Taipei Times, May 26, 2005
Taiwan Pavilion teaches us a few art-history lessons
By Susan Kendzulak

Taiwan holds two major art exhibitions that are links for its artists, providing them access to the international art world. One is the Taipei Biennial held every two years at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (last held in November of last year) and the other is the Taiwan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which opens next month on June 12. Well, if you haven't booked your pricey ticket to gondola city, you can get a taste of previous Venice exhibitions for the price of an MRT ticket to Yuanshan Station. This weekend Contemporary Art from Taiwan at the Venice Biennale, 1995-2003 opens at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and runs until Aug. 14.

Taiwan has been exhibiting at the Venice Biennale since 1995 and each year's presentation is organized by a local curator working with several artists and the museum. At the museum, you will get to learn about the various art projects Taiwanese artists have shown in Venice. For example, in 2003 New York-based Lee Ming-wei (???) created the Sleeping Project.

[image] Hung Tung-lu's Street Fighter: Chun-Li was at the 1999 Venice Biennale. PHOTO COURTESY OF COURTESY OF TFAM
Each night for a week a guest was chosen who could sleep in a bed near the artist's bed. The two beds on rollers could be moved closer or further away to manipulate the level of intimacy filling the exhibition space.

Some of Taiwan's successes besides the conceptual artworks like Lee's include documentary photographs such as Chang Chien-chi's (???) The Chain which showed mental patients from Lungfatung (???) chained together at the waist, digital imagery installations by Hung Tung-lu (? ??) and huge painted floral murals by Michael Lin.

[image] Wu Tien-Chang's portraits shown at the 1997 Venice Biennale.
PHOTO COURTESY OF COURTESY OF TFAM
A group of five graduate students from the Taipei National University of the Arts in Guandu will be going to this year's Venice Biennale to hand out art awards they claim come from a Taiwanese point of view. Their conceptual art project titled the Taiwan Award Goes to Venice Biennale is based on the argument that all contemporary art is Western. What's unfortunate about this point of view is that even though it is a fallacy similar to the idea behind bra-burning, many people from both the East and the West continue to promote it. Luckily for the students, this fallacy helped them get big sponsorship from the National Cultural Association and interest in their project from Chen Yu-chiou (???) and filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang (???).

[image] Lee Ming-Wei's Sleeping Project shown at the 2003 Venice Biennale. PHOTO COURTESY OF COURTESY OF TFAM
Maybe these art students and culture policymakers need a short art-history lesson. It can be agreed that the art market and its auction houses are Western-dominated -- but only that. Here are some questions that readily come to mind. Who is one of the pioneering video artists who made installations with video monitors and experimented with the latest in video technology? Nam Jun Paik, an artist from South Korea. Who is one of the most famous conceptual artists in the world? Yoko Ono, from Japan. Where was some of the most experimental avant-garde art happening in the 1950s and 60s? In Japan. And to go back even further: who threw their ink pots at the paper and painted wildly? No, before the abstract expressionists in the 1940s, there were the Tang dynasty experimental poets and calligraphers.

[image] Hsu Suchen's Ana Swinhoe at the British Consulate, in Kaohsiung.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HSU SUCHEN
And talking about history, if you're in Kaohsiung this weekend, check out the latest exhibition in the basement of the former British Consulate and former prison. Five dynamic women artists -- Hsu Su-chen (???) Gin Yang (???), Vita Lin (???), Hsu Hui-ju (???), and Wen-fang Kuo(???) -- interpret the prison cell for an exhibition titled Cell Exploration, which requires audience participation and interaction.

At a glance:
What: Contemporary Art from Taiwan at the Venice Biennale, 1995 to 2003
Where: Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 181, Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 3, Taipei (?? ?????3?181?)
Telephone: (02) 2595 7656
When: May 28 to Aug. 14, Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30am to 5:30pm
Details: www.tfam.gov.tw

What: Cell Exploration
When: Now through May 29
Where: The British Consulate at Takao, Kaohsiung

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2005/05/26/2003256710

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UCSD Guardian, 05/26/2005
The next cultural revolution
Twenty-six artists from China and the U.S. step out of Mao’s shadow and into the contemporary world
By NEHA SINGH, Associate Hiatus Editor

Walking into the University Art Gallery’s latest exhibition, “Regeneration: Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the U.S.” it is difficult not to be overwhelmed by the variety of works on display: Chinese calligraphy. Digital video. Traditional furniture. Oil paintings. Mixed media. Photography. Performance art. Too much to squeeze into a small gallery, you might ask? Not at all. This latest exhibition is truly groundbreaking in that it showcases some of the most exciting contemporary Chinese art being produced today.
[image] Li Yongbin, Face 4, 1998

“Regeneration” highlights the newfound vibrancy of modern Chinese art and brings it out of the shadows of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. After Mao’s death in 1976, years of cultural isolationism and strict restrictions that deeply affected Chinese artists and their work collapsed and enabled a fast-paced overhaul in the way these artists produce and exhibit their work. This rebirth of Chinese art has piqued the interest of the Western world, which for years was not allowed to take part in the Chinese art scene. While several significant exhibitions of Chinese avant-garde art have been organized in the United States in recent years, they have primarily been exhibited in a small number of urban centers. It is easy to see why “Regeneration” is innovative and the first major substantial exhibition focusing on the work of prominent and emerging Chinese artists. After closing in the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, the exhibit has been touring museums, universities and art schools throughout the United States.

