Yu Cheng-­Ta

Yu Cheng-­Ta was born in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1983. He received his BFA from the Taipei National University of the Arts in 2006 and continued to pursue his MFA there. In 2008, Yu has participated in The sixth Taipei Biennial and received the First Place of Taipei Arts Award. In 2009, his work was presented in Taiwan Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, later in Biennial Cuvée 08 at OK center for Contemporary Art. Yu’s works are held in the 2008 collection of “Ventriloquists: Introduction” and “She is My Aunt”, at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in Taichung, Taiwan. The artist is based in Taipei.

Yu Cheng-­Ta belongs to a generation not old enough to witness the severe battle to challenge and to reshape the idea of identity while the Martial Law was lifted in 1987. Nonetheless, he lives in a multi-­‐cultural society where the coexistence of different ethnic groups becomes the main issue while talking about “identity.” The particular focus of his artistic practice, therefore, lies on his artistic imagination to depict a state removed from historical developments. Such a state thus creates a highly limpid and profound dialogue with the social realities regarding history. In his works, commentators are often characterized as a “self-­‐fracturing political intimation.” To achieve a kind of mise-­‐en-­‐l'abîme effect, Yu Cheng-­‐Ta creates fissures that generate disparate meanings, with an attempt to address the imagined relationship between the narrating Subject and the narrated Other. The subtle fissures existing within cultures, languages or identities in fact make clear the differences among the individuals. More important, he does not attempt to emphasize the cultural conflicts and contradictions. Instead, he desires to employ humor as a means to make connections and or to produce accidents. By doing so, the artist enlarges the possibility for a new form of politics and a new dialogue of foreign relations.