Art fairs in Taiwan: Artists’ origins star at Art Revolution Taipei 2017 at the Taipei World Trade Centre
One of the most exciting art fairs on our calendar is channelling Marvel origin stories by asking artists to think about how they began doing art
Peter H Harskamp, ‘Man with Green Cat and Mandolin’, 2016, oil on canvas. Image courtesy of Art Revolution Taipei
Art Revolution Taipei (A.R.T.) 2017, organised by the Taiwan International Contemporary Artist Association, takes place from April 14 to 17 at the Taipei World Trade Centre in Taipei’s Xinyi District. The theme for the year is ‘The Original Intention — Start with the First Piece of Work’, or the tracing of each artist’s practice, and the recalling of their original inspirations and artworks. Over 3,000 artworks by 346 artists from 67 nations, up from 47 in 2016, will be shown.
The distinctive art fair is put together against industry norms, conceptualising the fair around artists instead of galleries. In last year’s edition of A.R.T., a substantial nine-tenths of the exhibiting artists sold their pieces. This year, each booth exhibits the works of a single artist, continuing the fair’s signature format since its debut in 2011.
Sara Sammakia, ‘No Control’, 2016. Image courtesy of Art Revolution Taipei
One of the many artists worthy of note is Roch Urbaniak from Poland, who seeks to record in his artworks fairy tales from across the world and stories from his frequent travels in Asia. And amongst the Taiwanese contemporary artists, a notable art trio is Ma Sing Ling, who will present their acrylic on canvas work, completed in collaboration with fellow Taiwanese artist Luna Chen in 2016, titled ‘Magnificent Wonder World/Momentum of the Mind’.
The art fair will encompass nine sections, including International Artist Salon, China Contemporary Art, Taiwan Contemporary Art, Art and Design, A.R.T. Curatorial, International Contemporary Art, International Artist Grand Prize Competition, New York Contemporary Art Fund, as well as Art Your Compassion.
José Chaya, ‘The hours of the day’, 2016, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of Art Revolution Taipei
The Art Your Compassion section is a particularly unique feature of the fair, and as the name suggests, integrates art and philanthropy. The intent of the section involves calling upon famous personalities in Taiwan and elsewhere to create artworks for charity. The pieces of the section, which incorporate diverse art disciplines, take the form of paintings, photography, mixed media, and collage amongst others. Since the inception of the Art Your Compassion section, A.R.T. has achieved its purpose of drawing attention on a massive scale, and of building interest in collecting art with the wider population.
This article was originally published in Art Republik.