“Regeneration” encompasses the work of 26 artists who reside in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, New York and Pennsylvania. They include Ai Weiwei, Chen Lingyang, Hai Bo, Hong Hao, Li Yongbin, Lin Tianmiao, Liu Wei, Liu Xiaodong, Qiu Zhijie, Yu Hong, Zhang Dali, Zhang Xiaogang, Zhang Yajie, Zhao Liang (Beijing); Chen Shaoxiong, Liang Juhui (Guangzhou); Hong Lei, Hu Jieming, Xu Zhen, Zhou Xiaohu (Shanghai); and Cai Jin, Wenda Gu, Xiaoze Xie, Xu Bing, Yun-Fei Ji, Zhang Huan (United States).

While the pieces in “Regeneration” are very diverse, the artists manifest various common themes. Some artists, such as Wenda Gu, utilize traditional Chinese art forms in new ways. The wall panel — a conventional Chinese fixture — gets a new twist in “United Nations,” Gu’s mixed media installation incorporating hair that people of different races have donated, as well as characters that look Chinese, but are in fact a mixture of English, Islamic and Chinese text. The furniture that completes her installation has been reconstructed from Chinese Ming style and French Louis XV chairs.

Chen Lingyang plays on the long-established metaphor of women as flowers in “The Twelve Flower Months,” a trio of color photographs that uses the artist’s own body as the subject. Floral imagery is directly juxtaposed with images of a naked body and a pristine trickle of blood running down a pale inner thigh. Lingyang subverts the metaphor by examining it through the physiological reality of menstruation.

Other artists have undercurrents of violence and abuse in their works. Xu Zhen’s video, “Rainbow,” focuses on the artist’s naked back against a plain white background. The audio counterpart plays a repetitive, loud and violent slapping sound. Though you never see who is abusing him, Zhen’s back shows a wide spectrum of colors along with the imprints of fingers and hands. Zhou Liang’s “Bored Youth” stays consistent in demonstrating this theme of violence by following a teenager at night through an abandoned neighborhood and capturing the aggressive images and sounds of him destroying windowpanes. The video’s creepy soundtrack and green-hued images lends a disturbing quality to the artwork.

Other artists’ work has been heavily influenced by Western movements such as surrealism and dadaism. Zhang Xiaogang’s oil painting, “No. 14,” shows a young man’s vapid face resting on a book with his eyes shut. Muted colors and symbols scattered in the painting are reminiscent of Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte’s works. Many of these Western influences have been seen in avant-garde Chinese art since the country was “opened up” to Western ideas and movements after the Cultural Revolution.

Overall, the exhibit’s body of work represents a revitalization of contemporary life and culture in China. “Regeneration” is a stimulating break from end-of-the-quarter-stress, as the various provocative pieces take you through a variety of media, moods and emotions. “Regeneration” will be on display through July 2. The University Art Gallery is open Tuesday though Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

http://www.ucsdguardian.org/cgi-bin/hiatus?art=2005_05_26_01

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Taipei Times, May 22, 2005
Betel-nut girls focus of exhibit
MORAL DECAY?: For nearly a decade, debate has raged over whether the scantily-clad salesgirls are being exploited or just affirming the power of their sexuality
By Mo Yan-chih, STAFF REPORTER

Taiwan's unique betel-nut beauties have long been the subject of debates on the issues of the objectification of women's bodies and females' freedom to develop their own self-image.

Years after those scantily-clad girls became a distinctive phenomenon in the country -- even drawing attention from international media including CNN and the BBC -- an installation art show has put aside the disputes and attempted to display the social and cultural effects of betel-nut beauties through art.

"Betel-nut beauties are a reflection of the local culture in Taiwan, and also a common experience shared by all Taiwanese. My work is about documenting these women, without any judgment of morality," said artist Wu Chung-hua (???), general director of Taiwan Women's Art Association, who has spent 10 years studying the lives of betel-nut beauties.

