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About the event
RIVER ART GALLERY will hold the group show “Wallflower,” featuring 10 artists from around the world, including Devon Pryce, Elías Peña Salvador, Luke Van H, Peter Hong-Tsun Chan, Ray Han, Shingo Yamazaki, Timothy Bair, Wang Guan-Jhen, Yi-Shuan Lee and Yu-An Chen. In addition to its presentation in Taiwan, the show will also be held in Japan for a month-long pop-up, beginning in Tokyo. It explores the trajectory of contemporary art over the next 50 years, aiming to make a bold statement in Asia that will be remembered in the annals of history.
“Wallflower” carries multiple meanings. In addition to its common usage, it also refers to someone who is shy or introverted in a social setting. However, such individuals often stand out with greater insight than the average person. Reflecting on Western art history, the abstract expressionism dominated the 20th-century Western art scene. As we enter the new century, figurative art is experiencing a resurgence. In an era where the “abstract trend” still prevails, the participating artists will proclaim to the world their unique reasons for not conforming, each in their own distinctive manner. Through diverse style, they focus more on personal, intimate objects or scenes, vividly conveying that their creations are not merely stories but real and present moments. Just like the word “Wallflower” suggests on the surface, it embodies both genuine authenticity and a deeper purity beyond appearances. The audience is invited to the show to witness the blossoming visual languages on the white walls.
About the organizer
River Art Gallery was founded in 1998 in Taichung, Taiwan. The gallery’s initial years were known for, the director, Ray Hung’s interest in sculptural art; and in the process, discovering renowned Taiwanese artists, such as Li Chen and Hung Yi. After over two decades of focusing on working with Taiwanese artists domestically, the gallery gradually opened up its program to an international roster in 2021, with the presence of the new director, Ella Hung, the youngest daughter of gallery founder, Ray Hung. Ella Hung’s present-day program resides in a brand new, four-level, 1600 sqft gallery space in the heart of Taichung City.
The gallery made its first steps to broadening its roster with the addition of artists who are somewhat close to home, such as Taiwanese-Canadian artist; Yi-Shuan Lee, and Taiwanese-American artist; Timothy Bair. The decision for working with these 90s born artists who have spent time living outside of their motherland, is a direct way for the gallery to reintroduce a much more expansive, and yet contemporary, idea of what Formosan culture stands for on an international stage.
Now, a few years into Ella Hung’s program at River Art Gallery, along with the much larger premises to accommodate the demands of the wide range of exhibition practices in its steadily growing roster of internationally recognized artists; River Art Gallery strives to take on an even greater presence on the global stage, with a commitment to invigorate academic as well as educational purposes. The gallery’s program is based on a determination to build and grow alongside the top innovative figures of today, in radically rethinking the exhibition as a form and taking it as a critical medium.