Art is not just culture but also education, and therefore, it must not be confined to the quest for mere commercial gain. To return art to its essential character and let the artist stand directly before the world, the Art Revolution Taipei (A.R.T.), an international art fair based in Taipei, will be curated around dual axes: to place artists at the center stage and to design the entire art fair as a colossal work of art. It aims to establish itself as an indexical art fair of Asia. In its premiere in 2011, it made a record with 89.66% of the participating artists reporting having sales during the fair, a performance close to world’s top art fairs such as the Art Basel. For the 2nd A.R.T., the rate climbed to 91.18%. The 3rd A.R.T. drew even more collectors to visit; and some artists sold out all their exhibiting works right at the VIP Preview. The A.R.T. has established its “absolute brand name,” becoming one of Asia’s most characteristic art fair.
WITH 280 ARTISTS FROM 48 NATIONS TO PARTICIPATE – AN ART FAIR WITH MULTICULTURAL FLAIR
The A.R.T. has a very rigorous set of standards to select only the best artworks for exhibition. In addition, to refresh its visitors’ visual experiences, it sets a 60% replacement rate, namely 60% of the exhibiting artists being the new participants. For this year, there will be 280 artists from 48 countries to exhibit in total of 2000 pieces of artwork. Their participation brings multicultural flare to shine the art fair and shed light on the contemporary art. This shall be a marvelous art feast.
“IMPRESSIONIST‧CONTEMPORARY” -- CREATING A NEW IMPRESSION OF CONTEMPORARY ART
To challenge the artist’s creativity and to diversify the A.R.T. exhibition style, the art fair will center around a certain theme every year. For 2014, the annual theme is “Impressionist‧ Contemporary.” The Art Director of A.R.T. Lee Sun-Don requests the participating artists to express the aura of impressionism using contemporary concepts, or to interpret their impressions of the contemporary in virtue of impressionism. Very challenging and yet highly anticipated. In line with the top artists of the world, the A.R.T. is creating a new impression of contemporary art.
SPECIAL EVENTS
“FIVE BLESSINGS” TEA RECEPTION During the five-day show, there will be five different kinds of high-class tea to treat the guests. With one distinct tea served every day, the visitors can savor different flavor every day. The offer is limited. Please sign up on site before it is full.
Dates & Times: 19:00～21:30, April 16, 2014
14:00～18:00, April 17~20, 2014 (8 rounds/per day)
“ART YOUR COMPASSION” – CHARITY SALE OF ARTWORKS BY CELEBRITIES
Social elites and celebrities from different arenas of the society, locally and globally, are invited to create artworks for charity sale. All proceeds go directly to the charity organization – this year, it will be Taiwan’s Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation.
Date & Time: 12:00～15:00, April 17, 2014
TEN EXHIBITION SECTIONS
Curatorial Classics
Substantiating the ideal of exhibiting the artworks with potential to become “future classics,” the section of “Curatorial Classics” is comprised of works best presenting the annual thematic spirit, the Special Collection, and the units specially curated by Art Director Lee Sun-Don. With “Impressionist‧Contemporary” as the annual theme, the thematic spirit for this year is “When Impressionism Gallops into the Contemporary.” We specially invite Taiwan’s first artist conducting a crossover creation with an international supercar brand, namely Lee Sun- Don, to present his installation art on classic supercar, demonstrating “The Power of Art, the Liberation of Life”.
For the Special Collection, there are mainland China’s rising stars Li Limin, Deng Wushu, Zhao Xin, and many others – all exhibiting for the first time in Taiwan. In addition, there is the unit of “Lions of the Snow Mountains,” which features artworks portraying Tibetan culture by realist artists Wang Zhaoju and Sui Jiangsheng.
In this section, you may also find works by Spanish Alfonso Cuñado Rodríguez, who had a complete sellout at last year’s A.R.T.; Liu Baojun, who is known for his “Pipe-Smoking Women”; Liu Jiu-Tong, whose artworks poetically reveal an open and liberating ambience. Moreover, X-Power Gallery will present the international-renowned artist Lee Sun-Don, who is best known for his “totemic energy art,” with his newest series, “Great Treasure Gate 2014,” and the rising female art trio Ma Sing Ling, together with works by Liu Ruifeng and Wen Jie.
Taiwan Contemporary Art
This section features both the artists in the prime of their life and the emerging talents, displaying diversified and cross-generational facets of contemporary art in Taiwan. For painting, there are Lu Tsung-Tsan (whose A.R.T.’s selling record of last year doubled that of the year before), landscape specialist Lin Tsung-Fan, and Wong Liang-Yuan whose works reveal a mysterious tincture. In sculpture, Hsu Tung-Rung will display his artworks transformed from abstract into semi-concrete presentation, the series of “Great Form Is beyond Form.” There are also sculptures featuring the beauty of young girls by Peng Kuang- Chun and Dick Lü. As to installation art, you will see the creations by Rita Li and Tomoya Tsukamoto. Serving as A.R.T.’s consultant, Mickey Huang also leads graffiti artist ANO and cartoonist-style painter Acer Lü to exhibit. You can even come to behold the marvelous creativities of Taiwan’s art masters, such as Taiwan’s folk art pioneer Shiy Der Chin, the humorous and knowledgeable self-taught artist Max Liu, and photography master Daniel Lee.
