EXHIBITED::
Madonna Meets Mao, Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, StaatlicheKunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden, 31st, October, 2008-11th, January, 2009ILLUSTRATEDSU Wong-shen: Between the Clouds, Eslite Gallery, Taipei,2008, color illustrated, pp. 122-123, 236
Madonna Meets Mao, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden,Dresden, 2008, color illustrated, p66

The paintings by Su Wong-shen aways transcend real life settings, with many hidden local contexts and subtle allegories. The beasts in his paintings originate from the cats and dogs he encountered in Tamsui. As time passed, they gradually shed their outward characteristics, becoming a metaphor of life walking amongst society.

In the 1996-97 Kismet, the beasts still have a place in the bustling earth. The painting is constructed with Roadside Japanese Housing and Hillside Bomb Shelter placed side by side. On the left is a comfortable living area, the old Japanese-styled home sites in a thriving garden, with a pond encircled by stones. The trees around the house are tinted orange and yellow with autumn, creating a warm atmosphere. In contrast to the grassy landscape, the right shows a mountainous scene, with an open platform and bomb shelter hidden at the foot of the mountain. The artist used a unique overlooking perspective to create a quaint and fantastical scene that is also rooted in realism. The black horde of beasts come from both sides, but enter either region's center, instead spreading out on the upper edge of the image. These beasts were not raised by humans; they wander along the edge and encounter one another, drawing forth the depth of history and the atmosphere of the period, commenting on passing history, remnants of time, and memories of life.