Ou Jing-yun’s (歐靜雲) colorful, neon paintings of upside-down palm trees, prancing deer and horse carousel coming to life show the absurdity of life. There is a morbid beauty to the chaos of his upturned world though. Even when he draws soldiers stripped to their underwear shooting themselves with a pistol, it looks otherworldly and almost desirable. Perhaps it’s the bright neon colors, but it might also be because of the looks of contentment on their faces. It’s almost as if Ou is saying, the world is doomed to fall victim to war and vice, so why not make the most of it. Ou’s solo exhibition, The Whisper by Delirium (譫妄絮語), which features a selection of these paintings, is currently on display at Taipei’s Frees Art Space.
■ Frees Art Space (福利社), B1, 82, Xinsheng N Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市新生北路三段82號B1); tel: (02) 2585-7600. Open Tuesdays to Fridays from 11am to 7pm, Saturdays 1:30pm to 9pm, closed Sundays and Mondays
■ Until May 28
Photo courtesy of Ted Pigott
Chen Sung-chih (陳松志) has created a name for himself showcasing his installations made from old household items such as buckets and recycled magazines in solo exhibitions all around Taipei and at Art Basel Hong Kong. He certainly has a knack for rendering beautiful objects out of things that most people throw away. His latest solo exhibition at Project Fulfill Art Space, Chen Sung-chih Works 2005-2006 (陳松志作品展 2005-2006), features some of Chen’s earlier work from a decade ago during his solo trip to Egypt. In these early pieces, Chen works with newspapers and garbage bags to depict the irony of an ancient civilization coming to grips with modern consumer culture — a feeling that is conveyed by juxtaposing ancient text with Pepsi ads found in newspapers.
■ Project Fulfill Art Space (就在藝術空間), 2, Alley 45, Ln 147, Xinyi Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市信義路三段147巷45弄2號), tel: (02) 2707-6942. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 6pm
■ Until May 29
Photo courtesy of Asia Art Center
Beijing-born Chinese artist Zhu Wei (朱偉) does not shy away from the color red in his ink wash paintings. Zhu, who once worked as a propaganda artist in the early 90s, is known for being a little conservative and critical of China’s opening up. But that doesn’t mean that his work, which is currently exhibited at Asia Art Center II in the aptly named, Zhu Wei (朱偉), isn’t somewhat impressive. According to the gallery notes, the red curtain motif which forms the backdrop for most of his paintings, represents the Chinese people’s “collective consciousness” — kind of an outdated phrase in my opinion. Nevertheless, Zhu’s paintings of giant fruit dangling from tiny branches and caricatures of big nosed-people are silly, fun to look at and should get a lot of children shrieking.
■ Asia Art Center II (亞洲藝術中心二館), 93, Lequn 2nd Rd, Taipei City (台北市樂群二路93號), tel: (02) 8502-7939. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6:30pm
■ Until May 29
Named after American writer Rebecca Solnit’s 2006 book, A Field Guide to Getting Lost (迷路實地指南) opens tomorrow at Taipei’s Digital Art Center. The book, which is part memoir and part travelogue with elements of political commentary, takes a stab at understanding why some people get lost, literally and figuratively, in life and in their travels, what happens when they “find” themselves and why some of them choose to stay lost. Likewise, the exhibition features artists from around the world whose multimedia work and videography tackles similar questions, including Swedish artist Josephine Bergqvist, South Korean artist Yoon Hyang-ro and the Taiwanese artist group Super Add.
■ Digital Art Center (台北數位藝術中心), 180, Fuhua Rd, Taipei City (台北市福華路180號), tel: (02) 7736-0708. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm
■ Opens tomorrow. Until June 19
Photo courtesy of Frees Art Space
Ted Pigott did a lot of scribbling in his sketchbook when he was a child but didn’t think much of having a career in the visual arts. The artist, who hails from the US Midwest, started sketching again at cafes and restaurants during his lunchbreaks when he worked as communications specialist for a brand consultancy in Taipei. Pigott soon quit his day job to focus on drawing full-time. He derives inspiration from whatever is in front of him — potted plants on the balcony of Toasteria, for example, or a cup of coffee at the Diner. Originally starting with black pen as his prime medium, he now dabbles in color pen as well as ink. Pigott’s latest solo exhibition To Eat and Drink in Taipei: In Bloom, which opens at Circle Pasta on Sunday, features a selection of his floral sketches and paintings, all of which are summery and uplifting.
■ Circle Pasta (小圈子) 11, Ln 233, Yanji St, Taipei City (台北市延吉街233巷11號), tel: (02) 2755-3355. Open Tuesdays to Fridays from 11:30am to 2pm, 5pm to 9pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm to 2:30pm, 5pm to 9pm
■ Opening party is Sunday from 3pm to 5pm. Exhibition is until July 31
Photo courtesy of Digital Art Center
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