The circle as symbolic and formal element takes center stage in Chen Hui-chiao’s (陳慧嶠) latest show, The Geometry of Passion (情欲幾何). For Chen, the circle symbolizes geometric perfection, while its absence compensates for the imperfection (what she calls “not rounded”) aspect of the human psyche. These series of paintings/installations (made with table tennis balls, metal and spray paint) reduce form to its most basic geometric shapes, where “simple and bright colors are used as metaphors for abstract feelings, and minimal forms express the harmonious artistic spirit,” according to the gallery’s introduction.
■ Main Trend Gallery (大趨勢畫廊), 209-1, Chengde Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市承德路三段209-1號), tel: (02) 2587-3412. Open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11am to 7pm
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 5pm. Until Sept. 24
Photo courtesy of Main Trend Gallery
South Korean artist Han Young-wook’s series of hyperrealist portraits are extraordinarily wrought depictions of ordinary people. Face presents 18 of these humanist-oriented oil-on-aluminum paintings. The extensive application and removal of paint builds up a cosmology of feeling and empathy for his subjects — farmers or housewives or nomads — with every pore, wrinkle and distant glare evoking several emotions. Han’s work goes “beyond the diversities of individuals and sees into [the] … universality of human beings,” as the exhibition introduction states.
■ Asia Art Center (亞洲藝術中心) 177, Jianguo S Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市建國南路二段177號), tel: (02) 2754-1366. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6:30pm
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 3pm. Until Sept. 18
Photo courtesy of Asia Art Center
Ahhhh … Planaria! (啊!渦蟲) is a group exhibition by 18 burgeoning and established artists working in video installation, painting and sculpture. The exhibition aims to highlight the various mediums and differing perspectives of the artists.
■ Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館), 1 Xueyuan Rd, Taipei City (台北市學園路1號), tel: (02) 2893-8870. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 5pm
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 5pm. Until Sept. 25
Interdisciplinary Innovation on Performing Arts — 2011 Summer Move (跨域表演實驗場:2011舞上癮) is an “interdisciplinary discourse” among Taipei Artist Village’s artists-in-residence, who are working in physical theater, installation, music, dance and new media. The artists hail from Taiwan, Japan, the US and France. The exhibition gets started this weekend with Lin Jia-jen’s (林嘉貞) Evolutionary Theory (演化論), a sculptural installation with performance art and digital media that ponders biological entities with mechanical bodies and is meant as a conversation between nature and the city. Complete program details can be found at: www.artistvillage.org (Chinese and English).
■ Barry Room, Taipei Artist Village (台北國際藝術村百里廳), 7 Beiping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市北平東路7號), tel: (02) 3393-7377. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 9pm
■ Saturday and Sunday at 7:30pm (admission: NT$200). Interdisciplinary Innovation runs until Oct. 2
The Sentimental Boys! Hantoo Joint Exhibition (悍圖社多情兄) presents works by 14 artists who are members of the Hantoo Art Group (悍圖社), which literally means, “defending pictures.” Begun in 1998 as a response to the art community’s perceived obsession with conceptual art, Hantoo splintered away from the Taipei Art Group (台北畫派) — itself a collective of artists known for their fervent social commentary in the wake of the lifting of martial law in 1987. Hantoo takes an introspective approach, while remaining engaged in the exploration of the nation’s history, myths, folk culture and identity — much of it with a dose of playfulness. The show includes works by Yang Mao-lin (楊茂林), Wu Tien-chang (吳天章), Kuo Wei-kuo (郭維國), Lee Min-chung (李民中), Chen Ching-yao (陳擎耀) and Deng Wen-jen (鄧文貞).
■ Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, 80 Meishuguan Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市美術館路80號), tel: (07) 555-0331. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Admission: Free
■ Until Oct. 15
Flies 8: The Ten Thousand Beings (蒼蠅疤:一萬個存在) is a solo show of photographs by Wu Chi-yu (吳其育) examining the interconnected spaces that make up artificial environments (rooms, houses, buildings and streets) and the (perceived) needs of people and communities that bring them into existence.
■ VT Art Salon (非常廟藝文空間), B1, 47 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街47號B1), tel: (02) 2516-1060. Open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 2pm to 11pm, and Fridays and Saturdays from 2pm to 1am
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 7pm. Until Sept. 10
Call for submissions:
The Taitung County Cultural Affairs Department is holding the 1st Austronesian Fine Arts Award, a competition that seeks original artwork “presenting the historical transitions and current situations of Austronesians,” according to the press release. Open to all foreign and Taiwanese artists, the competition’s theme is “harmony with nature,” or the relationship between humans and the natural environment. Submitted works must be oil or acrylic paintings. The grand prize is NT$200,000. Applications are at tinyurl.com/3ot5e7r.
■ For more information, send an e-mail to Chen Shiau-pin (陳曉頻) at v5018@mail.ccl.ttct.edu.tw
■ Submissions will be accepted between Sept. 1 and Sept. 9
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
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
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located