Ahura

Li Chin-hsien 

《台灣名家美術100─郭東榮》，新北：香柏樹文化，2009。

From the transformative moment of a costume party to the demolition of the old Taipei Zhonghua Market, through the images of his personal and public life, the great paintings of Kuo Tong-jong captured the spirit of an age and preserved intact the momentous events of his life. His private works displayed meticulous craftsmanship, his public works a scale of grandeur, and both emphasized the pursuit of imagery over routine technique. Truly, the paintings of Kuo Tong-jong project an outstanding surreal imagery. 

1. An Artistic Youth before the War

Kuo Tong-jong enjoys getting along with young people and never appeared superior as most teachers would seem, nor was he distant and aloof like the elders from before the war. However, his friendliness, humility, and integrity are characteristics of the people from his generation. He was born in Chiayi, Taiwan, in 1927, a year after fellow county-man Chen Cheng-po brought fame to the region by entering the Japanese imperial art exhibition. During these early years they were neighbors, living no more than fifty meters apart and separated by a small brook. 

From an early age, Kuo Tong-jong loved to draw. Education was widespread in Chiayi county, and he was blessed with the region's artistic talent. Although raised in a meager household, he benefited from this environment and enrolled in the Shirakawa (白川, White Stream) Public School (now Ta-Tung Primary School, 大同國民小學). Here he was greatly encouraged by third-grade teacher Jinjiuliuzhu, who, recognizing his talent, praised his work and often displayed them on the blackboard. In fifth grade, a teacher from Shikoku, named Anxikanshi, taught him the basic techniques of watercolor, still life, etc., and encouraged him to start drawing from life. From then on, he was hooked on drawing, and won first prize in a school competition. Later in life, out of gratitude to the mentor who had helped him achieve his dream of becoming an artist, he searched Japan for Anxikanshi's whereabouts, and eventually found his relatives on Shodoshima Island, who led him to pay his respects at the grave of this former benefactor.

During the latter period of Japanese colonization, another path to success opened up for the students of Chiayi - the national highschool baseball competition. In 1940, Kuo chose to pursue his studies at Kagi Nourin School (嘉義農林學校), famously known in Japan. Although he took no formal courses, he continued artistic endeavors through his excellent calligraphy, which won first prize in a school competition.

As the war intensified year by year, he was dispatched as a student soldier to the Chiayi munitions factory, where he remained until graduation. After the war, he served a brief stint at the Kagi Nourin School experimental area, up until the year of the 228 incident, when he returned to his alma mater as a substitute teacher.

In 1947, the year of the 228 incident, he heard with his own ears the gunshot of Chen Teng-po (陳澄波)'s public shooting - an era-defining experience and shocking blow to the national consciousness and hopes for the future of a twenty-one year-old youth in the midst of language conversion and a cultural divide. 

2. A Youth with a Passion for Art 

Although the times were changing, his artistic ambitions remained unwavering. In 1950, he took a teaching position at the Kagi Nourin School, where he learned from a newcomer colleague, who wished to enroll in the National Taiwan University, that a new art department had been established at the Taiwan Provincial Teachers College (present-day National Taiwan Normal University). He took action on this news and eventually realized his wish, entering the art department that very year. 

Given the opportunity of enrolling in the nation's only teachers college art department available in those days, he devoted himself fully to the program and made the most of his time. During that first summer, he studied sketching at Li Shih-chiao (李石樵)'s studio, and also gained a great admiration for the western-style painter Liao Chi-chun (廖繼春). Under the guidance of these two veterans, he became acquainted with creative concepts and inspiring personalities.

Proficient in Japanese, Kuo Tong-jong had read up on several imported Japanese art books during college and also researched the lives of these artists. By exploring the origins and development of modern art through their works, he gradually developed personal preferences and broadened his artistic knowledge. He exhibited outstanding and unique works in the various school art competitions, including watercolor, sketching, etc., and graduated at the top of his class. During the final year (1955), he received the Tai-Yang Award and first prize at the county teachers' art exhibition.

Although he had achieved outstanding results within the system, he seemed to yearn for something beyond...was the time right to study abroad? It was then his ambition.

