 ollowing the great fever of Beijing international gallery expo in the May Day “golden week,” the Taipei International Art Expo, which opened for only five days and concluded on May 29, also caused a great contemporary art fever in Taiwan art market that had long been dominated by classical Chinese art.
Compared with Beijing international gallery expo, the grand art party on the island was no match in terms of size of the exhibition hall and number of the participating galleries. But according to the official statistics of Gallery Association of Taiwan, more than 50,000 people visited the expo and the sales volume also reached up to 450 million NT dollars (about 100 million RMB yuan), a 200% increase over 2006 in the corresponding period and reaching the highest point in 14 years.
Emphasis on contemporary art and a special introduction of mainland contemporary art spotlighted the Taipei gallery expo. A number of mainland galleries were invited to exhibit, such as tge Beijing Art Now Gallery, Hanmo Gallery and the Shanghai Aura Gallery, and each of them brought works of their affiliated “signboard” artists like Yang Shaobin, He Sen, Yin Zhaoyang, Han Lei and others to the spot to promote their popularity. And several new works by Zeng Fanzhi presented here by Korean PYO Gallery also aroused great interest.
For the first time the honor of “Artist of the Year” of the expo went to an artist from the mainland – Ye Fang from Suzhou, represented by Taiwan’s local gallery Ya Yi Art Center. All of Ye’s works were set at the center of the exhibition scene, near the main entrance of the expo. Planned by international curator Zhang Songren, the 120-square-meter exhibiting area was divided into five small sections under the theme of “writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and ink-stones.” A lot of essential elements from Suzhou's historic gardens, like the Moon Cave Entrance, Taihu Lake Rocks, Flower Steps and Pavements, were represented in forms of open installations, among which the one named “No Title” was composed of a number of gold sails standing high in a pebble-paved area, and on all the sails there were ancient poems made up of hollowed-out square Chinese characters. Such an installation of traditional humanistic flavor fit perfectly into the theme of the expo – “Art and Literature."
For the majority of participating Taiwan galleries, classical Chinese art still featured their exhibitions and sales. Works by older generations of Taiwan and overseas Chinese artists were still hotly sought after by collectors. The work “Sight of Venice,” by Liao Jichun, an older-generation artist of the abstract school in Taiwan, was sold out at a price of 16 million NT dollars, turning out to be the largest single sale at the expo. Younger galleries from Taiwan at the expo also showed their international and modern visions. Gallery J. Chen made its affiliated young Korean artists Lee Jaesun, Yeo Dong Hun and others its leading artists and placed them in the spotlight of the exhibition scene, and Chen Guanyu, the director, said in an interview that their new gallery was working to spread the new-edge Asian contemporary art.
Taiwan’s local contemporary art also made its first debut at the expo. Hou Junming, a local artist presented by L\'orangerie International, had exhibited works at Venice Biennale as early as in 1996, but seemed to feel the warmth of the great tide of contemporary art market only today. As one of the most powerful avant-garde artists in Taiwan art scene at that time, Hou boldly drew on traditional folk styles of block print, depicted a modern version of “Admonishing Counsel” in a format of pictures above and words below by following good editions of ancient books. During the five days of the expo, all 15 of his pieces of block print works were sold out, and his oil paintings and photographic works had some buyers as well.
Photographic works were hardly seen at the expo and only a few galleries like Beijing Art Now Gallery and L\'orangerie International brought photographic works there, most of which, however, were left out in the cold by Taiwan collectors. Gallery Association of Taiwan, sponsor of the expo, who made a point of giving lectures on photographic collection and investment at the expo’s art lectures and forums, admitted that there was currently hardly a market in Taiwan for photographic collections, and it needed still more foundational work to develop it.
During the five days of exhibition, the Taipei Art Expo attracted huge crowds. Its exhibition site was located in downtown Taipei and was adjacent to Taipei 101, the world's tallest building. The cheap admission ticket (100 NT dollars) and the open hours from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day fit well into visits by different working people and students. Most visitors seemed curious about the diverse forms of contemporary art. Perhaps only that sort of pure and enthusiastic interest in art itself was where the most successful and plain value of an art expo resided.
Translated By Hu Zhu
Cao Li, “Sleepwalking Girl” , 2004-2005, Oil on canvas, 70×50cm
Feng Zhaozong, “Reflection under Pressure” , 2006, Black granite, 73×18×62cm
Gao Zengli, “Mao＃1” ,2006, Oil on linen, 116×89cm
Huang Boren, “The Determiner” , 2007, Bronze, 33×42×52cm
Ji Dachun, “Clown” , 2006, Oil on canvas, 60×50cm
Li Rongde, “Walking 05232” , 2005, Mixed media, 205×95×22cm
Dong-Yoo Kim, “Two Faces-Monroe” , 2007, Oil on canvas, 162.2×130.3cm
Li Huifang, “Stool” , 2000, Oil on canvas, 74×84cm
Lin Yintang, “The Poet” , 2006, Oil on canvas, 116×91cm
Zhu Yiyong, “Memory of the Past Series No. 9” , 2007, Oil on canvas, 151×126cm
Ou Yangchun, “Mr. Feng Shui” , 2006, Acrylic on canvas, 230×180cm
Pan Zhaosen, “Naked Woman” , 2006, Oil on canvas, 65×53cm
Peng Guangjun, “Extend” , 2006, Bronze and Glass, 38×90×42cm
Xiao Yao, “Prosperity” , 2007, Mixed media, 91×72.5cm
Yang Maolin, “Contemplative Peter Pan rides on Hornet” , 2006, Bronze sculpture with gold foil, 95×102×72cm
Zorikto Dorzhiev, “Before Sleep” , 2007, Acrylic on canvas, 146×70cm
|
