The late Guandong-born Chinese-American artist Tony Wong (黃榮禧) was known for blending images from American folklore with Chinese mythology in his artwork — which included various mediums such as pastels on paper, oil on canvas and sculptures. Wong was inspired by literature from different cultures, and his artwork — little figures trying to climb trees, naked women floating serenely in lily pad ponds — always told enchanting narratives. A selection of his paintings and sculptures, which spanned decades, is currently on display at Taipei’s Lin & Lin Gallery. The exhibition is aptly entitled Tony Wong 1948-2012 (黃榮禧1948-2012).
■ Lin & Lin Gallery (大未來林舍畫廊), 16 Dongfeng St, Taipei City (台北市東豐街16號), tel: (02) 2700-6866. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until May 30
Photo courtesy of Taipei Exchange Photography Club
There is probably no better home for Salvadoran artist Eugenia P Guardado’s homely prints than Cafe Vergismeinnich, a German vintage-themed bistro and live music venue decked in 1950s furniture from Berlin along the “wedding street” (a street consisting of wedding dress shops) by Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Dream Debris showcases Guardado’s warm and vibrant prints. Her intricate patterns form the outlines of female subjects which are beautifully interlaced with birds, butterflies, flowers and other dainty things found in nature. Her prints have a dream-like, transcendent quality, evoking sort of a tenuous calm. Last week’s vernissage included a live prose performance and interactive installations, but quirky art enthusiasts and vintage cafe lovers need not fret because the exhibition runs until the end of the month.
■ Cafe Vergismeinnich, 92, Aiguo E Rd, Taipei City (台北市愛國東路92號), tel: (02)3322-3036. Open Tuesdays to Thursdays from 12pm to 9pm, Fridays from 12pm to 12am, Saturdays from 11am to 12am and Sundays from 11am to 9pm
■ Until May 31
Photo courtesy of Taipei Exchange Photography Club
When the Taipei Exchange Photography Club (TEPC), an association of mostly expat photographers, visited St Anne’s Home for disabled children in Tianmu, they were greatly moved by the children, as well as the staff and volunteers who were working to provide a better home for them. As such, TEPC will be holding a photography exhibition at Lili Gallery, of which all profits will be donated to St Anne’s. Entitled Under the Same Sky, the photographs include pensive rice fields, luminous temples, fog-covered beaches and the like, in order to show how small the world really is. As TEPC organizer Patrice Delmotte said, “We think that photography is part of a larger social interaction and that we must be engaged in our community.” The 24 participating photographers hail from 10 different countries but they all call Taiwan their home.
■ Lili Gallery Bar & Restaurant, 760, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 6, Taipei City (台北市中山北路六段760號), tel: (02) 2876-0798. Open Mondays to Thursday from 11:30am to 12am, Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30am to 2am and Sundays from 11:30am to 12am
■ Opens tomorrow at 3pm. Until May 31
Photo courtesy of Taipei Exchange Photography Club
Su Tzu-han’s (蘇子涵) miniature cities made to look like delectable desserts are currently on display at Frees Art Space in an exhibition entitled Sea Level Under (海平面下). Her attention to minute detail — the slight ruffle in a pine tree or the curl of a wave — are as captivating as the layers of soil underneath the cities. The most intriguing part however, is that beneath layers of soil are sunken cities — like the Lost City of Atlantis. The message Su conveys is that cities are multi-faceted with decades, even centuries, of lost history. Behind the crystal-like luster from lit-up skyscrapers we see today, lies a forlorn and forgotten past.
■ Frees Art Space (福利社), B1, 82, Xinsheng N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生北路三段82號B1); tel: (02) 2585-7600. Open Tuesdays to Fridays from 11am to 7pm, Saturdays 1:30pm to 9pm, closed Sundays and Mondays
■ Until June 6
Photo courtesy of Taipei Exchange Photography Club
We’ve all painted rainbows in our coloring books before — and even as grown-ups, rainbows appear cheerful and uplifting, as if reminding us of a carefree period of our lives. Japanese artist Asae Soya prefers a supersized canvas — she’s previously painted on buildings around Japan, her public art livening up the streets. Now, colorful art lovers can enjoy her rainbow-inspired paintings, installations and video projections, which fill up three entire floors at Taipei’s Aki Gallery. Entitled Rainbow(虹), the works in her solo exhibition are psychedelically surreal. Splashes of colors sometimes form globular movements, creating a hypnotic effect. Other times, twirls and zigzags resemble children’s artwork — although the brush strokes are precise and controlled rather than haphazard.
■ Aki Gallery (也趣藝廊), 141 Minzu W Rd, Taipei City (台北市民族西路141號), tel: (02) 2599-1171. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from noon to 6:30pm
■ Until June 7
Photo courtesy of Taipei Exchange Photography Club
An exhibition on the history of how people in the past imagined the future might seem odd, but urban planners, architects, scientists, historians and people who simply like analyzing things have always been predicting the future of the city. Will we all be hovering around in space cars like the Jetsons or riding energy-efficient bicycles to work? And how do we keep everything eco-friendly in an era of global warming? Such issues and more are addressed in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum’s latest exhibition, Post-Oil City: The History of the City’s Future (後石油城市:城市未來的歷史). Comprising of photographs, sketches and models from different architecture and design companies around the world, the works depict various modes of transportation that utilize alternative energies. Although some of the plans appear grandiose and majestic, they ultimately paint a bleak picture that we must seriously consider the future well-being of our planet.
■ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (台北市立美術館 TFAM), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市中山北路三段181號), tel: (02) 2595-7656. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:30am to 5:30pm and until 8:30pm on Saturdays
■ Opens tomorrow. Until August 16
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless
Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on. Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square meter farm in Chiang Dao, a mountainous district in northern Thailand’s