The only constant is change.
Every day, we face changes and adjust or adopt ourselves to the changes.

Just like how we cope to the seasons:
in spring we reclaim hope,
in summer we embrace heat,
in fall we harvest colours,

and in winter we silent warmth.
By repeating these change cycles, our lives are unfolded.

If one break down one’s life time into sections of seasons, I am at the end of summer and the beginning of fall. This is the time when I start to consolidate my life in search of my own peace of mind.

Changes are plots in our story. It is these plots that makes our story interesting.
After all, if life is not interesting, what are we living for?

- Demos Chiang

Whitestone Gallery Singapore is honoured to present “Season Changes”, a solo exhibition by Taiwanese artist Demos Chiang. The relationship between Whitestone Gallery and Demos Chiang that began in Taipei, has expanded to Tokyo and Seoul, and now here in Singapore. Demos Chiang’s scholarly family background and the Western education he received during his youth have led him to develop a contemporary literati art style that blends Eastern and Western cultures in his design and artistic creations. Early in his career, he founded a commercial design company, achieving notable success and receiving multiple international awards in the design field. In recent years, he has channelled his artistic talents and cultivation into various art forms, which include graphic painting, installation sculpture, multimedia and street art. His large-scale installation at the Chengdu Biennale in 2021 received widespread acclaim.

The exhibition invites established Taiwanese curator Wang Yu-Ling as guest curator to showcase the changing seasons within the gallery space. Chiang's intricate and unique painting techniques create multi-layered colour textures that reflect the rich and diverse changes of the seasons, guiding viewers through the cycle of a year and inviting them to reconnect with their memories of nature's cycles through the animal imagery depicted by the artist. The work also often includes poetic English phrases filled with raw emotions and philosophical thinking, adding a striking visual effect.

Chiang’s solo exhibition here in Singapore features over 50 works, more than half of them are his new creations of 2024. Among the highlights are two monumental pieces, each ten meters long, showcasing his abundant creative energy and new perspectives on art and the world.

ALL THINGS WAX AND WANE AS NATURE ORDAINS
Curator YuLing Wang

"The beauty of time lies in its inevitable passage: from spring blooms and autumn moons to summer rains and winter snows." – Sanmao (writer)

Demos Chiang's latest solo exhibition, titled “Season Changes”, offers insights into the natural rhythms of time and life in Singapore, where each season evokes perpetual spring. Across four exhibition spaces, the artist translates abstract concepts of seasonal time into vivid visual imagery using colours, animal forms, and emotive expressions. Each piece vividly captures the unique hues and journeys akin to every stage of life―birth, aging, illness, and death.

In “Season Changes”, animal figures represent both nature's essence and reflections of human emotions, blending the artist's imagination with humanity and beasts harmonizing within nature. Visual paintings paired with English poems encourage imaginative interpretations, creating an artistic experience that balances intuitive perception with profound meaning. Each artwork unfolds as an open-end- ed narrative, inviting viewers into spaces marked by seasonal transitions, prompting reflection on personal memories of past and future life seasons, and each significant moment within.

The exhibition's centrepiece is an ancient mythical creature, the dragon, appearing at critical seasonal junctures―spring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox, and winter solstice―as a timeless guardian overseeing the passage of time. Demos Chiang portrays this dragon in diverse forms and colours, moving through the seasons like an undercurrent in the river of time, silently propelling life forward and bearing witness to the endless transformations and rebirths at each seasonal pivot. Additionally, two monumental works spanning ten meters each by the artist depict the grandeur of the "Grand Tour." Against a black backdrop with white lines, fifteen animals stride forward in unison, symbolizing resolute choices in life's rushing currents. Another piece against a salmon-coloured back- ground presents a vibrant animal gathering, celebrating the world's diversity and conveying harmonious ideals of "all things nurturing without harm." Here, individual brilliance melds with collective harmony, creating a vibrant tableau.

Demos Chiang's thematic masterpiece “Season Changes” gives tangible form and colour to time, inviting viewers to experience the kaleidoscope of seasons through artworks depicting the 24 solar terms, guiding them through a year-long journey. Simultaneously transforming the passage of time into a tangible visual experience, each painting acts as a mirror reflecting the landscapes within viewers' hearts, prompting introspection into life's journey. Like the seasons with their rhythms and transformations, we leave indelible marks on life, enriched by steadfast choices and diverse explorations. Through this visual feast, viewers reassess the significance of natural time cycles, feel life's pulsing rhythm, emulate the purity of animals, and discover their own values of life and time.