HUNG Tung-Lu was born in Changhua, 1968. He relocated to Wanhua, Taipei with his family in middle school, and graduated from Fu-Hsin Trade & Arts School’s painting division in 1987. In 1993, he graduated from the Department of Western Painting at Chinese Culture University’s College of Art, and in 1999, he obtained a master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of Tainan National College of the Arts, Department of Plastic Arts. An avant-garde “writer of desire” in the field of contemporary Taiwanese art, Hung become widely recognized in the 90s, with his art focused on the examination of the era of consumerism and the lustful, mesmerizing modern world through virtual images and settings, in the meantime gazing upon the changing humanity in the digital times. Having participated in many international contemporary art exhibitions, such as the Taiwan Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 1999, the 2000 Taipei Biennial, the 2002 International Photography Biennial in Brescia, and the 2004 Shanghai Biennale, amongst others, Hung demonstrates extensive skills of integrating mixed media, and has created a distinctive aesthetic for simulation with spectacular and magical visual effects.

The Birth is from HUNG Tung-Lu’s Nirvana Series, and it is a recount of one of the “A-may” girls Xiao Hung’s arrival in the world. This world is a fantastic realm to abandon all physicality and to live by the heart free of any constraints. Echoing with today’s influx of virtuality, Hung’s art could be regarded as a proclamation of acceptance for sub-culture.

With the rise of the information era, communication modes between people are also undergoing drastic changes. Social interactions are no longer conducted through interconnected contacts and understanding; more often, they are exchanged through simulated messages. The so-called self and acceptance are also no longer only referring to organic connections between people and their inner realms; in the digital space-time, an alter-self is formed, which causes traditional discourses on subjectivity to be subverted. Reality is also no longer directed at the justification of truth; rather, it is about multi-perceptive choices. Reality has become broken promises, and replacing it are postmodern nomadic subjects, and imaginative relationships between the self and the multiple-selves.

Hung’s art provides profound aesthetic vernaculars for this kind of state of survival. His interpretations of animated characters, such as Chun-li, Rei Ayanami, Superman, have all thoroughly presented the organic connections between media symbols and human desires. His art always provides new meanings to familiar game or anime characters. Hung was in the U.S. at the time of the 911 terrorist attacks in 2000 and was greatly impacted by the incident. His art began to take on more religious connotations, as seen with the Nirvana series, and characters of A-May Xiao Hung and Android; they all indicate a world that is beautiful, peaceful, as they transcend worldliness. For Hung, the destination of the world seems to lead to the brave new world constructed in the digital space-time. His reflections on life have formed a rich and interesting fusion with his art. Overall, with an acute sense for observation, HUNG Tung-Lu has captured the face of humanity constantly evolving in the Internet age. With history, reality, desire and personal experiences all inter-ridden, his works have become a political revelation of the flamboyant modern life