Chen I-Chun, ‘Shui Yuan Lin Legend — 5th Episode’, 2017. Image courtesy Liang Gallery Taipei

Art Formosa 2017 will combine the Formosa 101 Art Fair which was premised on solo shows, and the hotel-based Formosa Art Show, into an art event not to be missed. From June 29 to July 2, the bigger art fair will take place at eslite hotel and Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at No. 2 & No. 3 Warehouse.

Taking part in the art fair will be 80 art galleries and 400 artists mostly from Asia, with more than half of the art galleries from Taiwan. 24 galleries will be participating for the first time, including prominent Japanese galleries such as Tomio Koyama Gallery.

There will be two sections to the art fair: the contemporary art section at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, and the contemporary and modern art section at eslite hotel. The former comprises the Curatorial Sector and the Gallery Sector, while the latter will be divided into three sections: Classic and Focus, Up and Coming and Limited and Unlimited.

The Curatorial Sector takes its idea from the previous Formosa 101 Art Fair format, and will present 8 Asian galleries with their represented artists: ADMIRA will show Japanese sculptor Ken-ichiro Taniguchi; Gallery Yamaguchi Kunst-bau will show Japanese artist Takashi Suzuki; G13 Gallery will show Malaysian artist Kow Leong Kiang; uJung Gallery will present the abstract artworks of Korean artist Kwon Hyun Jin, Da Xiang art space will present two Chinese contemporary ink painters Hang Chunhui and Hou Shanhu, and Yiri Arts will show Japanese artist Hasuwa Tomoko.

Ken’ichiro Taniguchi, ‘Hecomi Study-隙裂研究’, 2017. Image courtesy Admira Gallery

The Gallery Sector will see the more traditional art fair set-up with galleries presenting multiple artists at their booths, such as Liang Gallery with Taiwanese contemporary artists Hu Chautsung, Kuo Borjou, Lee Chungchung, Wang Leo, Hsu Changyu and Yu Yalan.

In recent years, collectors have become more involved in the programming of art fairs, and Art Formosa is no exception with the TW-JP Collector-Exchange Programme, hosted by the art fair together with the futuristic high-security storage facility Warehouse TERRADA, will see Taiwanese and Japanese collectors create an interesting dialogue with precious works in their individual collections that originated from and/or are significant to the other country.

Over at eslite hotel, a section of note is the ‘Limited and Unlimited’ section, which will see 19 galleries presenting the works of promising artists under the age of 40 from the Asia-Pacific region. And a particular highlight of the talks in the Art Forum is the conversation between the well-known salaryman collector Miyatsu Daisuke and the Chinese music industry powerhouse art collector Yao Chien. Art Republik looks forward to Art Formosa 2017, the conversations it will spark, and the connections that will be made.

More information at www.art-formosa.com.