The word ‘Pioneer’ refers to ‘the person that first discover or help develop something new, make exemplary examples for others, or pave the way for others to follow’.

        Born in the year 1931, Mr. Wenqi He is a well-known post-war artist who is passionate about art education and creation for his entire life. Since 1964, Mr. He started upon his journey of rural sketch creation, thereby discovering that what really embodies the inner feelings is the everyday life that is often overlooked and even neglected. He then turned to devote himself in a large number of hometown scenery and ancient buildings sketches. Cities and towns of all sizes near the Kaohsiung and Pintung areas in which he lives in, hold footprints of his visits, thereby leaving sketches of precious past features of such areas. In particular are the traditional buildings such as tiles, horsebacks, houses, roof ridges and windows of Liudui Hakka villages, as well as everyday tools such as mortars, spring couplets and Wufu paper cuttings or customs are hugely featured in his works. The series of works are also viewed as Mr. He’s most iconic creations in his career.

        In the exhibition, a total of 97 works of Mr. Wenqi He are presented in terms of their times of creation. The exhibition focused more on the ‘works’ themselves by presenting them according to the characteristics of the period of creation for the artist. It is one of the core beliefs of the artist to convey works of democracy and freedom, and is also root of the idea of creating a large number of local artworks. The exhibition then overtook such belief as ‘Local Pursuit’, before continuing to ‘Native Return’, ‘Discovery & Close-up’, ‘Scenery & Cities’, ‘Native Rediscovery’ and ‘Forwarding Pioneer’. The 5 units are displayed in two stages. The ‘Scenery & Cities’ series combined some of the works from ‘Native Rediscovery’ with environmentally conscious landscape sketches produced after 2000. As gaps can be found between the two stages of works, the artist’s different styles can be easily found. In addition to his artworks, the artist’s views on creation, land and sketching are also presented in quotations. Visitors can then understand Mr. He’s minds behind his works, paired with observations of his displayed artworks, thereby constructing an image of an artist with passionate love for local Taiwan in flesh and blood in their individual minds.

        Looking into Mr. Wenqi He’s motives of creation, it is clear that they all base on his love for local lands and his pursuit of freedom and cultural subjectivity. He is obviously one step ahead in the opening of Taiwan’s local art movement; from the themes of his works, objects such as Wufu paper cutting, bamboo doors, pierced houses and agricultural equipment are all commonplace in the lives of native locals in the past. Under the mainstream concepts of western artforms, Mr. He’s works are first to introduce local consciousness into the world of arts. Thanks to Mr. He’s contributions in the field of local arts, watercolor creations, management of the greater atmosphere of artforms in Southern Taiwan, and even his pursuit of the love of the local land and pursuit of democratic politics, he can be regarded as the pioneer and leader of the era. Therefore, the exhibition is titled as ‘The Pioneer’ in hope to shine light upon the artist’s life of personal creations and practice of lifelong pursuits.

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