Taipei Art Photo: the newest art fair model

Taiwan, a little island that is the third richest country in Asia, last week hosted its first art photography fair in the spacious Expo Dome in central Taipei. Chuan Hui-hua is the director of Taiwan’s first specialist art photography gallery, and the man behind Taipei Art Photo. The focus was slightly different to other art fairs that prioritise the art dealers. Galleries and publishers were present at TAP, but the aim of this fair was to give the individual creators their own spaces. Most booths were a mini solo exhibition of a single photographer, although some galleries showed works from their stable of artists.

Hand made photography books and rare editions could be handled with cotton gloves in a special section for this purpose. 50 artists from 14 countries showed their work in booths or display cases, or during presentations and talks. Below I introduce some of my favourites.

Ajay Kumar Sharma is a painter and experimental artist that came from India to show his hand-made photos on rugged Fabriano paper. He uses a little-known process called Van Dyck brown, similar to gum bichromate, to create sepia images that feel 100 years old, but are presented in highly contemporary ways. The simple framing of many photos to create a wall-size image, unframedphotos that hang diagonally or purposefully leaving out one part of a multiple image make it impossible for us to confuse these artworks with antiques.

Nick Veasy makes stricking black and white X-ray photos, which are more laborious to make than one might think. See what Nick thinks about X-ray radiation and how as he makes these works in his TED talk.

Emma Hack is partly responsible for the fair’s music. Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know was heard often, because she is the photographer that painted Wally and Kimbra in the much-shared music video.

From Taiwan, Huang Wen-Yung overlaps or juxtaposes photographs that have a grungey tint. The beautiful pieces come in varied formats. They are not abstracts, but nonetheless delight with the powerful shapes.

Hsu Yi-Tzu is a young Taiwanese artist who answers to Cathy. I found her art project fascinating. She takes old family negatives from her childhood, and stores in glass jars, where they decompose as the photographic gelatin peels off the film. These bottles end up as little sculptures, perfectly displayed and lit. The ‘rusty’ looking negatives generate a 2D photographic image, invariably dark and textured like the earth seen from space. Some digital manipulation adds enough information to completely mislead the viewers. The large prints with selected boxed areas are reminiscent of mapping software, speaking of the place in the big world that each person can get lost in.

Japanese photographer Kento Morikawa sits in front of her silver gelatin prints of botanical gardens, hanging low because she wants the low light to fall vertically, recreating the feeling of walking under cherry trees.

Ting Ting Chen, from Taiwan, showed photographs that require a close look. The 2 metre long Lambda prints of close-ups of piles of negatives have titles like I am a housewife and I would have to give birth to a male baby so my mother would be happy.

The fair will run again next year, so look out for it art photography is something you enjoy. It’s a friendly event!

#Asia #Photography #TaipeiArtPhoto