The National Museum of Taiwan Literature (國立台灣文學館) teams up with Taiwan Contemporary Cultural Lab (空總臺灣當代文化實驗場) to present an outstanding exhibition about the paranormal in Taiwanese mythology. Taiwan is an enigmatic and enchanted country, and a reconsideration of its shadowy creatures allows for a more balanced perspective of the world between the sensible and the mysterious. “No matter how scary they may be, monsters are a colorfully diverse aspect of traditional folk perspectives and beliefs.” Yao-chi City (妖氣都市—鬼怪文學與當代藝術特展) provides an artistic overview of yaoqi (妖氣), a term that refers to monsters, demons and ghouls that live in the depths of Taiwan’s mountains, forests or in the dim corners of modern cities. The show features works by artists working in a range of mediums, including writers, literary organizations, illustrators and painters, sound and theater artists and game animation designers. Highlights include writer Badai’s (巴代) novel, Witch Way (巫旅), which includes folklore and animist beliefs that belong to the Puyuma Aboriginal tribe. Miaogong Junyang’s (妙工俊陽) The Taiwan Monsters Series (台灣妖怪系列) is a body of colorful portrait paintings that depict paranormal creatures that frequent Taiwanese tales. The exhibition will run throughout Ghost Festival (鬼節), a time when ghosts leave the underworld and wander among the living.
■ C-LAB (臺灣當代文化實驗場), 177, Jianguo S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (臺北市大安區建國南路一段177號), tel: (02) 8773-5087. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6pm
■ Until Sept. 15
Photo courtesy of Mind Set Art Center
Luo Jr-shin (羅智信) is a Taipei-based artist who works with a variety of traditional and unconventional materials, including clay, metal, everyday objects, food and other substances. For Luo, experimenting with these materials is a process of investigating the realm of spirituality and dimensions of the human condition that underlie the world of representation. His multimedia works often reveal the absurd in everyday life, particularly quotidian moments that he deems dangerous, illusory or delusional. SNAILS (NOT INCLUDED) (不存在的蝸牛) is a curious installation described by Michael Ku Gallery (谷公館) as “the second half of a house party.” Water, malt, hops, rice and yeast are scatted across the floor, while a stainless steel shelve displays a set of perfumes.
■ 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 Sept. 8
Photo: Noah Buchan, Taipei Times
Mia Liu (劉文瑄) is a contemporary artist who primarily works with drawing. She often works over other people’s drawings and expands on the original piece by extending her marks beyond the frame and onto the walls on which the drawing is displayed. Liu is interested in the idea of “communicating between drawings” and examines the relationship between a drawing’s surface, boundaries and frameworks of time. I Dwell in Possibility (我居住在可能裡) is Liu’s solo exhibition at Mind Set Art Center (安卓藝術). The show includes ink paintings and paper sculptures, as well as photographs and a documentary film produced in collaboration with film directors Maggie Liao (廖憶玲) and Chu Po-ying (朱柏穎), conservator Lin Huan-shen (林煥盛) and photographer Chung Soon-long (鍾順龍). These works are inspired by the artist’s encounters during her travels. A large installation, Dialogue Drawing Dialogue in Seoul: Four Gentlemen, is a rearrangement of four paintings by artist Dao Tian (稻田). The original paintings, which depict the symbolic themes of plum blossom, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, are mounted on a single scroll with new drawing marks and fabric, seamlessly combining modern and the traditional sensibilities. A conversation between the artist and her collaborators will be held tomorrow at 2:30pm during the opening reception. Contact the gallery for more details.
■ Mind Set Art Center (安卓藝術) 180, Heping E Rd, Taipei City (台北市和平東路180號), tel: (02) 2365-6008. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 11am to 6pm
■ Tomorrow until Aug. 31
Photo Courtesy of Taipei Fine Art Museum
Focusing on female artists from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, The Herstory of Abstraction in East Asia (她的抽象) explores art history from post-World War II to the present. While shedding light on the region’s artistic developments, the show is also an opportunity to see rare works from the collections of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, national modern art museums in Tokyo and Kyoto, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. Exhibition highlights include early paintings by the prominent Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Dating from the 1950’s, these works reveal her early style before she arrived at the signature style of organic patterns and contours she is widely known for today.
■ 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
■ Tomorrow until Oct. 7
Photo Courtesy of Michael Ku Gallery
A hue to spell (用色拼字) is a solo exhibition by Taiwanese artist Su Yu-hsin (蘇予昕). Su works between painting, printmaking, writing and installation. Su says viewing a painting is a creative act, during which the viewer traces the painting process, picturing its time of making and how images are formed step by step. Writer Liu Na-ou (劉吶鷗) describes how the materiality of pigment and the speed and shape of brushstrokes guide the viewer into a process of active looking and exploring the world Su’s paintings encapsulate. The exhibition preface includes a series of scenic descriptions without context that may or may not be related to the visual narratives displayed in the show.
■ Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (關渡美術館), 1 Xueyuan Rd, Taipei City (台北市學園路1號), tel: (02) 2896-1000 X 2432. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 5pm
■ Until Sept. 22
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
There is perhaps no better way to soak up the last of Taipei’s balmy evenings than dining al fresco at La Piada with a sundowner Aperol Spritz and a luxuriant plate of charcuterie. La Piada (義式薄餅) is the brainchild of Milano native William Di Nardo. Tucked into an unassuming apartment complex, fairy lights and wining diners lead the way to this charming slice of laid-back Mediterranean deli culture. Taipei is entirely saturated with Italian cuisine, but La Piada offers something otherwise unseen on the island. Piadina Romagnola: a northern Italian street food classic. These handheld flatbreads are stuffed with cold
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
Oct. 14 to Oct. 20 After working above ground for two years, Chang Kui (張桂) entered the Yamamoto coal mine for the first time, age 16. It was 1943, and because many men had joined the war effort, an increasing number of women went underground to take over the physically grueling and dangerous work. “As soon as the carts arrived, I climbed on for the sake of earning money; I didn’t even feel scared,” Chang tells her granddaughter Tai Po-fen (戴伯芬) in The last female miner: The story of Chang Kui (末代女礦工: 張桂故事), which can be found on the Frontline
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