Looking to build off last year's success, Art Taipei 2010 is back again this year.This year, six sub-sections of Art Taipei 2010 -- Art Galleries, Mega Contemporary, Ela-Video, Art Taipei PHOTO, Made in Taiwan – Young Artist Discovery, Art Media -- are organized to meet the increasingly multi-dimensional and specialized demands and trends of Taiwanese art collectors.
Art Galleries
Art Taipei 2010 is the most diverse to date, presenting 111 exhibitors from 11countries (welcomes 54 exhibitors from overseas )and welcome throughout the Americas , Europe, and Asia including China ( Beijing / Shanghais/ Macau/ Hong Kong), Taiwan , U.S.A, German, Spain, Switzerland, Korea , Japan , Singapore , Philippines , Thailand. There are 36 first-time exhibitors in total, including 26 galleries overseas. Not to mention that leading galleries from China, Japan and Korea will visit the 2010 ART TAIPEI together, expecting to present artworks with high quality to the art followers in Taiwan and to establish a more profound interaction with the collectors here.
The internationally renowned gallery SCAI the Bathhouse will present the young promising artist Tatsuo Miyajima’s works which adopt the combination of numbers to express the relationship among human beings, object, and space. The gallery Hiromi Yoshi from Japan will present Hiroshi Sugimoto’s works as well as Hiromix’s light-hearted but yet original works – the recent favorite who is discovered by Araki Nobuyoshi (by winning the 1st Araki Nobuyoshi Award in the photography competition “New Cosmos of Photography” organized by Canon). The well established gallery in Japan, Mizuma & One Gallery, will present the latest works of two promising and talented artists, Sashie Masakatsu and Kumazawa Mikiko. The first-time exhibitor from India, The Guild, will present those major works from the most popular artists in India, including Sathyanand Mohan, Riyas Komu, and T. V. Santhosh. Another first-time established exhibitor from Japan, Tomio Koyama Gallery, will demonstrate a photographic world full of colors, fantasy, and magic which is weaved by the famous photographer Mika Ninagawa. Shintaro Miyake’s works made with color pencils will also be shown with the desire to invite viewers to return to their innocent childhood. Galerie Kashya from Switzerland will provide viewers with a brand new perspective through the works of the Japanese emerging artist Nobuhiro Nakanishi. One of the most established galleries from Korea, Gana Art Gallery, will present the latest sculpture works of Lee Hwan Kwon and Yongho JI, who have just made impressive publicity at Busan Biennale. Wellside Gallery, another established gallery from Korea, will make a solo exhibition of the contemporary minimalist painter Park Seo-Bo’s series works. As for video art, the young emerging art space from Japan, Mujin-to Production, will astonish the viewers with the works of the Avant-Garde of Les Six. Being called as “the best of Heisei,” they are famous for creating “art events” – all recorded in the project Chim↑Pom. Mujin-to Production will also present the new works of Yukihiro Taguchi, who is working on a new definition of a fixed space/location. Takuro Someya Contemporary Art from Japan will present the works of the two-person group, Mai Yamashita+ Naoto Kobayashi, while the nature and creature are always the focus of their works – from a different scope though.
The established art environment has furnished numerous artistic and proficient collectors. Till now, Taiwanese collectors become influential and essential in the art world and also the best in Asia . Although the recession of global economy in the subprime mortgage crisis has more or less affected the art market, allergists and art lovers can still find confidences and interests in Taiwanese art market. Art Taipei 2010 cast a longing glamour over the recession.
Made in Taiwan – Young Artist Discovery
After the successful marketing of the event over the last two years, Art Taipei 2010 “Made in Taiwan-Young Artist Discovery” sponsored jointly by Council for Cultural Affairs and Taiwan Art Galleries Association this year attracted more attention than ever before. The competition not only recommends a number of young artists to the art market, it also enhances their visibility, leading to some impressive sales over the last three years. As a result of the resounding success of past promotional work, a record breaking 202 submissions were received for the “Young Artist Discovery” competition in 2010. After evaluating the works, a jury of experts, scholars and art gallery representatives, invited by the CCA, selected eight winners. Because the judges themselves came from a diversity of backgrounds, ranging from the theoretical to the practical, the winners were perhaps, better able to reflect a sense of creative foresight.
