Michael Ku Gallery is currently holding a solo show, Love Wholeheartedly. Amour (好好戀愛), by Taiwan artist Jian Yi-hong (簡翊洪). Jian is an award-winning painter known for his delicate ink drawings that are characterized by minimal, flowing contours and playful narratives of contemporary life. He appropriates conventions of traditional Chinese painting with modern sensibilities to create an original, hybrid aesthetic. Male nudes often appear as a subject; some of his works are based on personal experience, while others represent his fantasies of love, says the gallery, and the show features a selection of new works that explore desire and intimacy. The title of the exhibition is based on an entry in Jian’s personal journal last summer that reads: “Love wholeheartedly. One day I’ll push you out and under the sun!” His passionate proclamation suggests the paintings are in part autobiographical. Hot Dance (熱舞) depicts two nude men dancing. The accompanying calligraphic text expresses feelings of separation and bitterness. The Office (辦公室) explores power dynamics between employer and employee.
■ Michael Ku Gallery (谷公館), 4F-2, 21, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市敦化南路一段21號4樓之2), tel: (02) 2577-5601. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until March 10
Photo Courtesy of Double Square Gallery
NO ON (事故) is a solo exhibition by Joyce Ho (何采柔), which is on view at TKG Plus. Ho works between painting, sculpture and theatre, and is a seasoned scriptwriter and theatre director. The Chinese and English exhibition titles do not directly correspond in meaning but share a similar quality of wordplay. Ho’s work ponders daily life and examines the intimate yet distant relationships between people and realities. Her work often leads the viewer into deconstructed quotidian scenarios presented as ritualized spaces. The show features a number of objects and images that together weave a dramatic narrative. From moments of tenderness, gripping tension, emptiness and interpretation, the artist is particularly interested in liminal moments.
■ TKG+ Projects, B1, 15, Ln 548, Ruiguang Rd, Taipei City (台北市瑞光路548巷15號B1), tel: (02) 2659-0798. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm
■ Until April 28
Photo Courtesy of Mind Set Art Center
Hanna Pettyjohn is a Filipino-American artist who works and lives in the Philippines and the US. She identifies herself as part of the diaspora, possessing a transnational identity; this cultural positioning is critical to how she perceives her own past and the histories of immigration. Born into a family of ceramicists, Pettyjohn works in sculpture and painting to explore issues of alienation, loss and anxiety. She often draws from her memories, which leads her to reflect on the transient nature of life. Her solo exhibition, Concurrencies, at Mind Set Art Center features a selection of portraits of female immigrants and porcelain sculptures. Each picture shows the outline of a woman’s face, which is juxtaposed with background imagery drawn from her homeland and current residence, and is distinguished by different styles of lighting, color and contours “to give every unique story a [unique] voice,” writes the gallery.
■ Mind Set Art Center (安卓藝術) 108, Heping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市和平東路108號) , tel: (02) 2365-6008. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 11am to 6pm
■ Begins tomorrow; until March 29
Photo Courtesy of Micheal Ku Gallery
Chen Ching-yao (陳擎耀) is a Taipei-born painter and photographer committed to the deconstruction of power and symbols. Chen draws inspiration from Japanese and Korean popular culture, borrowing familiar symbols from mass media and placing them into playful scenarios. By use of satire, the artist seeks to downplay the symbols of power by exposing their absurd nature. Chen’s solo exhibition, AK Girls and Panzer, at Double Square Gallery presents new large-scale paintings of himself, famous political leaders and an army of girls modeled after the famous Japanese idol girl group AKB48. “Human beings create gods for everything, including gods in politics… If I become [a god], Girls’ Generation would become my entourage whereas AKB48 would serve as my personal guard,” writes the artist in the exhibition preface. The girls are dressed in white shirts and short uniform skirts, poised in moments of combat and play. Dear Leaders (親愛的領導) are a series of paintings that examine the culture of mythologizing political figures in various Asian countries. National Geographic Channel (國家地理頻道) is a body of paintings that imitate the dramatic formats of popular adventure TV programs.
■ Double Square Gallery (雙方藝廊), 28, Lane 770, Beian Road, Taipei City (台北市北安路770巷28號), tel: (02) 8501-2138. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10:30am to 6:30pm
■ Until April 6th
Photo Courtesy of d/art Taipei
MUNASHICHI (六七質) is a Japanese artist who works between illustration, animation and game design. As an illustrator, MUNASHICHI creates exuberant, maze-like pictures of city streets, factories, abandoned sites and towering metropolises. ANDAERφ is the artist’s debut illustration monograph that includes a selection of works produced in the last eight years. An exhibition of original illustrations from the publication is currently on view at d/art Taipei.
■ d/art Taipei, 2F, 14 Wuchang St Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市武昌街二段14號2F), tel: (02) 2383-0060. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 1pm to 10pm
■ Begins tomorrow; until March 24
Japan is celebrated for its exceptional levels of customer service. But the behavior of a growing number of customers and clients leaves a lot to be desired. The rise of the abusive consumer has prompted authorities in Tokyo to introduce the country’s first ordinance — a locally approved regulation — to protect service industry staff from kasuhara — the Japanese abbreviated form of “customer harassment.” While the Tokyo ordinance, which will go into effect in April, does not carry penalties, experts hope the move will highlight a growing social problem and, perhaps, encourage people to think twice before taking out their frustrations
Two years ago my wife and I went to Orchid Island off Taitung for a few days vacation. We were shocked to realize that for what it cost us, we could have done a bike vacation in Borneo for a week or two, or taken another trip to the Philippines. Indeed, most of the places we could have gone for that vacation in neighboring countries offer a much better experience than Taiwan at a much lower price. Hence, the recent news showing that tourist visits to Pingtung County’s Kenting, long in decline, reached a 27 year low this summer came
From a Brooklyn studio that looks like a cross between a ransacked Toys R Us and a serial killer’s lair, the artist David Henry Nobody Jr is planning the first survey of his career. Held by a headless dummy strung by its heels from the ceiling are a set of photographs from the turn of the century of a then 30-year-old Nobody with the former president of the US. The snapshots are all signed by Donald Trump in gold pen (Nobody supplied the pen). They will be a central piece of the New York artist’s upcoming survey in New York. This
In the tourism desert that is most of Changhua County, at least one place stands out as a remarkable exception: one of Taiwan’s earliest Han Chinese settlements, Lukang. Packed with temples and restored buildings showcasing different eras in Taiwan’s settlement history, the downtown area is best explored on foot. As you make your way through winding narrow alleys where even Taiwanese scooters seldom pass, you are sure to come across surprise after surprise. The old Taisugar railway station is a good jumping-off point for a walking tour of downtown Lukang. Though the interior is not open to the public, the exterior
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