The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) escape from China in 1949 following the civil war and its subsequent defense alliance with the US had the unintended benefit of introducing Taiwanese artists to the theories and practices of emerging American and European art. Like many young artists of his generation, Lee Hsi-chi (李錫奇) eagerly absorbed these new styles, creating abstract expressionist paintings using lacquer. Yet as his use of materials suggests, Lee didn’t surrender to Western art forms. Rather he combined them with Eastern aesthetics — a fusion that is apparent in Oriental: The Elegance of Han Dynasty (漢采本位), a retrospective exhibition currently on view at MOT/Arts. The title stems from Lee’s close study of Han Dynasty architecture, particularly its forms, symbols and materials. In these paintings, Lee carefully manipulates lines and spatial planes to create depth and distance. The exhibition not only illustrates the maturity of an important Taiwanese artist, but also gives the viewer a sense of the development of modern painting in Taiwan.
■ MOT/Arts, 3F, 22, Fuxing S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市復興南路一段22號3樓), tel: (02) 2751-8088. Open daily from 11:30am to 8pm
■ Until March 3
.jpg)
Photo courtesy of MOT/Arts
Photo courtesy of MOT/Arts
.jpg)
Photo courtesy of MOT/Arts
Photo courtesy of MOT/Arts
Photo courtesy of MOT/Arts
June 9 to June 15 A photo of two men riding trendy high-wheel Penny-Farthing bicycles past a Qing Dynasty gate aptly captures the essence of Taipei in 1897 — a newly colonized city on the cusp of great change. The Japanese began making significant modifications to the cityscape in 1899, tearing down Qing-era structures, widening boulevards and installing Western-style infrastructure and buildings. The photographer, Minosuke Imamura, only spent a year in Taiwan as a cartographer for the governor-general’s office, but he left behind a treasure trove of 130 images showing life at the onset of Japanese rule, spanning July 1897 to
One of the most important gripes that Taiwanese have about the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is that it has failed to deliver concretely on higher wages, housing prices and other bread-and-butter issues. The parallel complaint is that the DPP cares only about glamor issues, such as removing markers of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) colonialism by renaming them, or what the KMT codes as “de-Sinification.” Once again, as a critical election looms, the DPP is presenting evidence for that charge. The KMT was quick to jump on the recent proposal of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to rename roads that symbolize
In an interview posted online by United Daily News (UDN) on May 26, current Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) was asked about Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) replacing him as party chair. Though not yet officially running, by the customs of Taiwan politics, Lu has been signalling she is both running for party chair and to be the party’s 2028 presidential candidate. She told an international media outlet that she was considering a run. She also gave a speech in Keelung on national priorities and foreign affairs. For details, see the May 23 edition of this column,
On the evening of June 1, Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) apologized and resigned in disgrace. His crime was instructing his driver to use a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon. The Control Yuan is the government branch that investigates, audits and impeaches government officials for, among other things, misuse of government funds, so his misuse of a government vehicle was highly inappropriate. If this story were told to anyone living in the golden era of swaggering gangsters, flashy nouveau riche businessmen, and corrupt “black gold” politics of the 1980s and 1990s, they would have laughed.
RSS