Taipei Pavilion I

Topic│Visual Taipei

Page Tsou, Director of Auspicious Design Studio

This exhibition starts with “city life” to highlight contemporary visual art and cross-border cooperation. Inviting artists around the world, the exhibition is classified into thematic contents, crossover collaborations, and international artists collective. Through this exhibition, we can familiarize ourselves with Taipei in a new way through international perspectives; let our imagination go wild from works of life; and experience diverse dimensions of design, art industries, and urban development.

Previously, illustrations were mainly used as a device to accompany journal articles; however, when an artwork is of exquisite quality and possesses a powerful message, it can be admired independently, as it transformed old traditional values and redefined visual arts. In essence, Conceptual Art connects concepts and ideas to the vast public more efficiently than traditional art. Moreover, the overlap between different industries is prominent in today’s world; boundaries that used to separate industries are becoming blurred, as is the distinction between what is mainstream and what isn’t. Visual design can be seen as the bridge that connects what is commercial with the arts and thus, this exhibition aims to present the multifarious aspect of design, visual arts and urban development combined. “Visual Taipei” focuses on “city life” as its perspective while using visual creations to display contemporary art and design’s multifaceted quality.

Thematic contents

In correspondence to the World Design Capital 2016, 20 international and local artists have been invited to create works for this exhibition that revolves around a theme of “Taipei Life.” Adrian Johnson who created the illustrations for the Taiwan Tourism Bureau advertisement, and Natsuko Seki who collaborated with Louis Vuitton to create a cover for their travel guides are among the invited artists. With a variety of artists coming from different cultural backgrounds, it is with high hopes that they will be able to uncover a different facet of Taipei unknown to the public before. Meanwhile, the exhibition aims to promote the image and culture of Taipei with hopes that it will possibly contribute to the development of the city. Artists will be able to illustrate Taipei through a different lens and shine light to the many aspects of everyday life in Taipei that is often overlooked then ultimately bring Taipei to the world’s attention.

Crossover collaborations

The “cross industry” exhibition area focuses on works that combine commercial, fashion, and visual design. Works such as Zoe Taylor’s illustrations for Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Zim& Zou’s window display design for Hermes are included in the exhibition. Furthermore, 15 artists have been invited to create illustrations on Herman Miller’s Eames Molded Plastic Side Chair provided by ystore, to display the versatility of visual design.

International artists collective

60 artists have been invited to showcase approximately 300 pieces of work. This is the first large-scale international visual design exhibition in Taiwan and one of the very few in all of Asia. Works range from graphic design, illustration, animation, etc..

Sensory experiences

The exhibition space is designed to include a theme of “Taipei” in order to breakdown the obsolete perspectives on art and design in Taiwan. Moreover, to enhance the exhibition experience in sensation, a world-renowned chef of two Michelin-starred restaurant, André Chiang, will provide Taiwanese specialty drinks for the audience to enjoy.