The artists selected were Lin, Yu-Tin, Lin, Tai-Hsuan, Shen, Bo-Cheng, Wu, Chang-Jung, Chou, Chu-Wang, Hsu, Wei-Hui, Chen, I-Chun, Chang, Huei-Ming, Liao, Chi-Yu. The creative media in which the eight winners worked included painting, photography, video art, mixed media and sculpture. Of particular note, the materials used to sculpt works differed markedly from the past, including barbed wire, cosmetic face masks and a Braille translation machine. This showcased perfectly the creative spirit and willingness to experiment of a new generation of artists.
Lin, Yu-Tin utilizes cake decorating skills to express the characteristics of Taiwanese buildings from the 1950s and 1960s. This combination of joyous images and imagined smells project a sense of family warmth and affection. Lin, Tai-Hsuan’s work is fresh and succinct, arranging a photographic scene and linear sculpted installation, that both give rise to wonderful thoughts of beautiful times. Shen, Bo-Cheng combines a Baille translation machine and a hand-cranked music box. He transforms vision (sense of sight) into Braille (sense of touch) and then into a music box (sense of hearing). This intriguing series of sensory switches infuses the work with multiple possibilities. Wu, Chang-Jung’s video piece is like a kaleidoscope, expressing a major turning point in life. She takes the pressure we all feel in life and through humor transforms it into something that provides creative sustenance and motivation. Chou, Chu-Wang looks at the world of adults from the point of view of a child. Part of his work includes “a children’s circus fantasy world,” that shows us the great curiosity and creativeness of these little souls, followed by a lesson in how their innocence is unavoidably eroded by the ubiquitous nature of media images.
Hsu, Wei-Hui’s work discusses issues relating to the appearance of women and their shared experiences. Using a “cosmetic face mask” as her creative material, she focuses on the hidden anxieties and contradictions women feel about looking beautiful, whilst at the same time discussing the universal issues of time and life. Although on the surface the methodology of Chen, I-Chun’s video work appears laid back, it is in fact very serious, looking at how industrialization sweeps all before it, wiping out individualism and the distinctive characteristics of different cities. Chang, Huei-Ming and Liao, Chi-Yu become “Mimi” and “Lucy” as they embark on a space adventure, courageously stepping into the unknown and displaying their “never say die” spirit.
Ela-Video <Encoded>
While mentioning video art fair, people might think of those internationally renowned events such as DiVA in the United States of America or Loop in Barcelona, Spain. Apart from the major fairs people are more familiar with, those fairs mentioned above have established a particular brand-image by focusing on electronic video art which eventually leads to a genre of multi-media art.
Video art, therefore, creates its own category – other than painting and sculpture – which can not be ignored. Following such a universal trend, the development of digital art and video art in Asia has also taken a significant step forward within the past five years. Since two years ago, more and more art collectors have found video art as a genre of potentiality. Multi-media artists are thus given more energy to conduct their experimental projects while their visibility is also improved. With the desire to further encourage viewers’ appreciation of video art, the 2010 ART TAIPEI expands its demonstration in the section ELA-VIDEO. The 2010 ART TAIPEI COMMITTEE also invites the well-known producer and award-winning curator Antoanetta Ivanova from Australia as the guest curator of <Encoded>, presented in ELA-VIDEO. Presenting digital and moving image artworks created by Australian artists, the Encoded exhibition draws inspiration from the systems of communications and encoding—be they virtual, social or natural—that are rapidly influencing the ways in which we interpret and engage with the world today. The exhibition’s aim is to serve as a counterpoint to the prevailing presence of the rationally codified spaces of modern life by contrasting them with the fragility of the natural environment and the significance of cultural diversity.
Trained in both art and computer science JON McCORMACK is one of a handful of Australian artists who makes art works primarily by writing computer software. His creative process demands the understanding and application of the complex rule-based language of programming through which to generate unique digital still and moving images. In developing Niche Constructions (2008-9) the artist’s aesthetic sensibility has guided the code-written logic underpinning the work to achieve a fine digital drawing process occurring in real time in the gallery.
