Betty Apple (鄭宜蘋) is one of the most provocative artists in the contemporary Taiwanese art scene. Touching on themes ranging from national identity, sex, noise and obscene language, Apple’s performances always leave a deep impression. She will perform at Venue as part of White Fungus’ (白木耳) event series Depopulate 07, among other performances.
■ Venue (濕地), 10, Ln 107, Linsen N Rd, Taipei City (台北市林森北路107巷10號), tel: (02) 2542-9692.
■ Tomorrow from 7pm to 10pm. Tickets are NT$600 at the door
Photo courtesy of Kalos Gallery
You Wen-di’s (游雯迪) unconventional ink and pigment on silk paintings explore issues such as identity and consumerism. Sense of Presence (刷存在感) illustrates how You has developed her own multilayered and unique style.
■ 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
■ Opens tomorrow. Until July 16
Photo courtesy of Calm Arts
Established by the Japanese group Tagboat, Independent Taipei (台北獨立當代藝術博覽會) will present its inaugural edition at Taipei’s Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區) with 100 artists showing sculpture, painting, photography and mixed media artworks. There will also be a special showcase on two contemporary Japanese masters: Yoshitomo Nara (奈良美智) and Yayoi Kusama (草間彌生).
Also at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park beginning June 30, Art Formosa (福爾摩沙國際藝術博覽會) returns for its 4th edition with 80 galleries featuring works by around 400 artists, spread between the main art fair floor and 5 levels of Eslite Hotel. The fair emphasizes contemporary Asian art.
■ Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區), 113 Guangfu S Rd, Taipei City (台北市光復南路113號), tel: (02) 2765-1388.
Photo courtesy of Moon Gallery
■ Independent Today is today from 1pm to 7pm, tomorrow from 11am to 7pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm; Art Formosa is June 30 and July 1 from 11am to 7pm and July 2 from 11am to 6pm
Norman Huang’s (黃鈺博) simple outlines capture the complex emotions of his subjects in The Observing Fever (夏日觀察), a new series of portraits. Inspired by summer, red acrylic is employed with black ink on canvas in an interesting tableau that examines the way people behave in social situations, right down to the freckles and blushing. The humorous Egg Box series will also be shown.
■ A Little Taste (有點品食), 32, Ln 9, Songlong Rd, Taipei City (台北市松隆路9巷32號), tel: (02) 2767-2709. Tuesdays to Sundays from 11:30am to 8:30pm
Photo courtesy of the artist
■ Opens tomorrow. Until July 23
For ceramic lovers, Chu Fang-yi’s (朱芳毅) Instinctive Reading (身體閱讀) gives a nod to the detritus of human civilization in his 3D pieces. Resembling oracle bone writings, Chu displays his ceramic pieces in combination with paintings to form a dialogue between the two mediums.
■ Kalos Gallery (真善美畫廊), 269 Sec 1, Dunhua S Rd, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段269號), tel: (02) 2836-3452. Opens Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am to 6:30pm
Photo courtesy of the artist
■ Until July 1
Lee Feng’s (李奉) The Worship of Nature (合十萬象) will be shown in Taipei before his private showcase in Milan, Italy. Lee’s semi-abstract, acrylic paintings on canvas depict fictitious mountains and waterfalls that serve as an analogy of the human mind. The largest painting, The Worship of Nature 6, is over 6 meters wide and is an example of the artist inviting viewers to walk alongside the work, to enter into and even be overwhelmed by the painted world.
■ De-ming Gallery, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國立國父紀念館德明藝廊), 505 Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市仁愛路四段505號), tel: (02) 2758-8008. Opens daily from 9am to 6pm
Photo courtesy of Aki Gallery
■ Until Sunday
Peng Hsien-hsiang (彭賢祥) oil paintings in Relocated Memories (溯及既往) portray the banality of everyday life and subtly hint at the relationship between people and the natural world. His use of strong colors and airy layers incite an illusion that is both of and out of this world.
■ Moon Gallery (月臨畫廊), 6, Ln 589, Yingcai Rd, Taichung City (台中市英才路589巷6號), tel: (04) 2371-1219. Opens Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6pm (Closed on every last Sunday of the month)
■ Until July 2
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
This year’s Michelin Gourmand Bib sported 16 new entries in the 126-strong Taiwan directory. The fight for the best braised pork rice and the crispiest scallion pancake painstakingly continued, but what stood out in the lineup this year? Pang Taqueria (胖塔可利亞); Taiwan’s first Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant. Chef Charles Chen (陳治宇) is a self-confessed Americophile, earning his chef whites at a fine-dining Latin-American fusion restaurant. But what makes this Xinyi (信義) spot stand head and shoulders above Taipei’s existing Mexican offerings? The authenticity. The produce. The care. AUTHENTIC EATS In my time on the island, I have caved too many times to
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not