Michael Lin (林明弘) strays from his usual floral motifs that cover entire gallery walls and buildings with his latest solo exhibition New Paradise (新樂園), held in Taipei’s Eslite Gallery. Instead, this series of paintings — made over the last 10 years during his residency in Shanghai — depicts consumer items such as the old logo for a pack of Taiwan’s New Paradise cigarettes (新樂園) or the packaging for Yunnan Puer Tea (雲南普洱茶). Lin, who has lived in Taiwan, France, Belgium, the US and China, considers both consumerism and locality in his work. Who are the types of people who purchase these items? How do these items that we consume contribute to our feelings of belonging or national identity?
■ 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 Dec. 4
Photo courtesy of Art Issue Projects
Currently on display at MOCA is Polymerization & Multiply (聚合與繁衍). The joint exhibition features the works of video artists Robert Seidel and Max Hattler from Germany and Matt Abbiss from the UK. Seidel’s “moving paintings” — blotches of neon paint swimming against a black backdrop — are created through a series of scientific processes. Deriving inspiration from early 20th-century visual music experiments, Hattler plays with both sound and imagery, the result of which is kaleidoscope-like images bopping, morphing and changing form to various beats. Abiss’s work is somewhat less abstract. The pop culture junkie had a career as a cartoonist before delving into animation and his cute and quirky comics still feature in his animated clips.
■ Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (台北當代藝術館, MOCA, Taipei), 39 Changan W Rd, Taipei City (台北市長安西路39號), tel: (02) 2552-3720. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 6pm
■ Until Dec. 4
Photo courtesy of Art Issue Projects
Chiu Chen-hung (邱承宏) makes use of the natural environment surrounding the Xindian River by Treasure Hill Artist Village for his latest exhibition. Named after the fast-growing weed, Mile-a-Minute Weed (河流砂) is a series of installations that explores the entangled relationship between humans and nature, as well as narrative structures — in particular, historical narratives. Native to Central America, the plant was introduced to Asia during World War II for the purpose of camouflaging airfield hangers. Chiu looks back at the history of Treasure Hill, most notably its use as a military base and how its inhabitants would later rebuild their lives there.
■ Treasure Hill Artist Village (寶藏巖國際藝術村), 2, Ally 14, Ln 230, Dingzhou Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市汀州路三段230巷14弄2號), tel: (02) 2364-5313. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6pm
■ Until Dec. 4
Photo courtesy of MOCA
The Parisian-born Ivan Gros has lived a nomadic life, moving from France and Spain to Saudi Arabia and eventually to Taiwan in 2009 to study Chinese and teach French. His prints, inspired by his travels around the world, are on display at printmaking shop MBMore. 33 Tours (三十三座塔) includes a collection of Gros’ prints made during his time in Taiwan — mostly everyday depictions of people and families in scenes ranging from parks to construction sites, as well as iconic places like the hot springs in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) and beaches on Orchid Island.
■ MBMore (岩筆模), 275, Nanjing W Rd, Taipei City (台北市南京西路275號), tel: (02) 2558-3395. Open Tuesday to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until Dec. 18
Photo courtesy of MBMore
On display at Art Issue Projects is Innercode vs Intercode (存在關係), a stellar lineup of works including Damien Hirst’s morbid sculptures, Marc Quinn’s psychedelic and suggestive paintings and South Korean artist Lee U-fan’s minimalistic-style paintings of blue lines. Lee was one of the pivotal figures in the development of the monochrome painting movement beginning in South Korea in the 1970s. The artistic style arose out of a need to reinterpret contemporary Western art through the lens of Korea’s own history and culture. The exhibition’s title alludes to a need to look deep within ourselves (“inner”), but also to see connections between ourselves and others and among different cultures (“inter).
■ Art Issue Projects (藝術計劃), 32, Ln 407, Tiding Blvd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市堤頂大道二段407巷32號), tel: (02) 2659-7737. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6pm
■ Until Dec. 31
Photo courtesy of MBMore
Photo courtesy of Eslite Gallery
Photo courtesy of Eslite Gallery
March 27 to April 2 After placing fifth in the 1964 Miss Universe pageant in Miami, “Miss China” Yu Yi (于儀) toured the US to great fanfare. The Chinese community in San Francisco called her the “pride of the Republic of China (ROC),” and she even received the key to New York City. Taiwan’s Miss China pageant produced three winners that year who performed on the international stage. Lin Su-hsin (林素幸), the second Taiwan-born Miss China, did even better, claiming third place in London’s Miss World. She says she was elated to see
Last week, the huge news broke that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would not host an open primary for its presidential nominee, but instead pick a candidate through a committee process. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) sent forth a few polite meaningless words about party unity in making the announcement. There’s great commentary on this momentous move, so I will say only that for those of you who think the KMT will “never be that dumb,” I have three words for you: Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), the unelectable candidate the party chose for the 2016 presidential race. Criticism of the Democratic Progressive
The opportunity that brought Ming Turner (陳明惠) back to Taiwan a decade ago had an environmental theme, but since then, she admits, paying attention to environmental issues “hasn’t really been my thing.” Turner, who attended graduate school in the UK, initially returned to curate an event in Kaohsiung’s Cijin District (旗津), not far from where she grew up. Some years after she and her husband decided they’d stay in Taiwan, they moved to Tainan’s Annan District (安南) with their two young children. Turner is now an associate professor in the Institute of Creative Industries Design and director of visual and performance
Among the many atrocities committed by the Japanese during World War II, the Sook Ching massacre was notable for the involvement of Taiwanese. Having captured Singapore in February 1942, the Japanese army and its accomplices killed at least 25,000 Chinese. Prominent among the invaders’ henchmen was Wee Twee Kim (Huang Duijin, 黃堆金), an interpreter-turned-enforcer who — as this riveting new book reveals — was one of many Taiwanese participants in abuses against overseas Chinese, Allied POWS and local civilians. As an employee of the Japanese Southern Asian Company, Wee had been posted to Singapore in 1917. He started out managing Chinese