Chen Ching-yuan (陳敬元), who made paintings of students occupying the Legislative Yuan last year, is making waves again with his latest exhibition, UN Title (命名未來), currently on view at IT Park Gallery. Not one to shy away from touchy subjects such as politics and identity, Chen’s video installations examine the historical and political reasons behind Taiwan isn’t a UN member. His artwork is especially compelling in light of the protests organized by Taiwanese-Americans outside the UN building in Manhattan last month.
■ IT Park Gallery (伊通公園), 2F-3F, 41 Yitong St, Taipei City (台北市伊通街41號2-3樓), tel: (02) 2507-7243. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1pm to 10pm
■ Until Nov. 7
Photo courtesy of Eslite Gallery
Artist Jeng Jun-dian (鄭君殿) strives “to see the world in a grain of sand.” His large-scale paintings of everyday objects and homely scenes are currently on display at Taipei’s Eslite Gallery in an exhibition entitled Details (細節). As the title suggests, Jeng’s massive paintings are extremely detailed and take years to complete. In fact, each angle and shadow is painted with precise, minute geometric lines, making his subjects seem simultaneously realistic and abstract. Jeng says humans, objects and their environment are not separate entities, but rather intertwined in a larger cosmic web. His paintings, which are both rigid and dreamy, conjure a yearning for simplicity but without being too overburdened with pangs of nostalgia.
■ Eslite Gallery (誠品畫廊), 5F, 11 Songgao Rd, Taipei City (台北市松高路11號5樓), tel: (02) 8789-3388. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until Nov. 8
Photo courtesy of Eslite Gallery
Growing in the Hsinchu countryside, Tai Wu-kuang (戴武光), had much to draw inspiration from for his artistic career which currently spans five decades. Tai paints flowers, birds and landscapes, but from time to time, he also dabbles in the abstract, creating intricate criss-cross patterns that resemble Chinese characters. His paintings are done in the old style of Chinese brush painting, with little attention paid to foreground, background and dimensionality. Instead, there’s more emphasis on lyrical colors in order to evoke a dreamy feel. Tai’s artwork is on display at Taipei’s National Museum of History, in the aptly named exhibition, The Convergence of Past and Present: Tai Wu-kuang’s World of Ink and Water (會古通今 — 戴武光的水墨世界).
■ 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
■ Until Nov. 15
Photo courtesy of IT Park Gallery
Taipei’s A Gallery has two related exhibitions opening tomorrow, both of which deal with the concept of space — whether physical, mental or spiritual — through geometric shapes and contours. In Inner Peace, Home (你的平靜就是家), Chuang Tong-chiao (莊東橋) explores blind spots and vanishing points. An avid traveler, Chuang is especially fascinated by modern buildings that have been integrated into lush landscapes. As such, his paintings have a harried but relaxed feel.
For his exhibition White Territory (白境之形), Yang Chih-wei (楊智偉) turns the gaze inwards, forcing the viewer to slow down and reflect on the things that matter most to them — career, relationships, hobbies. While Yang’s paintings are composed of much of the same minimalistic primary color geometric shapes as that of Chuang’s, Yang utilizes more white space. The white symbolizes not just self-reflection, but also a blank slate with room for growth.
■ A Gallery (當代一畫廊), 22, Alley 36, Lane 147, Xinyi Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市信義路三段147巷36弄22號), tel: (02) 2702-3327. Open Mondays to Saturdays from 10am to 6pm
Photo courtesy of A Gallery
■ Both exhibition open tomorrow at 3pm. Until Nov. 28
The Taipei Fine Arts Museum has been serving up some out-of-the-box exhibitions this month, their latest being Alice’s Rabbit Hole – Everyday Life, Comprehensible and Incomprehensible (愛麗絲的兔子洞─真實生活：可理解與不可被理解的交纏). A collaborative endeavor of 10 different artists, the exhibition explores the link between art and performance. Through a series of paintings, film, poetry, dance, music and anything that may be considered under the umbrella of art, the various installations open a Pandora Box of possibilities of how magical and multifaceted life can be like if we simply open our minds and take risks. In other words, if we take the leap of faith and jump down the metaphorical rabbit hole, as Alice did in Alice in Wonderland.
■ 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
Photo courtesy of A Gallery
■ Until Jan. 10
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