The creative intuition of the artist and the logical language of computer code are also intertwined in JONATHAN DUCKWORTH’s futuristic jewellery object Embracelet (2007). Wearable as a fashion piece the object can also be used to provide tactility and visual feedback to benefit a wearer who may have a physical impairment. Created as a response to the growing concerns about global climate change, LEON CMELEWSKI and JOSEPHINE STARRS’ work Downstream (2009) presents an entire river systems sprawling across Australia spelling out the words “and the river was dust”—a poetic but powerful message has been encoded into the vast landscape as a warning sign. In MARTIN WALCH’s video triptych Source (2009) and JESS MACNEIL’s The Wall the grid of human activity, the encoding and thus claiming of the landscape, is sharply contrasted by the forces of nature. They remind us of its timeless, untamable presence. JUSTINE COOPER looks at nature’s own code—the human DNA— in order to compare our culturally imbued codes with the person-less, detached from any social conditioning codes of our biology. For the creation of the video art installation Transformers (2002-3) the artist juxtaposes the hard scientific data about her subjects with the malleable, idiosyncrasies of their personal stories and cultural experiences. They speak of a process of becoming oneself as an evolving experience that cannot be encoded. ELA VIDEO will present you the unexpected potentiality of new media and their practice in today’s artistic creation. Let’s experience the unprecedented culture shock at the 2010 ART TAIPEI.
Art Taipei PHOTO
Sony World Photography Awards Global Tour Exhibition at Art Taipei
Photographs by the winners and finalists of the 2010 Sony World Photography Awards will be exhibited for the first time in Taiwan at Art Taipei. Brought together by leading curator Dr. Caprice Horn, this collection showcases the very best photographs from across the world. As Dr. Horn comments, “the international character of these winning images is a testament to the inclusivity of these global awards. Each of these pictures has a place, a purpose, show skill, and forethought. Many are commanding, audacious or even humorous in their exploration of a concept, an issue or an opinion.”
Selected by the World Photography Honorary Judging Committee, which comprises of leading figures from the international photographic community, the winning images were chosen from over 82,000 images submitted from 148 countries, including Tommaso Ausili, winner of the L’Iris d’Or, the Professional Photographer of the Year Award.
Created by the World Photography Organisation (WPO) and sponsored by Sony, the Sony World Photography Awards Global Tour exhibition creates an international platform for emerging photographers to be discovered, and for professionals to showcase their new work.
The exhibition offers an insight into the trends of contemporary photography. There are few genres left unexplored in this showcase, which represents the current vitality and authority of the photographic medium. From captivating photojournalism to experimental fine art, the variety and depth of the subjects is apparent.
Affordable Art Project
With the desire to open up a more easily accessible door to the young collectors to take a step into the world of art collection, ART TAIPEI has particularly designed the AFFORDABLE ART PROJECT to them – starting from 2009. As required by the organizer, the ART TAIPEI Committee, all the exhibiting galleries should provide artworks priced within 2000 USD if they wish to be part of the project. Through those artworks with lower price, we hope to encourage the general public to reach the world of art collection. Following the valuable tradition being established last year, there are many galleries providing wonderful artworks which will definitely catch your eyes this year. The first-time exhibitor from Japan Mujin-to Production will bring Yukihiro Taguchi’s video artwork Nest 2 (ed. 10) – an artwork in single-frame shooting which records the scenes from daily life with a light tempo.
Another exhibiting gallery from Japan, Tezukayama Gallery, will present the artist Nomoto Piropiro’s thought-provoking work Untitled – expressed in a unique cold tone which is consistently adopted by the artist himself. 1839 Gallery from Taiwan, which is another first-time exhibitor, will present the work Circumgyration - Lao Song Project #09 of the Taiwanese artist Chen Chin-Pao who has just won the 26th Higashikawa Award in Japan. In this work, Chen retrieves the fragmentized memories of others and reconstructs one particular scene in a performative manner, repetitively. By faking memory, Chen discusses the relationship between reality and memory. Apart from those mentioned above, more surprising artworks in affordable price are waiting for you at the 2010 ART TAIPEI!
