Rewarding artifice in the Taipei Arts Award

Sheu's contribution, Being There, broods on the nature of space more cognitively. A set of photographs shows empty urban spaces onto which their English dictionary definitions have been projected as if acknowledging the impossibility of fixed communication between artist and viewer. The light effects are haunting, but the series is more thrilling when it is almost too successful at searching for new definitions.

Perhaps the best aesthetic achievement is Narrative, an oil painting series by award-winner Chiou Jyian-ren (邱建仁). Primarily working in black and white, Chiou subtly layers textures behind impressionistic human figures, orchestrating a broad range of human expression. His white backgrounds are just translucent enough to show the energy twisting beneath, feeding his figures life although their faces are obscured. With a good dose of whimsy in his melancholy series, Chiou captures first the eye, and then the unspeakable.

Exhibition note:

WHAT: Taipei Arts Award

WHERE: Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 181 Zhongshan N Rd. Sec 3, Taipei (台北市中山北路3段181號)

WHEN: Through Sept. 19. Open Tuesday to Sunday.