by Doris Lee
Unlike in many parts of the world, in Taipei museums and galleries still operate mostly as usual. While carefully following the government’s public health protocols, they welcomed visitors with exhibitions by both local and internationally renowned artists. Here are three exhibitions carefully curated to provoke thought and wonder for the explorer with an artistic bent, or just those who wish to sate their curiosity.
1. Yoshitomo Nara's Solo Exhibition
After several successful exhibitions in Tokyo, Chicago, and L.A., Nara brought two new works to open his first solo exhibition in Taipei. He is famous for his iconic little girl figure with themes of "anti-war" and "love & peace." Nara's works have great artistic value, outstanding sales at art auctions in Asia. In 2019, his work "Knife Behind Back" sold for HK$ 195 million (700 million NTD), marking a milestone as the most profitable painting by a Japanese artist. The solo exhibition in Taipei includes 53 works, including two of his large-scale paintings, "Miss Moonlight" and "Hazy Humid Day," never before exhibited outside of Japan. Furthermore, Nara painted "Hazy Humid Day" specifically for the exhibition in Taiwan. Besides his iconic paintings, the solo exhibition also includes Nara's rare sculpture work, "Fountain of Life." According to an art-lover and a fellow university student, Lily, Nara's works make her "feel serene yet sentimental at the same time." The free exhibition, which runs to June 20th has gathered lots of attention from art enthusiasts in Taiwan. To follow the government's protocol and control the number of people visiting the exhibition, visitors are required to fill out personal information, including their legal name, phone numbers, and health conditions. Yoshitomo Nara's Solo Exhibition Place : Kuandu Art Museum Time : March 12th- June 20th |
Yoshitomo Nara's Solo Exhibition, photograph by Doris Lee
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Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles, photograph by Doris Lee.
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2. Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles
Shiota Chiharu is known for installation art that represent abstract concepts and states like memories, anxiety, dreams, and more. Works by the Berlin-based international artist with her dynamic art installation structure, made up of black, white, and red threads entangled in the exhibition hall, have inspired people around the world. The exhibition subtitled, "The Soul Trembles,'' conveys the artist's profound experience that cannot be expressed through words, primarily reflecting on her struggles as she experienced cancer relapse. During the cancer treatment, she reflected on life, death, and the soul, leading to the birth of the exhibition. Though the largest exhibition of Chiharu's career was originally planned to tour around Asia-Pacific countries, many exhibitions were canceled due to the pandemic. Taiwan thus became the first stop of the Asian tour, and afterwards, it will be shown in Australia and Indonesia. Shiota Chiharu: The Soul Trembles Place: Taipei Fine Arts Museum Time: May 1st- August 22nd |
3. Taipei Biennial 2020: You And I Don't Live On the Same Planet
Taipei Fine Arts Museum has held the Taipei Biennial Exhibition for the past 12 years; it is also the most crucial exhibition promoting contemporary art in Taipei. In the context of global political conflicts, dictatorships, global warming, and pressing crises, the Taipei Biennial Exhibition wishes to extend on last year’s theme "Post Nature," which took the museum as an ecosystem and allowed the exploration of human civilization and environmental issues. The theme this year "You And I Don't Live On the Same Planet" focuses more on the current divergence among people. The Taipei Biennial Exhibition invited over 50 groups of artists to visualize their ideas on this theme. "It is like you and I don't live on the same planet!" is a common figure of speech to express conflicting opinions among people. The curators of the Taipei Biennial Exhibition divided the venue into five different sections; each of them represents a "planet": Planet GLOBALIZATION, Planet SECURITY, Planet ESCAPE, Planet TERRESTRIAL, and the Planet with ALTERNATIVE GRAVITY. The focus of the exhibition is to evoke conversations among visitors and viewers. One of the curators, Eva Lin, said in an interview with Artnet News that they hoped the audience can have "the feeling of reading a plot twist" at the end of the exhibition. According to Lin, "a plot twist which sparks an epiphany and prompts people to adopt a new perspective" is the underlying objective of this exhibition. Taipei Biennial Exhibition: You And I Don't Live On the Same Planet Place: Taipei Fine Arts Museum Time: 2020 November 21st- 2021 March 14th |
Taipei Biennial 2020: You And I Don't Live On the Same Planet, photograph by Doris Lee
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