Shi dai ji yi: Guo mei 35 dian cang jing xuan zhan = Art in our time : NTMoFA collection highlights

Abstract

"Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, NTMoFA specially plans the Art in Our Time: NTMoFA Collection Highlights, presenting the research topics and discussions of Taiwanese fine arts in different historical periods, collected works of important artists, and establishment of art history lineage since the inauguration of NTMoFA, as well as the course of development of different exhibition perspectives reflecting temporal trends and ecosystems of art. These collected works and artistic themes from across different time periods are exhibited in four themed areas. 'The Roots and Transformation of Taiwanese Art,' 'The Exploration and Experimentation in Taiwanese Modern Art,' 'The Statements and Themes of Contemporary Art,' and 'From Murmuring to Probing into History.' Through these themed displays, NTMoFA hopes to show audience the diversity and classic works of Taiwanese art over its 100 years of history, while also introducing to audience NTMoFA's artistic missions and roles in different stages. The four themes respectively represent NTMoFA's research on the contextual lineage of Taiwan's art history and styles of times. In addition to constructing historical narratives of different periods through collection and research, the museum also responds to current trends of art development through different themed exhibitions, while also offering artists an innovative showcase of their works. The first theme, 'The Roots and Transformation of Taiwanese Art,' focuses on NTMoFA's core objective--focusing on and deepening the research on the roots and transformation of Taiwanese artistic styles, including the historical contexts of the cultural roots and stylistic lineages of important early genres, such as calligraphy, ink wash painting, gouache painting, and oil painting, and then the aesthetic transformation and changes of modern and contemporary Taiwanese artistic styles, developing unique cultural characteristics and aesthetic beliefs. The second theme, 'The Exploration and Experimentation in Taiwanese Modern Art,' primarily features modernist abstract paintings and early contemporary artworks in the collection of NTMoFA, introducing the formal experimentation and innovations on media, forms, concepts, and modern techniques of visual art carried out by Taiwanese artists from 1960s to 1980s. These innovative thinking echoed the arrival of a liberal and open age, while also giving rise to the thriving development of Taiwanese contemporary arts in 1990s. Theme three, 'The Statements and Themes of Contemporary Art,' deals with the museum age in Taiwan and the rise of the role of curator. At this important turning point, Taiwanese art developed more critical and forward-looking artistic creations and beliefs. In this area, NTMoFA not only collects rather iconic contemporary artworks from earlier periods to the present time, but also explores international trends of curation and museum's curatorial and research roles through an academic perspective; in the new millennium, the museum also entered the age of biennial exhibition, constructing an important platform for the internationalization of Taiwanese art. The last theme,'From Murmuring to Probing into History,' exhibits a completely different temporal atmosphere, responding to the creative trends and art generations in the new millennium. NTMoFA launched the Acquisition of Artwork by Young Artists plan from 2003 to 2017 and has implemented a series of tech art and interdisciplinary art creation promotions since 2004. These new-generation creative works reflect the temporal challenges faced by artists at the time of creation. From the works featured in this area, visitors can observe artists anxiety for and criticism of the world, and this is, at the same time, the cultural appearances of Taiwanese contemporary arts that is headed towards diversity and the edge of time.'-- Director's foreword (page 6-7).