Improbable Waves — Anicca (異浪無常) is a solo show of recent video work by Jawshing Arthur Liou (劉肇興). The first, titled Crossing, mourns the passing of the artist’s daughter. Rendered through 3D modeling, its textures simulate the ocean’s movements and are evocative of water scenes found in some impressionist oil paintings. Another work consists of a continually ascending spiral form that suggests seasonal change as well as the transitory nature of time and space.
■ Chi-Wen Gallery (其玟畫廊), 3F, 19, Ln 252, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段252巷19號3樓), tel: (02) 8771-3372. Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 11am to 7pm.
■ Opening reception on Saturday at 3pm. Until April 24
Photo Courtesy of Chi-Wen Gallery
Space.Rhythm (空間.旋律) is a solo show of works by Chinese artist Yang Liming (楊黎明). Yang’s paintings combine Western abstractionism with the free-flowing strokes of traditional Chinese brush and ink painting.
■ Jia Art Gallery (家畫廊), 1F-1, 30, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市中山北路三段30號1樓之1), tel: (02) 2591-4302. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm
■ Begins today. Opening reception on Friday at 3pm. Until April 3
Photo Courtesy of Jia Art Gallery
Gender, dreams and daily life are the primary themes of Borderland’s Dawn (邊地微光), a sound and poetry exhibit by poet Tong Ya-li (彤雅立) and sound artist Wang Yu-jun (王榆鈞). The artists attempt to expand the boundaries of artistic works and explore the experimental aesthetics of their respective mediums. A performance will take place at Treasure Hill Artists Village on Saturday from 7:30pm to 9pm. Admission to the performance is free, but attendees must reserve a space by calling (02) 2364-5313 X114. Ask for Ms Tsai.
■ Treasure Hill Artists Village (寶藏巖國際藝術村), 4-8, Alley 37, Ln 230, Dingzhou Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市汀州路三段230巷37弄4-8號), tel: (02) 2364-5313. Open Tuesdays to Fridays from 3pm to 10pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 10pm
■ Until April 3
Celestial Skillfulness: Calligraphy and Painting of Qi Baishi (人巧勝天—齊白石書畫展) offers a glimpse of this prolific master of traditional Chinese ink painting through 113 works borrowed from China’s Liaoning Provincial Museum (遼寧省博物館). In addition to Qi’s paintings, the exhibit reveals his interests in poetry, prose, calligraphy and seal carving.
■ National Museum of History (國立歷史博物館), 49 Nanhai Rd, Taipei City (台北市南海路49號), tel: (02) 2361-0270. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm. General admission is NT$30
■ Until May 8
Liu Yi-an (劉怡安) presents a new series of abstract ceramic sculptures in The Truth of the Metaphor: The Present Dwelling (隱喻的真實:當下的居所). Liu’s disc-like creations are metaphors of time. The artist seeks to leave an “impression on every moment, every minute movement and repetitive actions.”
■ Yingge Ceramics Museum (鶯歌陶瓷博物館), 200 Wenhua Rd, Yingge Township, New Taipei City (新北市鶯歌鎮文化路200號), tel: (02) 8677-2727. Open daily from 9:30am to 5pm, closes at 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays
■ Until May 1
Nine Taiwanese nervously stand on an observation platform at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport. It’s 9:20am on March 27, 1968, and they are awaiting the arrival of Liu Wen-ching (柳文卿), who is about to be deported back to Taiwan where he faces possible execution for his independence activities. As he is removed from a minibus, a tenth activist, Dai Tian-chao (戴天昭), jumps out of his hiding place and attacks the immigration officials — the nine other activists in tow — while urging Liu to make a run for it. But he’s pinned to the ground. Amid the commotion, Liu tries to
The slashing of the government’s proposed budget by the two China-aligned parties in the legislature, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), has apparently resulted in blowback from the US. On the recent junket to US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, KMT legislators reported that they were confronted by US officials and congressmen angered at the cuts to the defense budget. The United Daily News (UDN), the longtime KMT party paper, now KMT-aligned media, responded to US anger by blaming the foreign media. Its regular column, the Cold Eye Collection (冷眼集), attacked the international media last month in
A pig’s head sits atop a shelf, tufts of blonde hair sprouting from its taut scalp. Opposite, its chalky, wrinkled heart glows red in a bubbling vat of liquid, locks of thick dark hair and teeth scattered below. A giant screen shows the pig draped in a hospital gown. Is it dead? A surgeon inserts human teeth implants, then hair implants — beautifying the horrifyingly human-like animal. Chang Chen-shen (張辰申) calls Incarnation Project: Deviation Lovers “a satirical self-criticism, a critique on the fact that throughout our lives we’ve been instilled with ideas and things that don’t belong to us.” Chang
Feb. 10 to Feb. 16 More than three decades after penning the iconic High Green Mountains (高山青), a frail Teng Yu-ping (鄧禹平) finally visited the verdant peaks and blue streams of Alishan described in the lyrics. Often mistaken as an indigenous folk song, it was actually created in 1949 by Chinese filmmakers while shooting a scene for the movie Happenings in Alishan (阿里山風雲) in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), recounts director Chang Ying (張英) in the 1999 book, Chang Ying’s Contributions to Taiwanese Cinema and Theater (打鑼三響包得行: 張英對台灣影劇的貢獻). The team was meant to return to China after filming, but