Mapping an Island Nation
Following its firm and steady footsteps, TKG＋ is pleased to announce its third-time participation in Art Basel in Hong Kong this year, notably its first in the much sought-after Galleries sector. For the 2016 edition of the fair, TKG＋ presents Mapping an Island Nation, a project that investigates Taiwan’s trajectory in the postwar modernization process, with the works of five versatile artists who are frequently in the limelight at international biennials. These artists scrutinize Taiwan in the aftershocks of postwar power shifts, as well as peculiar notions of state identity and social obstacles that arise amidst the rapid globalization.
Posing an array of questions from the marginal viewpoint of Taiwan, Mapping an Island Nation reconsiders Taiwan’s position in the global community. Two video installations of Wu Tien-Chang (b. 1956), Farewell, Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions (2015) and Unforgettable Lover (2013), both shown at the 2015 Venice Biennale, evoke a singular Taiwanese aesthetic that blends complex history and memory. WU’s dexterous use of the digital media has blazed a trail in merging the moving image and theater arts.
Lending a sculptural dimension to his latest piece, Kao Chung-Li (b. 1958) juxtaposes found objects and historical images in The Encounter Between Gas Mask and Squad Six-Five-Nine in Front of the Lightbox (2016). The artist, who frequently exhibits at international biennials, delves into the construction of history and the coincidences therein, breaking Western visual stereotypes while seeking new possibilities in the act of viewing.
A pioneer of video art in Taiwan, Yuan Goang-Ming (b. 1965), who stole the limelight at the 2015 Lyon Biennial, ponders reality veiled by the habitual inertia of the everyday in his photography piece Landscape of Energy — Stillness (2014). Yuan has exhibited at the 50th Venice Biennale (Taiwan Pavilion, 2003), Liverpool Biennial (2004), and Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale (2014).
Yao Jui-chung (b. 1969) is known for his humorous approach to the subversion of socio-political power. His photography series Gods & Idols Surround the Border, Roaming Around the Ruins IV (1998), which was showcased at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale, places scrutiny on the aesthetics of desolation intricately woven with Taiwan’s economic takeoff and bureaucracy. Yao has exhibited at the 47th and 55th Venice Biennale (Taiwan Pavilion, 1997 and 2013).
Su Yu-Hsien (b. 1982) has exhibited at the 54th Venice Biennale (Taiwan Pavilion, 2011) and SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul (2014). Sold only in the form of DVD, his three-part video work indi-indi (2011) identifies a form of rebellion against politics in contemporary times, as well as the characteristics of Taiwanese culture by documenting impromptu performances by immigrant workers, scavengers, and vagrants.
Revealing the narrative qualities of imagery, Mapping an Island Nation provides a cultural contrast with Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Korea in the Asia-Pacific region, from poignant vantage points that diversify the Galleries sector, at the same time enriching collectors’ understanding of the use of visual mediums in contemporary