Venue｜Messe Basel
Unlimited Sector Booth｜U59
Participating Artist｜Wu Tien-Chang
Opening Hours
Unlimited Opening
06.10 (Mon.) 4:00-8:00 p.m.
VIP Preview
06.11 (Tue.)- 06.12 (Wed.) 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.
Vernissage
06.12 (Wed.) 5:00-8:00 p.m.
Public Days
06.13 (Thurs.) -06.16 (Sun.) 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Wu Tien-Chang, one of the pioneers in Taiwanese contemporary art and one of Tina Keng Gallery’s artists, will present his iconic piece Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions at the Unlimited sector, a special curated platform for large-scale installation projects at the fair.
Unlimited:
Wu Tien-Chang presents Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions in Basel, Switzerland
Adjacent to Galleries, the Unlimited sector is a unique platform dedicated to large-scale projects. Curated by Giovanni Carmine, Director of the Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, this sector showcases installations, sculptures, video installations, and performances by leading artists from around the world, attesting to the impact and social significance of artistic creation through non-traditional contexts.
This year, Taiwanese contemporary artist Wu Tien-Chang (b. 1956) has been selected for this sector with his iconic work Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions (2015). Drawing on Taiwan’s complex history, blended with a singular style of playful melancholy, Wu’s work brings a distinct Taiwanese flair amidst a constellation of international artists, challenging and expanding the narrative of contemporary art.
Previously on view at the Taiwan Pavilion for the 2015 Venice Biennale, large-scale video installation Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions concatenates into one theatrical spectacle varying elements of Taiwanese history, black comedy, and gaudy decorations commonly seen in Taiwanese folk ceremonies, aided by optical illusions, special effects, and props.
In the video, the protagonist — in a latex mask and plastic, glitzy sailor suit — carries a guitar, and steps forward briskly to the tune of Goodbye! Harbor by Taiwanese singer Wen Hsia (1928–2022), who sang wistfully about parting and yearning. Against a backdrop of rotating scenes referring to Taiwan’s colonial days, the protagonist magically changes costumes and props on stage, unknowingly haunted by specters of a past steeped in eerie nostalgia.
Directed by Wu, this illusory narrative not only resonates with the current global geopolitical climate, but limns Asia’s shared memory, where love and death, self and others, identity and nation remain an integral part of the human condition.
Integration of Cross-Disciplinary Leading Brands: A Surging Cultural Black Tide
The participation of Tina Keng Gallery in Art Basel in Basel can be seen as a significant first step of Taiwan’s art industry into the top-tier international market. It also represents an important alliance between leading brands and technologies. AUO Corporation, an innovator in display technology, has developed A.R.T. (Advanced Reflectionless Technology) and the High Fidelity ART Display, which has garnered recognition from international renowned museums. This is the first time the display screen debuts in Wu Tien-Chang’s Farewell, Spring and Autumn Pavilions.
At Art Basel in Basel, a platform connecting blue-chip galleries, esteemed institutions, and leading artists, Tina Keng Gallery’s presentation encapsulates the unique perspective of Taiwanese contemporary art, allowing Eastern humanistic thought, history, and philosophy to coalesce into a perceptive journey through multiple dimensions of contemporary art.
Galleries E14- Yun Gee, Su Xiaobai, Sopheap Pich
