South Korean contemporary artist Kwon Ki-soo returns to Metaphysical Art Gallery with a new series of floral paintings called Are You Waiting for Me? Kwon’s canvases blend Korean painting techniques and motifs, with more than a passing resemblance to children’s comic books, to symbolically illustrate South Korea’s creative tradition of artists relying on their own impressions of nature to express a transcendent image of what is actually seen.
■ Metaphysical Art Gallery (形而上畫廊), 7F, 219, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段219號7樓). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6:30pm. Tel: (02) 2711-0055
■ Until Feb. 7
In This Is Hong Kong (這是香港), over a dozen artists from the special administrative region ponder the changes that have taken place since its handover to China in 1997. The group show, located in Room 102, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館), makes use of video installation to reflect on politics, history, architecture, post-colonial issues and daily life in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, on the museum’s fourth floor, celebrated Amis artist Rahic Talif (達立夫) presents Fali-yos 颱風, his latest meditation on nature, which probes the effects that typhoons have on Taiwan.
■ Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館), Taipei National University of the Arts (台北藝術大學), 1 Xueyuan Rd,
Taipei City (台北市學園路1號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 5pm. Tel: (02) 2896-1000 X2432
■ Until March 28
Colors is a new series of paintings by contemporary Japanese artist Mamiko Uematsu. Her solid-color panels, rendered in earthy tones, suggest varying degrees of emotional intensity.
■ IT Park Gallery (伊通公園), 2F-3F, 41 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街41號2-3樓). Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1pm to 10pm. Tel: (02) 2507-7243
■ Until Feb. 13
The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts celebrates the upcoming Lunar New Year with Welcome Happiness in the Year of Tiger (寅春納福 — 虎年年畫特展), an exhibition of festive prints, which traditionally feature themes of good fortune, longevity and wealth. The display of folk art includes interesting historical anecdotes such as how the development of lithographic technology led to the rapid growth of Lunar New Year prints.
■ National Taiwan Museum of the Arts (國立台灣美術館), 2, Wucyuan W Rd Sec 1, Taichung City (台中市五權西路一段2號). Open Tuesdays to Fridays from 9am to 5pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 6pm. Tel: (04) 2372-3552
■ Until April 11
The video installation works by this year’s winners of the Taipei Arts Awards (台北美術獎) — Chang Huei-ming (張暉明) for Watching Dust in the Sunlight (在陽光下觀察灰塵), Ni Xiang (倪祥) for Compensation Soon (很快就補償), Chang Li-ren (張立人) for Model Community (模型社區) and Tao Mei-yu (陶美羽) for Language (語言) — are currently on display in Galleries D, E and F of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM).
■ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM — 台北市立美術館), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open daily from 9:30am to 5:30pm
and Saturday from 9:30am to 8:30pm. Tel: (02) 2595-7656
■ Until March 7
Contemporary Taiwanese photographer Wu Shang-lin (吳尚霖) displays his snaps of city streets and the people who inhabit them in his solo show Portrait of Cities — Space of Remembrance (城市肖像 — 回憶之境).
■ The Gallery (畫廊), 71 Jhongjhang 4th Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市中正四路71號). Call (07) 281-5025 for a viewing
■ Until Feb. 21
Nirvana (超脫) is a series of oil paintings by Chou Yao-tung (周耀東) of Chinese mountainscapes, but with a twist. Expanding the boundaries of this conventional art form, the peaks take the form of erect penises, reaching up to the sky.
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