2017.10.13
ART TAIPEI 2017 Showcases the Convergence of Arts in “Asia Vision”

Galleries: Return of the Big Galleries as the Leaders of Contemporary Asian Art Trend
Private Art Museums Lead New Trends in Art Collecting

The 24th annual ART TAIPEI 2017 will be held from October 20th to 23rd at Taipei World Trade Center. As the longest running art fair in Asia, ART TAIPEI serves as one of the most influential fairs and an indispensable platform for connecting art markets in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. This year’s exhibition will gather 123 top-notch art galleries from 15 different countries, including 62 from Taiwan, 19 from Hong Kong and China, 25 from Japan and Korea, and 7 from Southeast Asia. Among all the galleries from abroad, 14 of them are first-time participants in ART TAIPEI. This exhibition includes nearly 3,000 excellent works by artists ranging from young talents to contemporary masters. With “Asian Vision” as its theme, ART TAIPEI 2017 introduces new contemporary art styles from Asia in response to changes in the global art market. Moreover, it maintains its commitment to promoting art diversity in Asia, overcoming geographical constraints and positioning itself as a center for international exchange.

Following the blueprint of past editions, ART TAIPEI 2017 will divide its exhibition space into four main areas. Galleries, the main exhibition area, will be dedicated to art creations suitable for Biennale exhibitions or art museums. Future and “MIT: Taiwan Young Artists Connection with the World” aim to promote emerging artists both local and foreign. Frontier will focus on new art trends that break away from tradition and create new materials. Finally, Public will mainly constitute large-scale public art, in which the relationship between artworks and public space will be redefined.

Galleries
Return of the Big Galleries as the Leaders of Contemporary Asian Art Trends

Whitestone Gallery, which recently opened a branch in Taipei, has chosen “Matter and Motif” as their curatorial concept, introducing works by Gutai, the most influential art group in post-war Japan. Miassimo De Carlo, which entered Hong Kong last year, will be participating in ART TAIPEI for the first time. Through dialogues between East and West, it will exhibit works by Lee Kit; Yan Pei-Ming; Lucio Fontana, a quintessential figure of Spatialism; Enrico Castellani, an avant garde master of the Zero Movement in the 1960s; and John Armleder, a Fluxus artist.

 Beijing Commune has been representing and pushing new generation artists, such as Ma Qiusha, Liang Yuanwei, Wang Guangle, and Yang Xinguang. In particular, Yang had been previously nominated for the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award. In addition, it will bring the installation art series, “Wood”, by artist Hu Xiaoyuan, who has been featured in the Kassel Documenta, as well as works by Lu Yang, a female artist who has attracted much attention in the areas of new media and BioArt. On another end, ShanghART will bring the black-and-white photography series, “The Window’s World”, by Geng Jianyi, who has just received the “Artist of the Year Award” from Award of Art China.  He was also invited to Venice Biennale this year.  It will also feature works representing new contemporary art trends in China by artists, such as Li Shan and Chen Wei.

Eslite Gallery will launch a solo exhibition for the late artist Tommy Chen, founder of Tong Fang Art Group who passed away earlier this year. This exhibition will represent the bold, unrestrained creative energy and abundant colors of early Taiwan abstract art, and to show the spirit of daring to break and recreate by the art masters of that era. As for Lin & Lin Gallery, their curatorial plan is titled, “Abnormal II”, which includes five artists from different eras and backgrounds—Sanyu, Hsia Yan, Chen Chieh-jen, Kuo Wei kuo, and Liu Wei.  It will discuss the diverse discourse of art in depth. Asia Art Center will focus their exhibition on their long-term theme, “The Spirit of the East”, and divide their exhibition areas into two sections, “The Pioneers of Modernism” and “Classic Masters”, presenting works by artists notably Jiang Ji’an, Sanyu, Gao Xingjian, Yang Chihung, and Li Chen to depict the cross-cultural diverse aspects of 20th century overseas Chinese.

Soka Art Center will present works by six artists from China, Japan, and Taiwan—Hong Ling, Mao Xuhui, Liang Quan, Mitsuhiro Ikeda, Hsi Shih-Pin, and Lin Bao-Ling—whose works are unique in their visual discourse due to originating from different regions in Asian that have different historical contexts, cultural heritages, and social realities. In contrast, Liang Gallery will launch diverse and rich results of Taiwanese art in the past nearly one hundred years through the late master Chen Cheng-Po’s work on paper, through the mixed-media paintings of new stars Lin Hung-Hsin and Leo Wang, and through Chen I-Chun and Hsu Chia-Wei’s avant garde video art.

