Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist 

From the exhibition title, HSIEH Mu-Chi begins to tease out his ideas about the intrinsic nature of painting. Covering nearly twenty years of his art—from The Place Without Beginning in 2006 to the solo exhibition The Place of Beginning in 2024—HSIEH has consistently employed diverse creative works to further his inquiry into painting, the contemporary landscape, and his self-exploration of responding to, capturing, or reimagining the local creative language. This exhibition underscores HSIEH’s emphatic resonance with his surroundings, art history, and the works of his predecessors in art, re-establishing the connection between his art, contemporary society, and historical contexts. Through the interplay of his vibrant palette and dynamic brushstrokes, he has captured a relaxed, controlled, yet fluid state of expression. (Commentator: LIN Yi-Hsiu)

Artwork Introduction

Approximately eight years ago, HSIEH Mu-Chi started weaving more elements of local culture and the environment into his paintings while also reflecting on styles characteristic of Taiwanese artists. He forges a connection between his work and Taiwanese art history, integrating color palettes, compositions, and themes from various predecessor painters. The exhibition title, “The Place of Beginning,” is inspired by The Place Without a Beginning, a piece he created in 2006. This revised title signifies a different mindset and a deeper exploration of painting, prompting his departure from referencing direct imagery and instead allowing the influences he has absorbed from the past to transform in a more liberated style.

About the Artist

HSIEH Mu-Chi, born in Taipei in 1981, graduated from the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the National Taiwan University of Arts. In recent years, he has shifted his artistic focus toward painting, aiming to connect his art more deeply with the local environment and cultural context of Taiwan. For Hsieh, painting is not simply an artistic form; rather, it is an ongoing journey of inquiry and exploration through which he seeks to capture the reality and place of painting within contemporary Taiwanese culture.

Production Team

Artist: Mu-Chi Hsieh

Graphic Design: Ching-Hua Tsai

Exhibition Setup: moreNICE.beGOOD Art Exhibition Service

Exhibition Lighting: moreNICE.beGOOD Art Exhibition Service

Exhibition Photography: Guan-Ming Lin

Exhibition Support: Project Fulfill art Space

Chiayi Art Museum Venue Coordination: Wei-Zong Kung

Chiayi Art Museum Moving Broadcast

Podcast Recording & Filming: Hsiang Ni, Yi-Ju Chen, Mothra Production