Timed, perhaps, to coincide with the Taipei International Flora Expo, Blooming (心花朵朵開) presents vibrant and “superflat” flower paintings by Chinese-born, Taiwan-based artist Wu Hao (吳昊). If the curators are to be believed, Wu’s work can be reinterpreted through the lens of contemporary artists such as Takashi Murakami who popularized the superflat genre.
■ 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). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6:30pm. Tel: (02) 2711-0055
■ Opening reception, including magic show and acrobatic performance on Saturday at 3pm. Until Oct. 3
The Taipei Biennial (2010臺北雙年展) program introduction begins with a question: “One can easily imagine an exhibition of political art, but what about an exhibition on the politics of art?” The “politics of art” will take center stage at the biennial by exploring the origin, function, size and scale of the biennial and, perhaps more interestingly, raise questions about the movers and shakers behind these events. The exhibition literature continues: “By turning an exhibition inward and, in fact, against its grain — dissolving the supposed boundaries between artistic and curatorial practices, discourses and reception — this exhibition unravels the conventionally discrete artistic presentation that is otherwise mystified.” Curators Lin Hong-john (林宏璋) and Tirdad Zolghadr attempt to illustrate the multifarious elements that go into making a biennial by revealing the social circumstances upon which art is created and consumed. With so much focus on politics, one might be left wondering about aesthetics and beauty. But perhaps politics is the new beauty. As the program says: “The division between the social and the aesthetic is no longer distinguishable and thus, rendered obsolete.” Expect a lot of new media and performance art. On the Net: www.taipeibiennial.org.
■ Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM — 台北市立美術館), 181, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段181號). Open daily from 9:30am to 5:30pm, closes at 8:30pm on Saturdays. Tel: (02) 2595-7656. Portions of the biennial are being staged at other locations throughout Taipei. For complete details (in English and Chinese) go to: www.taipeibiennial.org
■ Until Nov. 14
Mountains, hot springs and seascapes are among the places represented in A Piece of Place
(地的片段), a three-person exhibition of new works by Huang Pin-ling (黃品玲), Bai Cian-yu (白倩于) and Pan Shih-hao(潘士豪). The artists are united in their use of earthy colors to represent their own ideas about Taiwan’s unique locales and people.
■ A Gallery (一畫廊), 22, Alley 36, Ln 147, Xinyi Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市信義路三段147巷36弄22號). Open Mondays to Saturdays from 1pm to 9pm. Tel: (02) 2702-3327
■ Until Sept. 25
John Fung’s (馮建中) solo exhibit of photo collages at Taiwan International Visual Arts Center draws attention to the environmental and spatial problems of large cities. Fung points his camera upwards and through a process of multi-exposure and overlapping of scenes creates a sometimes dizzying, sometimes expansive perspective. The absence of any flora or fauna in Fung’s photos suggests an unhealthy concrete environment.
■ Taiwan International Visual Arts Center (TIVAC — 台灣國際視覺藝術中心), 29, Ln 45, Liaoning St, Taipei City (台北市遼寧街45巷29號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from noon to 6pm. Tel: (02) 2773-3347
■ Until Oct. 3
Arguably one of the most important modern interpreters of traditional ink brush painters, Liu Kuo-sung (劉國松) has received considerable attention over the past few years because of renewed interest in modern (i.e. Western) Chinese ink brush painting. Though this solo show at Capital Art offers little that is new in terms of themes, it is worth catching because it displays some of Liu’s smaller and lesser-known works.
■ Capital Art Center (首都藝術中心), 2F, 343, Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市仁愛路四段343號2樓). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 7pm. Tel: (02) 2775-5268
■ Until Sept. 25
China-born, US-based artist Pan Qiliu (潘其流) follows the tradition of the Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts where he studied under Lin Fengmian (林風眠), who is considered by many scholars as the pioneer of modern Chinese oil painting. More commonly known as a sculptor, Pan shows that he is an accomplished interpreter of abstract expressionism in works that are notable for the application of low-relief, which gives the paintings greater depth.
■ Tina Keng Gallery (大未來耿畫廊), 15, Ln 548, Ruiguang Rd, Taipei City (台北市瑞光路548巷15號). Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 7pm. Tel: (02) 2659-0798
■ Until Sept. 26
Growing up in a rural, religious community in western Canada, Kyle McCarthy loved hockey, but once he came out at 19, he quit, convinced being openly gay and an active player was untenable. So the 32-year-old says he is “very surprised” by the runaway success of Heated Rivalry, a Canadian-made series about the romance between two closeted gay players in a sport that has historically made gay men feel unwelcome. Ben Baby, the 43-year-old commissioner of the Toronto Gay Hockey Association (TGHA), calls the success of the show — which has catapulted its young lead actors to stardom -- “shocking,” and says
Inside an ordinary-looking townhouse on a narrow road in central Kaohsiung, Tsai A-li (蔡阿李) raised her three children alone for 15 years. As far as the children knew, their father was away working in the US. They were kept in the dark for as long as possible by their mother, for the truth was perhaps too sad and unjust for their young minds to bear. The family home of White Terror victim Ko Chi-hua (柯旗化) is now open to the public. Admission is free and it is just a short walk from the Kaohsiung train station. Walk two blocks south along Jhongshan
The 2018 nine-in-one local elections were a wild ride that no one saw coming. Entering that year, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was demoralized and in disarray — and fearing an existential crisis. By the end of the year, the party was riding high and swept most of the country in a landslide, including toppling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in their Kaohsiung stronghold. Could something like that happen again on the DPP side in this year’s nine-in-one elections? The short answer is not exactly; the conditions were very specific. However, it does illustrate how swiftly every assumption early in an
Snoop Dogg arrived at Intuit Dome hours before tipoff, long before most fans filled the arena and even before some players. Dressed in a gray suit and black turtleneck, a diamond-encrusted Peacock pendant resting on his chest and purple Chuck Taylor sneakers with gold laces nodding to his lifelong Los Angeles Lakers allegiance, Snoop didn’t rush. He didn’t posture. He waited for his moment to shine as an NBA analyst alongside Reggie Miller and Terry Gannon for Peacock’s recent Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Clippers broadcast during the second half. With an AP reporter trailing him through the arena for an
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