In March of 1954, a year before graduation, he became a teacher's assistant at the Yunho studio (雲和畫室) founded by Liao Chi-chun. Here he was given the opportunity not only to accompany his admired teacher and learn the romantic style, free from classical rigidity, but also be positively influenced by Liao's great virtue and cultivation, which became the model for his later artistic expression and teaching style. 

Upon graduation in 1955, the art department wished to retain him as a teaching assistant, but oblivious to the promotion opportunities of the educational system and mistakenly believing the position to involve only menial tasks, he turned down the offer and took a job at the Taichung Second Senior High School (台中二中) instead. 

3. The Struggles of a Student Studying Abroad 

For Taiwanese students of the 1950's and 60's, studying abroad was one of life's greatest goals, and so it was perhaps following graduation that Kuo Tong-jong formed this desire. In 1958, prior to the 823 Artillery Incident (during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis), he was undergoing military service on the island of Kinmen. After preparing his retirement from military life, he took a new teaching position at the National Taipei College of Business (台北商業學校) in 1959 and taught part-time at the Fu-Hsin Trade and Arts School (復興商工美術科) in Yungho. At the same time, he was getting ready to study abroad in Japan, preparing educational fees and familiarizing himself with the Tokyo art scene. This artistic environment was his main reason for traveling abroad, and even an invitation from Kuo Po-chuan to teach sketching at the National Cheng Kung University could not shake his resolution.

With assistance from a certain be Dr. Lin Chi-chang (林淇章), who appreciated his work, Kuo Tong-jong held his first individual art exhibition in 1961 on the second floor of the Chiayi First Credit Cooperative in order to raise money for travel expenses. He exhibited over one hundred paintings and sold over NT$20,000, a great amount for the 1960's when the average teacher's monthly salary was $600. On April 21, 1962, he boarded a ship for Japan, heading off to enroll in the art department of the Musashino Art University (武藏野美術大學). 

Unfortunately, he underestimated Tokyo's high cost of living and ran out of money within half a year. Without any alternatives or clear prospects, he had no choice but to quit school and go to the city alone. Eventually, he found a stable job which allowed him to settle down and prepare for re-enrollment, and soon he was admitted to Waseda University's graduate program, studying the history of Western art. That job, to which he would later devote his career and life's energies, was provided by the Tokyo Private Chinese School. 

In the beginning, his responsibilities were limited to clerical work, because his calligraphy had caught the eye of the interview officer who hired him. This job not only gave him a stable means of living, but due to his integrity and abilities, also provided him the opportunity to ascend the ranks from teacher to Director of Academic Affairs, where he successfully managed his duties and gradually won the trust of the board of directors. Working and teaching at the same time, he eventually graduated from Waseda University in 1965 and held his first exhibition in Tokyo.

In 1968 and 1969, he held his third and fourth exhibitions at the Tokyo Asuka Gallery, displaying abstract paintings which reflected world trends. It was not until his sixth year in Tokyo that life settled down and he had time to pay attention to world affairs. In fact, life in this city had brought him into greater contact with global trends, and in 1969, he was deeply inspired by the historic Apollo 11 moon landing. 

4. Clash of the Past and Present 

By 1970, his focus had expanded to the cosmic scale, and in 1973, his No. 200 huge painting "Challenging Apollo 11" was awarded at the Japanese official exhibition. This exhibition had been formed by the disbanded members of the former Blue Dragon Society (青龍社) following the 1966 death of director Kawabata Ryushi (川端龍子). d his first Fulfilling Kawabata's grand ambition that "artistic creations should aspire to ornament great halls rather than decorate living rooms," "Challenging Apollo 11" was displayed at the very front of the first exhibition room in the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art.

That year, Kuo Tong-jong earned a master's degree from the Tokyo University of the Arts's Painting Techniques and Materials Department. In his excitement, he resolved to resign from teaching and pursue studies full-time, but was held back by the university's great desire to retain him. In the end, he had no choice but to sign a declaration promising to return to his post after finishing studies, thus keeping him from leaving Japan. Beginning in 1975, he went on to tour Europe and further expanded his artistic horizons. 