Da Xiang Art Space will present six artists’ works that are rich in both academic value and market potential. For example, Huang Zan Lun’s “Androids” tell the story of the impact of mechanical technology and artificial intelligence on human beings, whereas Hou Shan Hu creates with Chinese ink, connecting media language with one’s spiritual world. On the other hand, Capital Art Center will exhibit works by five Taiwan artists, notably the Father of Contemporary Chinese Ink, Liu Kuo-Sung, to present the sense and sensibility in art through different creative styles. Chini Gallery will feature abstractionism works by the artist Jo Hsieh, who studied in Great Britain, and display works by artists including Richard Lin, Ho Kan, and Hsu Yu-Jen to discuss the trend of Asian abstract art.

Metaphysical Art Gallery will present works from seven Asian contemporary artists, notably the dynamic artist U-Ram Choe from South Korea, Yayoi Kusama from Japan, and Tao, Wen-Yueh from Taiwan. Bluerider ART, under the theme “Imaginary Reality”, will present works by three international contemporary artists—Desire Obtain Cherish, Marck, and Nick Veasey—who present various artistic views through different materials and perspectives. Likewise, Nou Gallery will present works by international artists Tony Cragg and Xu Bing. Domestic art galleries such as Ever Harvest Art Gallery, Cloud Gallery, Fish Art Center, and Parkview Green ART will also bring exciting creations by contemporary artists under their wing.

Frontier
Highlights the Avant Garde Characteristics of New Materials

Ikkan Art Gallery from Singapore will contribute to Frontier with the “Fleeting Flower Series” by the Japanese art group Teamlab. The four pieces of single-channel video works they will present—Chrysanthemum Tiger, Lotus Elephant, Peony Peacock, and Sunflower Phoenix—combine Japanese dreamy aesthetics and superb digital technology. As flowers blossom and wither, images of things are revealed in or disappear from a boundless and ever-continuing life. See Art from Taiwan will feature a series of digital images taken under a macro lens from 2014 to 2017 by Hsu Hui-Hsuan that open up virtual dimensions through multiple observations of the images themselves. Other galleries, including Gallery Exit from Hong Kong, GALLERY LEE & BAE from South Korea, Vin Gallery from Vietnam, La Lanta Fine Arts from Thailand, and Up Gallery and Boss Art Gallery from Taiwan, will all bring video creations full of experimental characteristics.

Global Publics
Transcends Traditional Exhibition Formats

For this year’s Art Taipei, internationally renowned curator Annie Ivanova was specially invited for the planning of a public art exhibition with international artists as the focus. Art Taipei attendees were introduced to the works of German artists, Achim Mohné and Uta Kopp, as well as Australian artists, Kit Webster, Troy Innocent, and Sarah Jane Pell. The diverse and innovative content included video installations, video documentaries, and interactive art, as well as an art salon, thus breaking the traditional sculpture-based display form of public art.  Having earned a wide range of critical acclaim and praise, Annie Ivanova has worked with the world's most prestigious art institutions, such as the Pompidou Centre, London's Barbican Centre, the Smithsonian Institute in the US, and the Queensland Modern Art Gallery,. In addition, Chini Gallery exhibited the 'Bullfighting Series', the most important exhibition work of Lee Kuang-Yu's 2017 Venice Biennale large-scale solo exhibition, 'To Have and Have Not'. Through the contrasts between virtual and real, full and empty, multiple virtual spaces with extremely emotional tension were created, conveying a profound realm of Eastern aesthetics and philosophical concepts, allowing the pride of Taiwan to once again stun the public at Art Taipei.

APAGA Asia –
Pacific Gallery Art Alliance (APAGA)

This year, under the promotion of the Taiwan Art Gallery Association and the Asia - Pacific Art Gallery Association (APAGA), numerous participating gallery members from Beijing, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Japan bring creative works by museum-quality international art masters to take part in the event.  Hong Kong's Puerta Roja Gallery bring the poetic three-dimensional sculptural installation of Laurent MARTIN 'Lo', two-dimensional works filled with visual illusions by Venezuelan Minimalist art master Carlos CRUZ-DIEZ, Mexican avant-garde artist Miguel CHEVALIER's virtual illusionary visual creations, and Spanish artist Javier LEÓN PÉREZ's monochrome abstract three-dimensional works that combine painting and sculpture.

Hong Kong's Alisan Fine Arts exhibits several selected works, including those by Zhao Chunxiang, Chuang Che, and Walasse Ting as well as ink artists Gao Xingjian, Fung Ming Chip and Zhang Yirong. Beijing's Triumph Art Space showcases six outstanding contemporary young Chinese artists, including Fang Lijun, Cai Jin, Yang Liming, Tu Xi, Xu Hongxiang and Zhang Kai. Amy Li Gallery's main contribution consists of the oil painting creations with the theme of flowers by French artist Claire BASLER.

