Art is like poetry in that you usually don't get it on the first try. As there are many levels of meaning and metaphors just in one word of a well-written poem, it takes several readings to decode the meaning, much like decoding a riddle. Even though, deciphering the meaning of poetry and visual art is challenging, it can be extremely fun to figure out what its creator had in mind. However, if you're not in the mood for any cerebral exercise and are looking for something less challenging to see this weekend, you're in luck.
The World Press Photo 2005 exhibition currently on view at the Eslite Bookstore, B2 until May 29th gives you all the information you need, as there are no metaphors or hidden meanings here. In other words: what you see is what you get.
This is a display of the best in photojournalism of the past year, of documentation of powerful events that have happened, such as war, sickness, drug abuse, disasters and destruction, interspersed with several human-interest photos to create some levity in the midst of such stark and sometimes depressing images.
The World Press Photo was founded in 1955 in Amsterdam as a non-profit organization to educate and promote the field of photojournalism. Every year, they hold an international contest, which culminates in a traveling exhibition of the award-winning photos that are shown in 40 countries.
Many of the images would be familiar to those who regularly look at newspapers, magazines and on-line news. The categories for awards are spot news, general news, people in the news, sports action, sports features, contemporary issues, daily life, portrait, arts and entertainment and nature.
Arko Datta won the World Press Photo 2004 for his photo of a prostrate woman grieving the loss of her loved one in tsunami-destroyed Tamil Nadu, India.
The first prize for people in the news went to Kristen Ashburn's photo of a murdered Palestinian wrapped in a blood-soaked sheet in the morgue, a very harsh image to look at.
J.F. Diorio's image of a fire raging through a Sao Paulo favela won first prize for general news, while John Moore won third prize for his image of a detainee in a cage, or what is referred to as an outdoor solitary confinement cell outside of Abu Ghraib Prison.
To counterbalance all the blood and gore on view, the award-winning sports photos are delightful and atypical. Bob Martin won first prize for the Sports Action Singles with a visually-striking image of a paralympic swimmer diving into a pool while his prosthetic legs rest nearby.
Daniel Silva Yoshisato documented the indigenous community of Churubamba, Peru, 3,850m above sea level where the women avidly play soccer. David Burnett's images of the Olympics make the players look like miniature toys. For pure entertainment, Joe O'Shaughnessy shot the Strange Fruit theater company whose costumed members stand on 4m-high poles at twilight.
If stark photographic reality is too much to handle, then wander down the hall to the Eslite Gallery to see Liu Xiaogong's (
Titled The New Eighteen Arhats, Liu painted nine soldiers in China and then nine in Kinmen. These paintings were originally shown at the Bunker Museum of Contemporary Art in Kinmen in September last year and now are showing for the first time in Taipei.
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