Taipei's Best Contemporary Art Galleries & Spaces

The Aki Gallery focuses on exhibiting the works of emerging contemporary artists enabling them to develop a following and providing them with a space to showcase their work for the first time. The gallery’s ambition is to put contemporary Taiwanese art on the world map. It works not only with local artists but with international emerging names too, all in its bid to connect Taiwanese artists with the rest of the art world. After a recent move, the Aki Gallery is now located near to the Taipei Fine Art Museum making it perfectly situated for spending a day meandering around two of the best art spaces in the city.

Exhibiting the very best of photography’s history as an artform, the 1839 Contemporary Gallery has been providing locals and tourists with a place to revel in this favored art medium since April 2009. Artists whose photos are displayed and are available to purchase from the gallery include Imogen Cunningham, Olivial Parker, Ansel Adams and Maeda Shingzo. Consisting of the main 1839 gallery, the Little Gallery and the Little Shop, this establishment as a whole works to promote Taiwanese photographers by taking part in national and international art fairs, as well as helping to teach locals about the appreciation of photography as an art form.

After the huge earthquake in Taiwan in 1999, the Angel Art Gallery was created to provide locals with a place to go to appreciate and make art. The curators of the gallery wish to enable continuously more people to be able to experience art on a daily basis. Now a multi-functional platform for so many artists and art enthusiasts, visitors can stop by to peruse the fascinating exhibits, to meet up with like-minded friends or even to have a go at creating their own digital work of art. The Angel Art Gallery has a real community feel to it and is not to be missed.

Named after its founder, Chi-Wen Huang, the Chi-Wen Gallery is one of Taipei’s leading contemporary art galleries. With a particular focus on video and photography, leading names exhibited in the gallery include Hung-Tung Lu, Wu Tien-Chang, Tusi Kuang-Yu and Tseng Yu-Chin. The gallery prides itself on its choosing to exhibit the works of emerging artists and has helped to kick-start many hugely successful careers. Chi-Wen Gallery regularly participates in both national and international art fairs, as well as hosting many film screenings and special art programs.

A commercial art gallery that’s very worthy of a visit whether or not you are intending to make a purchase, the Elsa Art Gallery is one of the most trusted branded galleries in the city. Each piece of art on display has been hand selected by the gallery’s staff and the pieces are chosen for their aesthetics as well as their collection value. The gallery represents an array of artists from across Asia and Europe, bringing an international feel to an otherwise quite Taiwan-heavy local art scene. Some of the artists whose work can be appreciated here include Ah Lan, Wu Yian Yi, Chen Zhi Ju and Ye Zi Qi.

The Eslite Gallery originally opened in a smaller space back in 1989 as the first gallery in Taiwan to dedicate itself to contemporary and modern Chinese art. It has since moved to larger premises and now represents a vast array of major international artists as well as rising stars within the contemporary art world. Xu Bing, Michael Lin, Zhan Wang and Su-Mei Tse are just a few names amongst the many artists whose work is regularly exhibited in this gallery. The Eslite Gallery regularly participates in international art fairs and programs and provides Taipei with a rotating calendar of enticing exhibitions across its three-floored premises.

Choosing to keep their clientele exclusive, the Fish Art Center only represents a select few artists. It too is on a mission to create artistic connections with the rest of the world in a bid to bring local Taiwanese artists to international acclaim. Amongst the chosen few artists that the gallery does represents are Huang Mingchun who is known for his red, yellow and green painting palette and Lin Chiahung best known for her paintings featuring unsmiling children.

As the first art institute in Taiwan to be dedicated solely to contemporary art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei is one of the most visited galleries in the state as well as the city. In a stark contrast to its historic architectural location, the artwork on display here is both innovative and aesthetically current. Exhibiting a mixture of visual art, architectural design, fashion and media technologies; the gallery strives to represent a variety of artists both from Taiwan and from across the waters. Alongside the revolving program of exhibitions, MOCA also hosts a fantastic mix of one-off art classes, long term art courses and summer art camps to get the local community involved in and excited by contemporary art.

Home to an exquisite collection of fine Chinese art, Ping Art Space features two floors of exhibition space. Ping Art Space’s director, Hsu Chih-Ping, uses his gallery as a platform for young, talented artists to get their foot on the ladder to international artistic fame. A few of the most well known names amongst the gallery’s artists include painter Shichinohe Masaru, sculptor Ren Zhe and KEA. Such diverse artistic styles combine so well together in Ping Art Space to create an unlikely but ever so perfect mix of Chinese legacy and pop madness.

Courtesy Tina Keng Gallery
Focusing on representing works of art that are rich in cultural heritage, the Tina Keng Gallery works with a variety of Asian artists and art connoisseurs in its efforts to connect the Taiwanese art scene with the rest of the world. Artists on its roster include Yun Gee, Xu Jiang, George Chann, Wu Tien-Chang and Ying Hung amongst many others. When visiting the Tina Keng Gallery, art appreciators will enjoy an array of contemporary art mediums including photography, installation, painting and mixed media, all of which create the perfect balance between the historic and the modern.