TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Parisian gallery Almine Rech, founded by Picasso's granddaughter-in-law, Almine Rech, marks its inaugural participation at Taipei Dangdai art fair, with Shanghai Senior Director Francois Ho (何彥羲) envisioning a long-term, reciprocal engagement with Taiwan's art scene.
Established in Paris' Marais in 1989, Rech's gallery gained early acclaim with a pioneering exhibition of James Turrell's light installations, his European commercial gallery debut.
Relocating to her gallery in the 13th arrondissement in 1997, Rech has expanded globally over three decades, establishing eight spaces, including Brussels, London, and New York. The 2019 Shanghai opening solidified closer ties with Asia, leading to active participation in major fairs across Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, and Singapore.
From representing a single artist to over a hundred, Rech's influential roster includes Fluxus icon John M Armleder, kinetic sculptor Alexander Calder, Korean Dansaekhwa master Ha Chong-Hyun, and pop art giant Jeff Koons.
Rech's artistic lineage is notable. Daughter of French fashion pioneer Georges Rech and a Vietnamese mother from an artistic family (great-grandfather Mai Trung-Cat, a key figure in Vietnamese modern art; uncle Mai-Thu, a leading modern Vietnamese painter), Rech's upbringing was steeped in art.
She painted with her father, frequented Parisian museums, and studied literature, art history, and film.
Choosing gallery work over a personal artistic career, Rech, a prominent Parisian female gallerist, champions art as "an oasis of freedom of expression, perhaps the only truly free space in the contemporary social structure."
Furthering her commitment, Rech co-founded the Fondation Almine et Bernard Picasso / FABA in 2002 with her husband, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, dedicated to Picasso scholarship and exhibitions and the promotion of modern and contemporary art.
For their Taipei Dangdai debut, Rech presents a curated selection reflecting core gallery interests: conceptual art, pop art, painting, and diversity. The exhibition aims for a cross-generational and multicultural dialogue, with Ho emphasizing that the selected works merit careful contemplation, even if initial understanding is elusive.
Highlights include American pop art icon Tom Wesselmann's "Great American Nude" series and Vietnamese modern art pioneer Mai-Thu's delicate silk depictions of traditional Vietnamese life.
The booth also features significant works by acclaimed artists Joseph Kosuth, Larry Poons, Markus Lupertz, and Rudolf Polanszky.
Taipei Dangdai is taking place at the Nangang Exhibition Center until May 11.
