Start from Zero: Small with Infinitely Large (從零開始 — 無限的大小) is a group exhibition of established artists from Taiwan (including new work by Tsong Pu (莊普), Yao Jui-chung (姚瑞中) and Wu Tien-chang, 吳天章) — China and South Korea working in sculpture, painting and installation. With such a broad range of artists (35 in all), the gallery seems more interested in name recognition than any overall theme. That being said, there is much on view here and for anyone wanting a brief introduction to what preoccupies contemporary Asian artists — whether the continued interest in geometrical abstraction as shown by the work of Keng Hao-kang (耿?剛) or the heroic, yet humorously kitschy, sculptures of Yang Mao-lin (楊茂林) — you could do far worse.
■ 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), tel: (02) 2711-0055. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6:30pm
■ Until March 24
Photo courtesy of Metaphysical Art Gallery
VT Artsalon begins 2013 with two solo exhibitions of painting, The Beauties by Agi Chen (陳怡潔), and Dorothy Crash (桃樂絲墜落) by Kao Ya-ting (高雅婷). Chen creates paintings using cartoon and anime characters specified by members of a Facebook page called Circle Island. This collaborative method of artist and viewer provides an aesthetic record of a virtual community — their stories, desires and memories. Kao’s travels last year to the US and Brazil inspired her paintings in Dorothy Crash. More a travelogue, perhaps, then a coherent statement, Kao’s work reflects on her family and childhood memories through the locales she visits.
■ 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 1:30pm to 9pm, and Fridays and Saturdays from 1:30pm to 10pm
■ Until Thursday
Photo courtesy of Metaphysical Art Gallery
Chinese artist Wang Yuping (王玉平) recently spent a month in Taipei where he captured the winter and rain on the streets of Danshui and Western Taipei, as well as recorded Taiwanese cuisine. Taipei, Beijing (台北‧北京) also includes a number of cityscape watercolors of Beijing. Wang often mixes acrylic paint with oil pastel or oil paint on handmade paper. The resulting works radiate a loose, dynamic and random atmosphere.
■ Eslite Gallery (誠品畫廊), 5F, 11 Songgao Rd, Taipei City (台北市松高路11號5樓), tel: (02) 8789-3388 X1588. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until April 7
Photo courtesy of Eslite Gallery
Recalling the history and development of new media art, which began in the 1960s as a response to Dada and Conceptual Art and advances in scientific and industrial technologies, The Innovationists (因腦維新族) provides a comprehensive look at new media art through 18 works covering sound, light and video. According to the museum, the artists, hailing from the US, the UK, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, unite an experimental ethos with concepts of technology, design and creativity. Among the more interesting pieces: An interactive and wearable device that sheds light on the culture of Otaku (what the museum blurb describes as “geeks” and “computer nerds”), kinetic installations that draw attention to environmental concerns and sculptures that present a new kind of urban architecture. The exhibition benefits from not only providing a brief introduction of new media art, but also illustrates how contemporary artists are building on a young tradition.
■ Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (MOCA, Taipei), 39 Changan W Rd, Taipei City (台北市長安西路39號), tel: (02) 2552-3720. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. General admission: NT$50
■ Until April 4
Photo courtesy of Eslite Gallery
Water preoccupies the thinking of the artists in Troubled Waters — especially its relationship to the land and how it has become a focus for global concerns about the environment. Aspects of heritage, history, representation, cultural discourse and our relationship to the means of production will also be explored through the work of the five artists and their accompanying texts. The exhibition includes single screen and spatial video installations, sound and photographic works, sculptural elements and light works.
■ 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
■ Begins March 8. Until May 5
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