Bluerider ART London · Mayfair presents ”Rising in Fire: Hantoo Art Group — The Making of Taiwan’s Art History”, a landmark exhibition. Supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Taiwan in the UK, and the Cultural Taiwan UK, this historic debut brings to Europe, for the very first time, the legendary Taiwanese artists’ collective Hantoo Art Group, established in 1998.

The exhibition unfolds across two venues: Bluerider ART London · Mayfair, located in the heart of Mayfair’s international art district, and the newly established space at the Taipei Representative Office in the UK. Together, they will showcase more than 60 works by 13 renown artists, tracing the group’s pivotal role in shaping Taiwan’s contemporary art history.

Founded during Taiwan’s turbulent era of transformation—from authoritarian rule through democratization and globalization—Hantoo has for 27 years embodied the independent, critical spirit of contemporary Taiwanese art. Their works draw deeply from lived experience, transforming individual memory into collective history, and local narratives into a contemporary artistic language. Rejecting simple appropriation of Western vocabularies, their practice instead reflects Taiwan’s pluralism, resilience, and cultural self-definition, creating a distinctive aesthetic that is both sharp and poetic.

The exhibition title ”Rising in Fire” symbolizes struggle, resistance, and rebirth. Like a flock of wild geese flying in formation, Hantoo’s members have supported one another through decades of challenges, inscribing their brotherhood into Taiwan’s art history. Born amid social upheaval, they persisted in times when art held little economic promise, forging a collective identity through humor, irony, tenderness, and defiance. Their work remains marked by the raw force of survival—tempered with maturity, but never dulled.

Highlights include:

Yang Mao-Lin: political totems of Taiwan’s flora and fauna
Wu Tien-Chang: flamboyant “Taike aesthetics” critiquing reality
Lu Hsien-Ming: aged trees as metaphors for civilization and nature
Kuo Wei-Kuo: fairy-tale allegories of world politics
Lee Ming-Chung: balance of reason and sensibility in color and line
Yang Jen-Ming: abstraction as flow of thought
Lien Chien-Hsing: magical realism of dreamlike forest
Lai Hsin-Lung: utopian islands as yearning for freedom
Tang Tang-Fa: market culture transformed into stage spectacle
Tu Wei-Cheng: archaeological fictions of “Punan Civilization”
Deng Wen-Jen: embroidered memories of daily food rituals
Chang Ling: satirical prophecy of geopolitical anxieties
Chen Ching-Yao: self-portraits critiquing political idol-making

Together, these 13 artists embody a chorus of Taiwan’s contemporary art—expressive, ironic, humorous, emotional, yet deeply rooted in their homeland. Each work is a call back to Taiwan’s soil, shaping a unique aesthetic and worldview that continues to evolve. History is still in flight, and their fire still burns.

Exhibiting Hantoo Artists
Yang Mao-Lin
Wu Tien-Chang
Lu Hsien-Ming
Kuo Wei-Kuo
Lee Ming-Chung
Yang Jen-Ming
Lien Chien-Hsing
Lai Hsin-Long
Tang Tang-Fa
Tu Wei-Cheng
Deng Wen-Cheng
Chang Ling
Chen Ching-Yao