With dummies dressed up with bras and boots, and colorful paintings of sexy girls with huge breasts, the "Made in Taiwan Betel-nut Beauties" installation art exhibition, which opened last Sunday at the Taipei 101 Mall, demonstrates the image of betel-nut beauties of different generations, from working-class middle-aged women to the sexy girls who wear almost nothing in order to attract more business.

A smiling betel nut beauty wears a bikini to attract customers to her kiosk in Fengyuan City, Taichung County earlier this week.
PHOTO: HSIEH FUNG-CHIU, TAIPEI TIMES
After a two-year field study of betel-nut stands in which she conducted interviews with more than 100 betel-nut beauties, Wu said that despite criticism from conservatives and strict regulations by local governments, the industry continues to thrive. And the image of betel-nut beauties has undergone a transformation.

"Male control over female bodies as a commodity definitely exists in the industry. But with more girls choosing to dress sexily in exchange for more earnings, I think the industry has transformed into one with more female awareness of the power of their bodies," she said.

While Wu stressed that the show focused on the artistry of the betel-nut beauties' images, the issues hidden behind the art remain open to debate.

Defending the autonomy of betel-nut beauties, Josephine Ho (???) shrugged off criticism that these women damage the nation's moral climate.

"The betel-nut beauties have every right to dress freely, and deserve to have the chance to actively strive for economic gain. They affirm the attractiveness of their own bodies and make an honest living, and what's wrong with that?" said Ho, coordinator of the Center for the Study of Sexuality at National Central University.

According to Ho, who has studied the betel-nut beauty phenomena for years, betel-nut girls are mostly from working class backgrounds and their outfits are merely a way of earning more money. Society should stop judging them from a patriarchal point of view.

Some women's rights advocates, however, have a less sympathetic view of the beauties.

"Those women are being exploited. They aren't revealing their bodies out of a sense of autonomy or freedom. Instead, they are catering to patriarchal notions of beauty. They strive to please men and finally become products to be consumed," said Chi Hui-jung (???), chief executive officer at the Garden of Hope Foundation.

According to industry estimates, there are roughly 100,000 kiosks selling betel nuts across the nation.

To attract more customers, vendors started hiring scantily clad young women in 1996. When a few cases of prostitution associated with betel-nut vending became known, critics said the women were damaging the nation's moral climate and that the government should take measures to crack down on the trade.

The "Made in Taiwan Betel-nut Beauties" exhibition runs through May 29 at Page One Bookstore of the Taipei 101 Mall

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/05/22/2003256122

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Taipei Times, May 19, 2005
Artists to bring Taiwanese view to Venice show
CULTURE: A group of artists plans to bring a Taiwanese perspective to the Venice Biennale by giving out a new `Taiwan Award' they have created
By Mo Yan-chih

With the 51st Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition set to begin next month, a small group of young Taiwanese are busy packing for the festival, not as participating artists, but as judges for a "Taiwan Award" to be given to works they judge the best from a Taiwanese perspective.

The "Taiwan Award Goes to Venice Biennale" program, which was proposed by five fine arts graduate students and won the support of the National Cultural Association, is a work of conceptual art meant to give an alternative art critique from a Taiwanese point of view.

"Taiwan's culture and art have always been examined or interpreted by international festivals based on Western aesthetics. The idea of selecting what we think are the best works of art is a wonderful way to insert Taiwan's cultural perspectives in the international arts scene," said the association's secretary-general, Chen Yu-chiou (???).

Chen will lead the program participants to Italy next month.

According to Chen, the arts scene in Taiwan has long been passive. In seeking attention and approval from the Western world, Taiwan's artists can lose the ability to reflect Taiwan's unique cultural heritage in their works.

"I think this program offers an opportunity for us to promote Eastern aesthetics. It is also a chance for us to think about our own history and culture, and show the world Taiwan's perspective," said Chen, a former culture minister.

One of the "Taiwan Award," program's initiator's, Ho Shih (??), said there is always an unbalanced power structure behind award ceremonies or festivals, where the participants and their works of art can only be judged or viewed passively.

"So this award is a critique of the power and a reversal of the power structure in the arts scene," said Ho, who is a fine arts graduate student at Taipei National University of the Arts.

Ho and four other graduate students at the university first created the "award" in 2001, when they gave their own "2001 New Artist Award" in an exhibition at the university.

This was followed by the "Taipei Biennale Award," which the students gave to an artist whose work failed to enter the "2002 Taipei Biennale Exhibition."

The group's latest idea of bringing the award to Venice has received enthusiastic support not only from the association, but also from artists and social groups.

Internationally-acclaimed filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang (???) and art professors including Chen Fang-ming (???) and Lin Ku-fang (???) will travel to Venice with the group as judges for the award.

All the costs of the trip to Venice are fully financed by donations from social groups and non-profit organizations.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/05/19/2003255707

 

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(Art-Eastasia list)

http://www.chinaresource.org
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