of antique folk objects. Through cutting and welding, he transformed these rusted remnants into softened, abstract forms. The marks of age and use were not erased but recontextualized, becoming new visual symbols imbued with fresh life and aesthetic meaning.
Ming Dang is assembled from discarded industrial materials. At its center is a circular iron plate, surrounded by bent steel rods arranged in a loose, inverted triangular form. Although the structure appears visually unstable, it is grounded by a flat iron base. The interaction between the curved rods and the circular plate suggests the outline of a human figure or hints at an eye-like presence within a biomorphic form. The title Ming Dang refers to an ornamental pendant traditionally associated with pearls. This reference offers a poetic lens through which the composition might be seen—as a portrait-like figure adorned with jewelry, or with the round metal element interpreted as a luminous jewel. Rather than assigning a fixed meaning, the artist leaves space for multiple readings, inviting viewers to explore new interpretations shaped by the transformation of industrial fragments into evocative form.

Accession number:20170300069