Hidden Immensity (窈渺) presents new mixed media paintings by Tung Hsin-ru’s (董心如). Tung has developed a sophisticated personal style in recent years, reflected in her brightly colored smoke-like abstract works. Expect to be captivated by imagery that resembles intergalactic phenomena.
■ Chini Gallery (采泥藝術), 48, Ln 128, Jingye 1st Rd, Taipei City (台北市敬業一路128巷48號), tel: (02) 7729-5809. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10:30am to 7pm
■ Opens tomorrow at 3pm. Until Sept. 24
Photo courtesy of the artist and Xue Xue White Gallery
Simon Chang’s (張雍) photography exhibition The Left Atrium / The Right Ventricle (左心房 右心室) documents the current refugee crisis in the Balkans. Chang’s focus is on the human impact of the crisis, the personal stories of the faces in the crowds.
■ Xue Xue White Gallery (學學白色空間), 207 Tiding Boulevard Sec 2, Taipei (台北市堤頂大道二段207號), tel: (02) 8751-6898, ext 321. Open daily from 11am to 6pm. Admission: NT$200
■ Until Aug. 27
Photo courtesy of the artist and Yilan Museum of Art
Aki Gallery is currently hosting two exhibitions: The Garden of Prometheus by Jung Seung and The Purpose of Memory Part II (韓國當代藝術雙個展─時光的回望) by Jung Goyona. Jung’s 3D printed installation is collated from data related to plant growth, transforming the unseen into the visible. Goyona will show live footage from people’s private lives culled from the paid membership Web Site Real Life. This voyeuristic approach raises questions about the importance of privacy.
■ 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 Sept. 3
Photo courtesy of Chini Gallery
French artist Dimitri Kosire’s oil paintings are currently on view at Geology of an Echo (地質迴聲). Kosire’s attempt to convey the cosmic world through a classical medium results in abstract works in homage to masters like Nicolas de Stael. Unlike de Stael, Kosire applies an analytical and scientific methodology which brings order to a seemingly chaotic arrangement.
■ Gallery Sun (尚畫廊), 55 Ln 304 Jianguo S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市建國南路一段304巷55號), tel: (02) 2325-7733. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until Sept. 2
Photo courtesy of Yiri Arts Taichung
Marrakech, and the town in there (馬拉喀什,和那裡的小鎮) is a solo show of new work by Chinese artist Xiao Hua’s (小華). Xiao’s abstract paintings are a pastiche of Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Man Who Knew Too Much. Her painting Drawing of myself, with a blue sky, which also features hand stitching, resembles Clifford Still’s works.
■ Galerie Ovo (十方藝術空間), 51 Dehui St, Taipei City (台北市德惠街51號), tel: (02) 2591-5296. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1pm to 7pm
■ Opening tomorrow from 6pm-9pm. Until Oct. 7
Photo courtesy of Mumu Gallery
Juan I-jong’s (阮義忠) retrospective exhibition On the Way Home (回家) features his delicate silver gelatin prints of Taiwanese in rural environments. The exhibition will include work from 10 of his photographic series.
■ Yilan Museum of Art (宜蘭美術館), 1 Sec 3 Zhongshan Rd, Yilan City (宜蘭市中山路三段1號), tel: (03) 9369-116. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm
■ Until Aug. 27
Photo courtesy of Gallery Sun
Spanish artist Guim Tio Zarraluki’s new oil paintings are on view in the show Unreal Space (虛妄之地). Unlike his more established portraits, his new works minimize the human presence, emphasizing spacial relations instead.
■ Yiri Arts Taichung (伊日藝術台中空間), 2 Jingcheng 5th St, Taichung City (台中市精誠五街2號), tel: (04) 2327-4361. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 7pm
Opening tomorrow from 3pm. Until Sept. 17
Paper Art (木木藝術紙本作品聯展) is not your ordinary exhibition of paper art. The group show moves beyond simple two dimensional work and into the sculptural with, for example, Lee Tzu-ling’s (李姿玲) paper mache rocks that look more real than the real thing.
■ Mumu Gallery (木木藝術), 50 Ln 90, Minde Rd, Tainan City (台南市民德路90巷50號), tel:(06) 252-6121. Open Mondays to Saturdays from 10am to 6pm
■ Until Aug. 31
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50