Someone on my Facebook page commented about my description of some paintings, “When did you become so angry?” The question itself makes me angry, so I suppose I cannot deny that I am angry. I’d like to explore what role anger plays in my painting, and where my anger comes from. First off – am I really angry? Personally, I don’t think so. I don’t feel unpleasant or uncomfortable when talking about my art. I do have certain opinions about Jesus and about Christianity, which are strongly supported by reason and evidence, and holding these opinions does not make me …

At an exhibit today I had a request for rough, impressionistic of abstract art. A repeat buyer and patron of the gallery mentioned that she and her friends would probably buy something if it were a different style; and since I paint clean, surrealistic figures, the rough abstract impressionism is just about as different as I could get. It’s a strange idea: the obvious answer would be “no, thank you”; paint what inspires you, because no serious art collector is going to buy works that were churned out just to make sales. However, there are practical considerations. I did some …

Tomorrow I’m opening a solo exhibition in Tainan, Taiwan. This year has been a big step forward. I did most of my paintings when I was younger, and then stopped, foolishly, because I didn’t want to paint any more until I started selling the old ones. The folly in that statement is just one of the things I’ve learned recently, and I’m not determined to paint, and keep painting, even if they canvases pile up so much they have to be used as furniture. Another thing I had trouble with was pricing, and I just learned last week a valuable …

Here are two new paintings, both of which show Jesus in Taiwan and problematize the influence of Christianity on Asian culture. The first was inspired by a similar picture but with Jesus actually hugging the geographic leaf shaped island of Taiwan; which I found absurd and sickening at the same time. (“Jesus loves you, you strange, foreign, Asian country, and you are under Jesus’ love and protection, regardless of the fact that 90% of you worship strange Samurai-esque gods.”) I change the Taiwan into a Taiwanese baby, and put these two fierce but very common local spiritual entities in the …

I found a great resource – it’s the ‘art in Asia’ website (http://www.artinasia.com). Focusing on 7 majors cities (Honkong, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, and Singapore), Art in Asia has up to date event listings so you can know which artists are displaying at which galleries, and when. You can also browse the top contemporary Asian artists (currently 206) and get a feel for what’s going on in the Asian Art scene.

This August I attended “Art Taipei 2009″ (台北國際藝術博覽會), a massive 3 day contemporary art fair featuring established and emerging Asian artists from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and some other Asian countries. The event was part of our 4 day tour of contemporary Asian (Taiwanese) art and fashion, for the ‘Taiwan’s Best Trip‘ competition.  There were some truly great pieces there; it was inspiring for me and it will be a personal goal to be included in Art Taipei 2010 (or 11, 12, etc…) A lot of the paintings are shown in the video. 台灣當代藝術

I’ve recently become a contemporary Asian artist. Although I still use Western themes (especially religious themes and icons) I do so only to the extent that they can be found in Taiwan, interfering or interacting with Taiwanese culture. Moreover, I also use many images from Asian culture and specifically Taiwanese culture; ghost money, temple art, traditional Chinese characters… my art has become a commentary that in some ways can only be understood by Asian/Taiwanese viewers. Rather than single myself out, I’d like to become part of the ‘contemporary Asian art’ movement (which is a little challenging, because I’m white and …

This is taken from the mission statement of my website, www.holyblasphemy.net. My idea of God comes from St. Anselm: God is the highest thought that can be thought. If there is a God, and he lives up to all of our expectations of him, (and he must, or else he is not God), then he would not be so petty as to become furiously angry and result to violent retribution during those occasions in which we, equipped with our limited mental capabilities, accidentally or purposefully call him names he doesn’t like. Blasphemy, then, can never really be what it is …

“Mary Doody” 傀儡- 50x61cm- Oil on Canvas, 2002 Classical ‘Madonna and Child’ by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, but with Jesus as a howdy-doody puppet. Just who is in control of Christianity? It’s masculine forms of hierarchy – the triune male God – have led some to argue there is no place for women within its fold. Mary alone, in the Catholic tradition, is worshiped as divine, ‘mother of god’. Does the woman who bore Christ have any power or influence, or is she immediately silenced by deferring to her son? This piece problematizes the gender issues inherent in Christianity. 威廉阿道夫布羅格的經典作品《聖母與聖嬰》，只是耶穌以胡迪都迪玩偶的外型呈現。基督教是在誰的掌握之下？基督教中的階級制度以男性為主（三位一體的男性神祇），這讓許多人認為婦女在基督教信徒中是沒有地位的。 基督教傳統上認為瑪麗亞有如神明般受到景仰，是位聖母。耶穌基督的母親有任何力量或影響力嗎？或者因為她順從自己的兒子而無法表達自己心聲？這幅畫作對基督教的性別議題提出質疑。 Oil …

“Conservation” 對話- 117x81cm- Oil on Canvas, 2009 A bizzare twist on the recycling motif. Taking long hot showers is a comfortable habit of Western indulgence that wastes both water and energy. How many times can the water be cleaned, processed, purged and reused? Will our pursuit of sterilization and personal cleanliness lead to our own ruination? Would taking less showers paradoxically be the ‘clean’ choice? Oil on Canvas Surrealism Oil Painting by Derek Murphy www.derekmurphyart.com