China Contemporary Art
This section is characterized with artworks by Chinese artists with solid training, innovative ideas, powerful imagination, and collectible potentials – overall, it displays a wide range of agendas and techniques. Among those are: Huang Gang, Du Xi, Xue Song, and Sanzi. The popular artists include also Pei Lianzhi, Zhang Yuying, Zhang Shiying, and Chen Jun. There are also very affordable artworks by Wang Delong, Chen Xiangming, Liang Weiping, Lin Lishan, Zhao Huxie, and Wang Shanman. The gigantic painting in size of 10 by 8 meters by Cai Tiancong is especially eye-catching.
International Contemporary Art
While exhibiting master artworks, such as those by Chinese-born French Art Academician Chu Teh-Chun and Japanese Yayoi Kusama, this section comprises two other units: “The Greats vis-à-vis the Greats” and “Spaniard Art Zone.”
“The Greats vis-à-vis the Greats” highlights the works by artists with exquisite skills and distinguished styles, such as British Richard Yang, French Thibault Jandot, Italian Sergio Cerchi, Russian Dmitry Ermolov, Spanish Alex Alemany, Turkish Orhan Coplu, and Hungarian Istvan Cene gal. Some of them exhibit the first time in Asia.
The “Spaniard Art Zone” features first and foremost the world’s leading surrealism artist Arnua Alemany, whose works demonstrate a beautiful infusion of realism and magic realism. Exhibiting artists include also Equipo Sur, Fermín Colomer, Marc Figueras, Mario Garcia Miro, and Mariano Gonzalez Beltran.
Contemporary Ink “Water Flows and Color Shows”
This is a new section, dedicated to showcase the most popular type of artwork nowadays, namely, the ink painting. Artworks displayed are created by artists from mainland China as well as Taiwan, including Chen Qi, Liao Meilan, Sha Qinghua, Su Chongmin, Li Baiming, Yang Zhiying, Lin Wenli, Wei Ruizong, Xiao Jusheng, and Miao Chong’an. They collectively open up a new scope of contemporary ink painting.
New York Contemporary Art Fund
New York Contemporary Art Fund has contributed to the development of contemporary art since its establishment. This year, it will present works by Peter H. Harskamp (Netherlands), Cathy Pitts (USA), Andrea Del Pesco (Italy), Boyko Kolev (Bulgary), Emanuele Dascanio (Italy), Jose De La Barra (Peru), Ricardo Celma (Argentina), Sergio Martinez (Chile), Erwin Peeters (Belgium), and Aaron Nagel (USA). Peter H. Harskamp, reputed as Holland’s Picasso, is a returning exhibitor. Distinguished for using geometric lines and techniques to portray the affection between animal and human, he had a complete sellout at last year’s A.R.T.
Art with Entrepreneurs
To provide a platform for Taiwan’s talented artists to prove themselves on the international stage, A.R.T. coordinates with entrepreneurs to sponsor this section. Debuting last year, this section won incredible response: Because of exhibiting in the A.R.T., many of the sponsored artists were granted with more opportunities to advance their career. This year, fifteen entrepreneurs participate to sponsor fifteen artists specially selected by A.R.T. for their distinguished creativities and potentials. The sponsored artists include Lü Hsiao-Han, Tsai Fu- Jung, Wang Hsiao-Ching, Cheng Chung-Hsuan, Shi Hung-I, and many others.
2014 International Art Competition
The “International Art Competition” is organized by Taiwan International Contemporary Artist Association, and it has become one of the large-scale art events in Asia. This year, it is even more competitive, with 3017 submissions from 70 nations, including the countries not so well known in Taiwan, such as Bhutan, Tajikistan, Senegal, and Estonia. Through a strict selection process, sixty finalists’ works will be exhibited in the A.R.T., and the first-prize winner will be granted a booth for solo exhibition in next year’s A.R.T. The winner of “2013 International Art Competition,” who will exhibit this year, is Russian artist J.B. Biktmirova.
Art and Design
To bring art to our daily life, A.R.T. specially organizes this section to bring aesthetics to every aspect of our living surroundings. While preserving the original essence of the work, this section displays how art can be integrated into merchandise design in aspects of home décor, leather goods, stationery, and other exquisitely refined commodities. On site there will be available the hottest technology in art creation: the 3D printing. Please join us to get in touch with this trendy technology.
Art Your Compassion
This event combines art with philanthropy in hopes of drawing public attention to art activities while promoting humanitarianism. It invites celebrities, social elites, and entrepreneurs at home and abroad to create artworks for benefit sale. Artworks for this charity event are about the size of 17.5 x 14 cm; each is priced at NT$1000. The visitor is allowed to collect two artworks at most. The name of the artist will be revealed to the collector only after s/he purchases the work. The proceeds go directly to the Sunshine Social Welfare Foundation, an organization dedicated to burn survivors and people with facial disfigurement. Staff from the Sunshine Foundation will take charge of the entire charity sale.
Date & Time: 12:00～15:00, April 17, 2014
