ART TAIPEI 2016 held from November 12 to 15 at Taipei World Trade Center. A total of 150 domestic and foreign art galleries are invited. This year, ART TAIPEI also collaborate Asia Pacific Art Gallery Association (APAGA) in hopes of consolidating the respective strengths of each region, and moreover to unify the sophisticated, unweavering key players of the Asian art scene: Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.
Amongst international galleries, one of the newcomers is Germany’s Galerie Eigen +ART. The gallery represents Neo Rauch and Tim Eitel, and both of them are the principle artists of New Leipzig School. Their paintings allow viewers to imagine the story behind the works. Anne Schwanz, the senior director of the gallery, praised ART TAIPEI is open-minded to all kinds of artworks so that they can introduce the gallery to viewers without obstacles.
Having participated for several years, Tezukayama Gallery as well as Malaysia ‘s G13 Gallery continue to reveals local artists to Taiwan’s collectors. Tezukayama Gallery represents the kinetic device created by Satoru Tamura and G13 Gallery brings the colorful figure paintings filled with vitality and cultural features. As the director of Tezukayama Gallery, Ryoichi Matsuo primarily focuses on contemporary art from current Japanese artists. About ART TAIPEI, Ryoichi Matsuo commends the spatial planning of the fair is very cool, but he also suggests ART TAIPEI should invite more Western galleries to enhance the chances of interacting and learning from each other.
Last year, ART TAIPEI invited the award winning architecture firm, Wooyo, to take charge of the spatial planning and image design of the public space for its 2015 edition, and ART TAIPEI 2015 successfully won the TID ( Taiwan Interior Design) Award. Entitled by TID awards, ART TAIPEI 2016 aims at mapping out a convenient and clear route for visitors to linger at ease. However, the spatial planning still has several flaws that need to improve. Tony Hartawan, the director of TONYRAKA Art Gallery, said ART TAIPEI successfully presents the diversity of Asian artworks, but the fair should pay more attention on the booth’s details, such as the uneven floor and slits under the wall.
The main exhibition area Galleries consists of 135 galleries in total. Domestic galleries include Bluerider Gallery and Michael Ku Gallery are known for promoting emerging artists. This year, Bluerider presents video sculptures by Swiss artist Marck, which attracts lots of attention. Michael Ku Gallery introduces Taiwanese emerging artists Luo Jr Shin and Niu Jun Qiang to collectors. Besides, the style of gallery’s exhibition room is perfectly consistent with the poetic and Zen philosophy the artworks try to convey.
As one of the most important platforms for promoting and trading arts in the region,
ART TAIPEI provides more than an artistic platform, but serves as a pioneering outpost of industry trends. Michael Ku, the director of Michael Ku Gallery, suggests we should keep learning with an open heart and rigorous attitude toward details, hence we can possibly get on the rapidly changing trend of the world.
1. 2016 Art Taipei aerial view photo
2. The director of Galerie EIGEN + ART- Anne Schwanz(left) and her colleague
3. The corner of Galerie EIGEN + ART(Anfang-Ende(2016) by Uwe Kowski)
4. The director of Tezukayama Gallery- Ryoichi Matsuo(right) and the artist- Satoru Tamura
5. The director of TONYRAKA Art Gallery- Tony Hartawan
6. The director of Michael Ku Gallery- Michael Ku
by YiART assistant editor, Canny Yen
November, 2016