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Taipei Art Fair stimulates local market for aesthetes

By Susan Kendzulak
CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
Thursday, Apr 07, 2005, Page 13

As Firm as a Rock is a copy of the famous Laocoon sculpture, but transformed to look like a Dalmation dog. PHOTO COURTESY OF ART GALLERIES ASSOCIATION

Trade shows are great venues for networking and seeing the latest innovations in the field. The Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall has been host to many such exhibitions including those for bicycles, books and computers. Now this weekend (starting April 8 and running to April 12t) it will host an exhibition showcasing the best of contemporary art in Taiwan.

Organized by the Art Galleries Association ROC, the Taipei Art Fair began in 1992 as a way to showcase the local galleries and help link them to collectors. By 1995, it became an international art fair with the inclusion of galleries outside Taiwan. In 1997, in spite of a financial downturn in Asia that severely affected the art market, there were over 50,000 visitors and US$3.8 million in sales, thus showing that the huge exhibition was a continuing success.

With each passing year, the Taipei Art Fair grows and improves. So in 2004, the government, along with the private sector, formed the Taipei Executive Committee in order to bring reputable international galleries to Taiwan and to provide consultation services for collectors while helping to strengthen the market for Taiwanese art.

It must be remembered that Taiwan's art scene vastly differs from the West as it has come a long way in an incredibly short amount of time. Ever since the lifting of martial law in 1987, art schools, contemporary art museums, residency programs, international biennials and local art publications were established, along with more people who entered the field as artists, gallery owners, art dealers, sponsors, critics, curators and museum staff. And many of those people who helped build up the art scene in Taiwan are still going strong.

Like any trade show, each participating gallery gets its own booth to showcase its artists and there will be approximately 35 galleries showing work.

Taipei MOMA will present Peng Hung-chih's (彭弘智) exhibition called Do Dogs Wear Clothes? His version of the famed Laocoon sculpture clothed as a Dalmatian will be on view as well as some witty photographs and a video.

In addition to the solo gallery booths, there will be four separate exhibitions organized by different curators. The Post-Stone Age: Taiwan Contemporary Young Artists Special Exhibition curated by artist Wang Jun Jieh (王俊傑) will explore what it is to be a Taiwanese artist working in the digital age and will include painting, film, kinetic sculpture, photography and interactive digital installations by nine local artists.

Hyper Link: Contemporary Art Space and Artist Village Network in Taiwan is curated by artist and writer Yao Jui-chung (姚瑞中) and will show how abandoned places in Taiwan have been transformed into successful places for art.

This decade has seen a mushrooming of such spaces. Examples include Stock 20 in Taichung, Art Site of Chiayi Railway Warehouse, Kio-A-Thau Artist Village in Kaohsiung, and the Taidong Railway Arts Village, to name a few.

Shaih Lifa curated the Taiwan Local Art Exhibition to showcase the historical development of art in Taiwan; while Liu SY Elaine organized The Masterpiece from Taiwan Collectors in order to highlight the collector's choice in the local art scene and as a strategy to encourage more people to collect art.

Strangely enough, a non-Taiwanese artist is crowned Artist of the Year for this art fair. Japanese artist Ozawa Tsuyoshi will present Vegetable Weapon.

The series of photographs shot in Tokyo, New York and Beijing shows a young woman holding vegetables arranged as a gun. After the photos were taken, the vegetables were made into a hot pot.

This will be a great opportunity to sample the best in contemporary art on the island and a little from abroad, and also a great place to buy art to mark your stay in Taiwan.

Art Taipei 2005 (台北國際藝術博覽會)
Where: Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 3, 世貿三館 (台北市松壽路)
When: April 8 to April 12, 10am to 6 pm, on 12th to 5 pm
Admission: NT150
For further information: Art Galleries Association, (02) 2321 4808
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