Korea's LeeHwaik Gallery presents new works by avant-garde video artist LEE Lee-nam along with the 'Water Drop' series by artist of the core member of Dansaekhwa school, KIM Tschang-yeul.  It also introduces works by YI Hwan-Kwon, AHN Doojin, HONG Seungpyo, JEON Hyunsun and many other artists. Japan's Tsubaki Gallery brings the wood carving creations of young artists Yasuyuki OSHIMA and Moe NAKAMURA, while at the same time also promoting the new works of Hironobu SHIOZAWA and Nao YOKOTA. Singapore's Ikkan Art Gallery takes part in the “Frontier” section with the 'Fleeting Flower Series' by Japanese art group Teamlab.

Art Lectures
The Rise of Private Art Museums

This edition features an elaborately-organized series of art lectures on the themes of “The Rise of the Private Art Museums” and “Asian Vision”, involving well-known art institutions and professionals from domestic and abroad. Examining this new market force of private collections, it also explores the value and identity of art and culture in the Asia Pacific region.

The first lecture, “Observing the Past to Foresee the Future of Contemporary Ink Painting” will host by PI Daojian, deputy director of the Curatorial Committee of Chinese Artists Association, and the senior art History scholar and curator, GAO Chian-hui. They will discuss the evolution and multiple interpretations of contemporary ink art. The second part of the lecture series, hold in cooperation with ARTCO Group, “Classics Versus Classics, the Collisions of Modern and Contemporary Art”, invites well-known domestic collectors YAO Chien, LIU Kang, and Leo SHIH, to share the changes and progressions of movements and schools in modernism, as well as the trajectory of the development of contemporary art trends. The third session will dedicate to the screening of the film, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, and will be introduced by Peini Beatrice HSIEH, former commissioner of Taipei City Government's Department of Cultural Affairs and former Director of Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. It explores the course on a private collections’ transformation into a public display.  The fourth session in the series, “The Role of Art Foundation in Contemporary Art” chairs by CHEN Chih-Cheng, President of National Taiwan University of Arts. It invites artistic director of Hong Kong's K11 Art Foundation, Jilly Ding KIT, and executive director of Dimension Endowment of Art, XIONG Pengzhu to have a dialogue and share their experiences. The fifth session “Envision New Asia: Regional Integration of Contemporary Art in Asia-Pacific Area”, invites BAI Shi-ming, the professor of the Fine Arts Department of National Taiwan Normal University to be the moderator. Opinions and discussions will be exchanged and carried out through the cross-discipline contemporary art forum facilitated by five lecture sessions.

Taipei Art Forum Realizes the Visions and Prototypes of Art Collection by Asia - Pacific Enterprises

In addition to serving as an option for corporate investment, art has also become an opportunity for establishing a company’s brand image.  In this way, cultural preservation and inheritance can be further achieved, as well as enables corporate social responsibility (CSR) to be put into practice. According to a study by Taipei Art Economy Research Center that comprehensively examines the state of corporate art collection in the Asia Pacific region, this trend is most prevalent in Japan. 60% of Japanese companies have set up private art galleries and 27% of enterprises make donations to fine art museums. In 2006, Taiwan's domestic art and business communities established a platform to promote measures for collaboration.  In contrast to Japan, however, the foundation for these supporting measures in Taiwan has remained weak, resulting in a dormant atmosphere for corporate art collection.

With “Corporate Art Collection” as its theme for this year, the 2017 Art Taipei Forum introduces the latest international trends and visions, as well as examples for Asia-Pacific corporate art collection. Furthermore, the forum explored the current status and future development of such practices in domestic art, examining issues such as “Tax Management and Accounting”, “Valuation Mechanisms”, “Corporate Social Responsibility”, and more.

This year, Chinese Association of Museums also collaborates with Taiwan Art Gallery Association for the first time to organize a forum that bring together professionals and collectors to exchange knowledge and share tendencies in modern museum management, echoing this year's theme of “The Rise of Private Art Museums”.

In addition, Taiwan Art Gallery Association also introduces a series of promotional activities, such as art education programs, industry and university collaborative projects, and Taiwan’s aboriginal contemporary art. Through these diversified events and activities, Art Taipei 2017 will become a first-class international art fair that fully embodies the characteristics of Asia!

Exhibition Information

SVIP Preview
12:00-15:00 October 19, Thursday, 2017

VIP Preview
15:00-21:00 October 19, Thursday, 2017
11:00-14:00 October 20, Friday, 2017

Public Opening
14:00-19:00 October 20, Friday, 2017
11:00-19:00, October 21-22, Saturday and Sunday, 2017
11:00-18:00, October 23, Monday, 2017

Venue
Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1
No. 5 Hsin-Yi Rd., Sec. 5, Taipei City 11011, Taiwan, R.O.C
http://art-taipei.com/2017/en/