From the Island to London: Hantoo Art Group Illuminates the Flame of History through Art — Unfolding at Bluerider ART and the Taipei Representative Office in the U.K.
In a calm autumn afternoon in Mayfair, Bluerider ART, in collaboration with the Taipei Representative Office in the U.K., presents Rising in Fire: Hantoo Art Group — The Making of Taiwan’s Art History. Curated and personally guided by Elsa Wang, this exhibition marks the first time this significant chapter in Taiwan’s contemporary art history is shown in Europe. Through 27 years of creative practice, Hantoo Art Group has witnessed Taiwan’s cultural trajectory from the periphery to self-definition, transcending geography and language through art as they initiate a new dialogue in London.
Curator Elsa Wang frames the exhibition around the spirit of “rising through fire,” inviting the audience to discover resilience and continuity within the seams of history. The members of Hantoo articulate collective memory through personal experiences, transforming political transition and social change into artistic narratives. By presenting across two venues, the exhibition resonates simultaneously through London’s art circuit and diplomatic spaces, amplifying the voices of Taiwanese creators abroad.
Thirteen artists respond to the land with humour, self-irony, and poetic sensitivity. Their works gaze at the past while interrogating the present, from Yang Mao-Lin’s political totems to Wu Tien-Chang’s flamboyant absurdity, then to Tu Wei-Cheng’s archaeological allegories and Deng Wen-Jen’s embroidered memories, creating a spiritual journey that spans history, society, and the individual.
Rising in Fire is a cultural gesture: it reinterprets the idea of “art as a language of existence.” As artists inscribe history with the weight of life, viewers are reminded: the flame of creation never truly extinguishes; it continues to burn across times and spaces, sustaining the lineage of Taiwanese art in this era.
Rising in Fire: Hantoo Art Group — The Making of Taiwan’s Art History is exhibited at Bluerider ART in Mayfair, London, in partnership with the Taipei Representative Office in the U.K. It symbolizes a new chapter for Taiwanese contemporary art in the international cultural context. With art as its language, London, a global art capital, becomes a crossroads of cultural conversation, where the spirit of “from island to world” lands and unfolds.
Artists: Yang Mao-Lin / Wu Tien-Chang / Lu Hsien-Ming / Kuo Wei-Kuo / Lee Ming-Chung / Yang Jen-Ming / Lien Chien-Hsing / Lai Hsin-Lung / Tang Tang-Fa / Tu Wei-Cheng / Deng Wen-Jen / Chang Ling / Chen Ching-Yao
Exhibition Name: Rising in Fire: Hantoo Art Group — The Making of Taiwan’s Art History
Main Venue: Bluerider ART London · Mayfair
Address: 47 Albemarle St, London, W1S 4JW
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 16, 2025 | 18:00 – 20:00
Opening Hours: Daily 10:00 – 18:00
Second Venue: Taipei Representative Office in the U.K.
Address: 46–48 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0EB
Open Times: Tuesdays & Fridays 14:00 – 17:00 (by appointment)
Exhibition Period: October 16 – December 31, 2025
Appointment link for viewing at the Taipei Representative Office: https://reurl.cc/MzV304
Bluerider ART was founded in 2013 in Taipei city by tech entrepreneur Elsa Wang. With a strategic presence across three continents—Europe, the Americas, and Asia—the gallery operates long-term, self-managed spaces in key cities including London·Mayfair, Los Angeles· Manhattan Beach, Taipei·Dunhua and Shanghai·The Bund.
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