The Taipei Fine Arts Museum is thrilled to announce the presentation of the Collateral Event Screen Melancholy: Li Yi-Fan at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. This captivating exhibition will take place at the Palazzo delle Prigioni from May 9 to November 22, 2026. It features a new creation by Taiwanese artist Li Yi-Fan, with curation by Raphael Fonseca, the visual arts curator at Culturgest in Lisbon and Porto, Portugal. Both artist and curator, emerging from the digital age, delve into the intricate interplay between imagery, technology, and human experience, fostering a dialogue that transcends geographical and cultural boundaries.
The exhibition's title, originally in Portuguese as Melancolia de tela, evolves through various languages, revealing new layers of meaning that contemplate how screens influence daily life and shape perceptions of the world. This work aligns with the overarching theme of Biennale Arte 2026, In Minor Keys, which often evokes a sense of melancholy akin to its musical connotations.
Visitors will encounter an immersive installation that combines video and mixed media, marking a significant milestone for the Taipei Fine Arts Museum since it began exhibiting at the Palazzo delle Prigioni in 1995. The space will be adorned with large-scale, custom sculptures of fragmented limbs, which resonate with characters from the video, creating a juxtaposition of fictional and tangible sensory experiences. This harmonious blend of sculpture, video, and sound invites attendees to engage at their own pace, exploring the emotional and cognitive dissonance as well as perceptual fatigue that the artist examines. Central to the exhibition is a profound inquiry: In a world where life is fleeting yet knowledge is infinite, how do we confront our existence through "melancholy"?
