Paradise under the Temple of Heaven

#06002     142 X 198 cm     oc     2006

Here, Dr. T.F. Chen transforms an exotic paradise into an exquisite garden of cross – cultural harmony. In the original Henri Rousseau’s The Dream (1910), a dark master plays an entrancing melody to an exotic forest filled with trees, flowers, animals (elephants, lions, monkeys, birds, serpents, etc.), as well as a naked woman on a sofa-all under a luminous full moon. Rousseau’s dream reveals a paradise with harmonious coexistence of many different kinds of“Beings.”

In Chen’s new paradise, a brilliant red silhouette of the Temple of Heaven-the Chinese symbol of celestial blessing and abundant harvest-appears side by side with the white moon. Chen colors this auspicious “Icon” of China the traditional color of happiness and blessing. Here again, a captivating melody brings the forest alive – though this time the dark master is accompanied in a duet by a Chinese lady playing the flute. Again, all kinds of Beings come out to listen: lions, phoenixes, and a Chinese poet-even the pandas come out to play.