Skyler Chen, Imitation of Life

San Giovanni Valdarno hosts the first solo exhibition in an Italian public institution by Taiwanese artist Skyler Chen

Casa Masaccio | Centre for Contemporary Art presents “Imitation of Life”, a solo exhibition by Skyler Chen curated by Marta Papini, organised in collaboration with the MASSIMODECARLO gallery.

The exhibition brings the Taiwanese artist’s pictorial research to San Giovanni Valdarno. In his works, Chen intertwines references to Western art history, queer culture, personal memory and Asian tradition. The title of the exhibition refers to Douglas Sirk’s 1959 film “Imitation of Life” and introduces a reflection on identity as a social construct, between the desire to belong, self-representation and individual complexity.

In Chen’s works, apparently familiar scenes and compositions inspired by classical painting are crossed by incongruous details, written words, altered perspectives and narrative tensions. The dialogue with Renaissance tradition takes on particular significance in San Giovanni Valdarno, birthplace of Masaccio and a place closely connected to the emergence of a new vision of space in painting.

The exhibition invites visitors to observe representation from multiple points of view, questioning the idea of a single, stable identity. Figures suspended between intimacy and artifice, everyday symbols and biographical references build a dense and layered visual journey, in which painting becomes a space for questioning the relationship between the individual, society and image.

A visit to the exhibition is also an opportunity to discover Casa Masaccio, a centre dedicated to contemporary art in the heart of San Giovanni Valdarno, along Corso Italia. Admission is free.