In 1981, friends and fellow Chiayi residents anticipated his newest creations, displayed at the Kuo Tong-jong exhibition of the Taipei Tai-Chi Gallery (太極藝廊).

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle "Challenger" exploded in mid-air seventy-three seconds after launching, killing all seven astronauts aboard. Broadcasted live, this unforgettable disaster was witnessed all over the world, and through the creation of his No. 200 abstract work "The Sacrifice of Space Exploration," Kuo Tong-jong expressed his cosmic vision by transferring this event onto a fluid, abstract canvas. 

In 1989, he retired from the Tokyo Chinese School and returned to Taiwan to teach at the National Art College (present-day National Taiwan University of Arts). In 1991, he assumed the position of division director and also started teaching at the Art Department of the National Taiwan Normal University. 

By the nineties, Taiwan had been fully democratized, and Kuo's themes shifted to a veteran's observation of the changing times, including a costume party, the capital's hectic traffic, streets undergoing modernization, and the memorial to the 228 incident.

After retiring from the NTUA in 1996, he was again called back to his former Tokyo Chinese school to serve as principal until his second retirement in 2001, when he finally returned to settle in his hometown. Having lived abroad for over three decades and spent the latter half of his life repeatedly called back from retirement, Kuo Tong-jong truly led a rich and memorable life. 

5. Finding Support in a New Team 

Throughout his artistic youth, growing up and pursuing studies, and living abroad for over thirty years, Kuo Tong-jong traveled a lonely journey. During his life, the most recognition his achievements received came from the Japanese official exhibition, which had presented him five awards for merit, effort, official exhibition works, and youth center works. Although inevitably losing touch with Taiwanese local artists over the course of his decades abroad, his magnanimous charisma and artistic tolerance made him an instant favorite among young people upon his return to teach in Taiwan, and his strength of character and patient educational dedication made him a very approachable person.

His return to Taiwan also influenced the revival and new lineup of the May Art Group of the 1950's. However, he had no desire to become its leader, as he had witnessed the transformations in global and artistic trends over the last fifty years and realized the benefit of artistic diversity over monopoly by a single style. 

Kuo was the original initiator of the May Art Group, whose development can be traced back to 1955. At that time, Kuo was managing Liao Chi-chun's Yunho Studio and happened to be chatting with Kuo Yu-lun  (郭豫倫) and Liu Kuo-sung (劉國松), who were staying at the studio. The topic of conversation turned to the department director, who had given Kuo Tong-jong the opportunity to return to the school and hold an exhibition following graduation. Why not add a few more artists? This idea eventually evolved into the following year's "Exhibition of Four" (Kuo Tong-jong, Liu Kuo-sung, Kuo Yu-lun, Li Fang-chih 李芳枝). In 1957, they were joined by Cheng Chiung-chuan (鄭瓊娟) and Chen Ching-jung (陳景容), and officially adopted the name "May Art Group." Thus the group held its first exhibition, and continued up until the tenth exhibition in 1966, when the group disbanded because most of its members went abroad. 

In those days, Kuo Tong-jong often sent avante-garde Japanese calligraphy and abstract ink painting albums to Liu Kuo-sung, who was leading the Taiwanese modern art revolution, and while the May Art Group was rewriting the history of Taiwanese art, Kuo Tong jong was carving out his own territory in Japan. 

Having never been able to fully end his relationship with the May Art Group, Kuo Tong-jong returned and revived the group by searching for new talents among promising recent art graduates. In the years to come, these arrivals continued to infuse the group with new life. As the times changed, so did artistic philosophies, and it was only by absorbing new talent and ideas that the group could hope to stay ahead of its time. In fact, developing new artistic models from the changing times had been the basis for Kuo Tong- jong's works all along. 

In 2005, he became a special professor at the National Chiayi University (國立嘉義大學), which had evolved from Kagi Nourin School which he had studied at as a youth. As if heeding the call of his alma mater, he went forth in a spirit of gratitude to once again dedicate himself to contribution.