WHERE THE RIVER TWISTS 河流彎曲之處
開幕酒會：1月18日（週五）下午4點到7點 Reception: 18th January 4 - 7pm
媒體預覽：1月18日（週五）下午3點到4點 Media Preview: 18th January 3 - 4pm
展覽時間：1月18日（週五）至1月27日（週日）18th - 27th January 2019 10:00 - 19:00
地點：透明公園（台北市民生東路4段131巷15號）
No. 15, Lane 131, Section 4, Minsheng East Road, Songshan District, Taipei
展出藝術家 Exhibiting Artists
Carl Andre | Daniel Buren | Günther Förg | Gilbert & George | Keith Haring | Hans Hartung | Thilo Heinzmann | Liu Jianhua （劉建華）| Raoul De Keyser | Walter Leblanc | Sol Lewitt | Robert Mangold| A.R. Penck | Richard Serra | Niele Toroni | Andy Warhol
Wangsim欣然宣布，首次巡迴展覽「河流彎曲之處」將在台北登場，一口氣展出16位藝術家多數來自極簡和普普藝術，兩大藝術運動的重要作品。除了與台灣和其他地區的觀眾一同探索兩大流派的著名藝術家外，展覽也呈現了幾位歐洲重要的抽象和普普藝術家。他們的作品不僅是和歐洲多個藝術運動相互應外，也呈現了戰後藝術世界的多產和更流動的藝術表現。這次的展覽，也是中國藝術家劉建華和已故比利時觀念藝術家Walter Leblanc第一次的相遇，聚焦他們共同對於空間和創作的方式和觀點。
50年代晚期，美國的藝術世界以普普藝術和極簡主義開始蔚為氣候。當時這兩大主要的藝術風潮，離開上一個世代原本以姿態抽象和主觀的特性。普普藝術家透過由大眾文化、媒體、政治明星作為的創作內容，模糊「高」和「低」之間的文化。極簡藝術則是帶來了高度簡化的幾何形式、低限的系列構成，以及未修正的工業原料和製作方法的使用。同時，此次展覽，雖然同時展出和這兩個藝術運動不直接相關，但在技巧、程序，以及風格相呼應的重要歐洲藝術家，提供另外一個切入的觀點。
本次展覽，亦企圖創造另外兩位藝術家的非凡對話。中國江西省吉安出生的劉建華，和比利時藝術家中和「零派（Zero Group）」最親近的Walter Leblanc，都以非傳統的材料聞名。舉例來說，劉建華走出和當代藝術風格不一樣的路，他將紙、葉子、墨滴等，轉換成引人好奇但脆弱的陶瓷雕塑。然而，作為堅持不用顏料來繪畫的信仰者，Walter Leblanc，透過「彎曲」的技法來表現，他將棉線、塑膠線緊實、扭轉，突破傳統的支撐，用來創造如光線般的圖樣和簡單的幾何形狀。這兩位藝術家，基本上都對動態（Motion）都有著高度的興趣，展現出物件和空間之間的絕佳平衡。
Wangsim由Maarten Simoens和Adel Wang在香港創立，是一家專精於現當代藝術的顧問公司。透過和藝術家、畫廊，以及藝術機構的夥伴關係，Wangsim提供高素質的二級市場藝術作品，並透過巡迴展出的方式，呈現於洲際之間。作為一個讓藝術家、收藏家、機構，以及藝術專家的國際平台，Wangsim即將宣布與新銳藝術家的合作名單。
在低地凱達格蘭語裡，「松山」源自於「Malysyakkaw」，亦即「折口」，意指「河流彎曲之處」，也是展覽標題靈感來源。從地理的觀點來看，基隆河流經的松山地區，因河流而富庶，如同這次展覽，東西方的藝術就像河流般匯聚於此，Wangsim的總監Adel Wang表示：「我們希望展覽能夠顯露出，透過各個獨立的藝術運動所帶來積極的敘述，同時將匯聚東西方的河流連結起來，展現出以自由、真實、恣意，和渾然天成的藝術家創作。」
此次展覽受到佩斯北京和佩斯香港（Pace Beijing和Pace Hong Kong）、比利時Knokke的Edouard Simoens畫廊，以及比利時布魯塞爾 QG畫廊的慷慨支持。
Wangsim is pleased to present its first traveling exhibition Where the River Twists in Taipei's historical Songshan District. The ambitious group exhibition of 16 artists showcases a wide range of important artworks from two major art movements, Minimalism and Pop Art. While exploring the most celebrated names in both "camps" with audience from Taiwan and beyond, the show also boasts a presentation featuring several important European abstract painters and Pop artists, whose works have not only championed multiple resonating European art movements, but also celebrated a highly productive, more fluid post-war art world. The exhibition also debuts the first encounter of the Chinese artist Liu Jianhua and the late Belgian conceptual artist Walter Leblanc, and highlights points of their mutual approaches to art making and interacting with space.
Sparking in the late 1950s art world of the United States were the Pop Art and Minimalism, two primary movements that departed from the gestural and subjective nature of the previous generation. Pop artists blurred the boundaries between "high" and "low" culture by creating art pieces of mass culture objects, media and political stars. Minimalism notably introduced highly simplified geometric forms, reductive serial compositions, and the use of unmodified industrial materials and fabrication methods. Meanwhile, the show also features European artists that are not associated with either movement, but master the techniques, procedures, and style resonating these movements.
Apart from the others, the exhibition creates another extraordinary dialogue from artist to artist: from the Ji'an-born Chinese artist Liu Jianhua, and one of the closest Belgian associate of Zero Group, Walter Leblanc. Both known for their non-traditional materials, Liu stands away from the prevailing styles in contemporary art, and transfers paper, leaves, and ink drops into curious and fragile porcelain sculptures. Firm believer in strategies for painting without pigment, LeBlanc introduced "torsion" (twists) to his work- he tightened and twisted cotton threads, and eventually plastic ribbons, over traditional supports to create ray-like patterns and simple geometric shapes. Both talents have been primarily interested in motion, and the perfect balance between objects and space.
Founded by Maarten Simoens and Adel Wang, Wangsim is a Hong Kong based art consultancy firm specializing in modern and contemporary art. In partnership with a variety of artists, galleries and art institutions, Wangsim presents high caliber secondary market art pieces and results them into traveling exhibitions across the continent. Wangsimwill also soon announce a list of emerging artists in collaboration and serve as an international platform for artists, collectors, institutions and art professionals.
Taipei's Songshan district was originally named Malysyakkaw, a lowland Ketagalan word meaning, "where the river twists". Geographically, it most likely suggests that the district is where the Keelung River twists, flows, and nourishes. "We hope that the exhibition upends the narrative of aggressive progresses by independent art movements and bridges the twisted rivers from the east and the west, and have forces generated from various artist practices mix, twist and flow in their very free, true and effortless forms", stated the Director of Wangsim, Adel Wang.
The exhibition is generously supported by Pace Gallery (Beijing / Hong Kong), Edouard Simoens Gallery (Knokke, Belgium), and QG Gallery (Brussels, Belgium).
Press 媒體垂詢：
Studio Weng | Eric Weng | pr.weng.studio@gmail.com +886 905 655 603
Wangsim | Adel Wang | info@wangsim.com | +852 6843 0499