Approximately 150 artists from 30 countries will participate in Visual Attract & Attack (視覺突擊•動漫特攻), an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, that seeks to introduce viewers to developments in contemporary art under the rubric of “animamix,” a portmanteau for comics and animation. Four thematic areas — fashion, mixed culture, superhero and animation — were chosen to illustrate the diversity and range of styles and influences.
The exhibition details developments in animation since 2004 while presenting international trends and regional idiosyncrasies through different points of view. From painting, sculpture and animation to interactive installations, the exhibit seeks to show how the animamix aesthetic can be realized in various forms, subjects and mediums.
Some of the more recognizable names include Taiwanese artists Yang Mao-lin (楊茂林) and Jeff Shi (石大宇); Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara and Yayoi Kusama from Japan; Indian art collective T&T; Patrick Bergeron from Canada; Alan Becker and Maya Lin from the US; Chen Zhiguang (陳志光) from China; and Han Hoogerbrugge from the Netherlands.
■ Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (MOCA, Taipei), 39 Changan W Rd, Taipei City (台北市長安西路39號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2552-3720
■ Until Jan. 31
The Story of Young Age (花漾•物語) is a solo exhibit by Taiwanese artist Huang Kuen-po (黃坤伯). Employing still-life painting as his primary mode of representation, Huang examines common psychological experiences of people in contemporary society. Themes include alienation, loneliness and anxiety.
■ Elsa Art Gallery (雲清藝術中心), 3F, 1-1 Tianmu E Rd, Taipei City (台北市天母東路1-1號3樓). Open Wednesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 7pm. Tel: (02) 2876-0386
■ Until Jan. 3
The emotional similarities between animals and humans form the underlying theme in Taiwanese ceramicist Lian Yu-pei’s (連瑜佩) solo exhibit The Running Beasts
(眾獸奔逐). From the cute (a child’s face on a feline’s body) to the macabre (a child’s head affixed to the neck of a plucked chicken on a cutting board awaiting the chop), the 14 ceramic sculptures on display are sure to provoke as many reactions as the emotions under investigation.
■ Aki Gallery (也趣), 141 Minzu W Rd, Taipei City (台北市民族西路141號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from noon to 6:30pm. Tel: (02) 2599-1171
■ Until Dec. 25
Sculptures of trees, paintings of nature’s many patterns, and knitted blobs resembling amoebas testify to Marvin Minto Fang’s (范姜明道) love of nature and the broad scope of his craft in his solo exhibit at Gallery 100. Similar to the environmental sculptures and installations of Tsai Ken (蔡根), Tang’s work combines interior design with the interests of an artist to create meditative spaces of handcrafted flora and fauna that are arranged like a Chinese garden.
■ Gallery 100, 6, Ln 30, Changan E Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市長安東路一段30巷6號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm.
Tel: (02) 2536-2120
■ Until Jan. 3
Taiwanese Clay, a Love of Teapot (臺灣土.百壺情), currently on view at Yingge Ceramics Museum (鶯歌陶瓷博物館), provides an in-depth look at art of tea ware in Taiwan and the methods and materials used to fashion these highly prized objects. The exhibition is divided into categories according to the characteristics of the teapots, including their glaze, shape and method of firing. Unusually for a museum, visitors are invited to have a closer look at the teapots by touching them.
■ Yingge Ceramics Museum (鶯歌陶瓷博物館), 200 Wenhua Rd, Yinge Township, Taipei County (台北縣鶯歌鎮文化路200號). Open daily from 9:30am to 5pm, closes at 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Tel: (02) 8677-2727
■ Until Dec. 20
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist