During this edition's jury process, perhaps the most unexpected phenomenon for the panel was the scarcity of "social issues" within the overall content.

Lin Ping, Chair of the Jury Panel, perceptively pointed out: "Among this year’s Merit Prize-winning works, there were no pieces carrying overt social commentary. Instead, this has allowed 'painting' to be liberated." She considers this a positive shift: artists are no longer burdened by heavy ideological luggage, allowing art to return to a "faithful, intimate, and good friend" relationship with human beings.

Xu Yu provided another perspective from the international art market. He noted that when observing Taiwanese contemporary art over the past two years, the most profound impression remains painting. This may be linked to market shifts—in the primary market, painting continues to be the most watched and actively collected medium. He paid particular attention to how Taiwanese artists manage to retain their uniqueness despite the heavy influence of the market.

He mentioned that in the current global art environment, whether among the new or older generations of artists, creators now seem bound by "political correctness" or "ideological correctness." Whether such calls flow naturally into creation and whether they should be accepted remain topics worthy of debate. The global art world seems caught in a collective fatigue over "political correctness," and young Taiwanese artists possess a striking sensitivity to this trend.

Xu Yu spoke candidly: “I was surprised to find that works of this nature (being politically correct) were almost entirely absent among the entries in this edition.”He suggests that this may be because young Taiwanese creators have recognized shifting market tides sooner than artists in China and Hong Kong—acknowledging that collectors and audiences are now seeking works with greater aesthetic intrigue.

Chen Shiao-Peng observed that this year's distinct trend was instead an inclination toward developing painting into a kind of "installation concept." Most creators did not seem to prioritize the specifications suggested in the call for entries; instead, they chose to submit works that best and most fully expressed their psychological states or creative energy. Many works were presented in modular forms, with a noticeable increase in the use of mixed media and non-traditional canvases. In terms of content, most works focused on contemporary conditions and dilemmas—starting from subtle observations of personal experience before extending to respond to societal and environmental issues.

Although the three jurors approached the subject from different angles, their conclusions aligned: judged by this year's awards, Taiwanese contemporary painting in 2025 is bidding farewell to the phenomenon of "issue-first" agendas, transitioning into a phase that centers on medium, perception, and personal micro-histories."

Beyond the First Prize, the works of the three Merit Prize winners—Huang Kuan-Chun, Chang Hao-Yu, and Huang Chia-Ning—further demonstrate the spectrum of exploration in "materiality" and "boundaries" within Taiwanese contemporary painting. Where previous editions asked, 'What story are you painting?', this edition's winning works seem to ask, 'What makes a painting?'

Huang Kuan-Chun’s Space of Presence and Absence serves as an inquiry into the material properties of painting. Inspired by incidental shadows falling upon architectural walls in daily life, he constructed the work on a glass platform through layers of acrylic paint, creating layers and shadows. Once the layers were complete, he peeled them away from the glass. Therefore, the shadows visible through the light were in fact the layers of the painting, as well as traces of the brush. His work liberates paint from its reliance on canvas, allowing it to become a suspended painterly matter that interacts with light and shadow on wall surfaces.

Lin Ping described this work as longing intensely for an "absolute physical presence"—it cannot be comprehended through photographs; one must experience it in person, which directly echoes the interrogation embedded within its title. This is particularly evident in details like its slanting, unevenly hanging forms, which the artist cannot entirely control. The medium possesses its own stubborn characteristic, requiring the artist to co-exist and converse with it, rather than seeking to "master" it.

At the age just twenty-five, Chang Hao-Yu engages with the "documentary quality" and "unfinished state" of painting in his work Beginning with Water… Then a Simulated Narrative. Utilizing a frameless canvas, he spreads oil paint and charcoal powder into a fluid, wet state, constructing an unresolved pictorial scene where the very process of painting transforms into part of the composition itself. Lin Ping pointed out that Chang questions the relationship between painting, history, and politics, yet does so using a highly poetic approach that retains a "manuscript quality." This stands in sharp contrast to the attitude of many works in the previous edition that attempted to deliver definitive historical conclusions; Chang presents a "simulation"—a collection of narrative fragments rather than a definitive closure.

Looking back at the 2nd CTBC Painting Prize, artists attempted to address geopolitics, catastrophe, and systemic societal issues. For instance, previous Merit Prize winners such as Wu Yih-Han, Hsiao Pei-I, and Tseng Ting-Yu presented works laden with trauma narratives and environmental reflections. Others, like Hung Hsuan and Luo Jr-Shin, demonstrated new techniques in traditional ink painting or tested the boundaries of painting materials by making pigments out of snail shells and Taoyuan red clay.

In contrast, Lin Ping observes that this year’s entries return more to the history and epochal context of painting itself, demonstrating a pronounced quest for spirituality. Many works reflect a self-possessed spiritual state that serenely internalizes one's own culture. Rather than adopting a radical stance, artists pursue a path of enlightenment from within everyday life through a gradualist approach—departing from Western dialectics to reconnect with Eastern philosophical thinking rooted in the mutual generation of Yin and Yang.

Particularly this year—whether in Lee Fang-Yu’s tile collages, Huang Kuan-Chun’s suspended paint, Chang Hao-Yu’s unfinished narratives, or Huang Chia-Ning’s microscopic realism—these works may no longer attempt to save the world, but they respond truthfully to the act of 'seeing.' Whether contemplating the digital age or returning to the essence of painting, they remind us that painting is a matter of light, color, and materiality, as well as an encounter between body and space.

Looking back at the trajectory of the CTBC Painting Prize, it has indeed undergone continuous growth and evolution. From a broader perspective, its scope and diversity have steadily expanded, with each edition introducing distinct viewpoints and faces. Lin Ping believes this reflects the very essence of a contemporary award: it should function as an evolving, ever-growing mechanism rather than a rigid benchmark dictating particular values or directions. The purpose of such prize is not to urge artists to conform to a prescribed standard or style, but to provoke deeper inquiry—What, ultimately, is contemporary painting? Why should we continue to paint today? What value does painting hold in this era and within our society? It invites artists to continually respond to and engage in dialectics with these questions through their practice.