When Tina Ken entered the Taiwanese art world 30 years ago, her career and future in the industry were not certain.
“It was like a desert – very uncertainty,” said Ken, 72, a veteran Taiwanese gallerist, standing in a gallery named in Taipei on a recent afternoon. She recalled in the 1980s when she left her job in real estate sales to pursue a career in gallery, “the market was still very dominated by Western art.”
She saw this clearly in an auction preview in Paris about 30 years ago. There, she came across the paintings of Saniu, a Chinese-born French painter, along with the works of Matisse and Monet. She was impressed that Sanyu's work was just as impressive as other artists, but received little attention in Asia.
“I saw the potential of artists with Chinese ties — both aesthetically and commercially,” Ken said. She explained her decision to gather and present artwork from Chinese roots artists such as San and Zao Wuki, a Chinese-born French painter known for his oil paintings. “Since then I have decided to take them to Asia.”
Now she's doing just that. It shows contemporary and contemporary paintings by artists of various generations at Tina Ken Gallery. This is an attractive space on the first floor of a six-storey building in the busy technical area of the city's Neif district. The gallery's sister brand, TKG+ – run by Ken's daughter, Shelley Woo, 42 – is exhibiting immersive multimedia installations and experimental projects by many local talents. Space is a contrasting study as Ken's gallery rooted in Chinese heritage embraces the classics and Wu looks to the future.
And outside of Taipei, Ken and Wu transformed the gallery into a driving force behind the international art market. They showcase their collections at international trade fairs such as the Art Basel Hong Kong and the Venice Biennale, supporting established names and emerging talent. And this month, Tinaken Gallery and TKG+ will be introducing artists in Art Basel Hong Kong, along with nine other Taiwanese art galleries.
It's an impressive figure, but it's not surprising to Ken and Wu. Ken and Wu note that Taiwan offers a unique blend of strong collector support, rich cultural diversity, and an environment of freedom and openness.
Ken first started in the industry in 1989 at Dimensions Art Center, a specialist in art curation. Three years later, she co-founded the Lin & Ken Gallery. She pointed out in the early 1990s that more buyers in Taiwan were willing to pay for art as the economy flourished after the government lifted martial arts laws in the late 1980s.
“It was a time when people started making fortunes and buying art,” Ken said. “The Taiwanese art gallery industry has also thrived rapidly during that time.”
In 2009, she founded the Tinaken Gallery amid the global financial crisis and was able to survive with the support of her loyal clients. The gallery temporarily expanded to Beijing, where Ken wanted to reach more potential buyers, but she closed its branch in 2012 after discovering that the purchasing power of a Chinese collector did not meet her expectations.
“From a market perspective, Taiwanese buyers are as strong as anyone in Asia,” Ken said. “Chinese collectors are also far behind.”
Her daughter, U-Educated American designer, founded TKG+ in 2009.
“My mother was definitely the main reason to join the industry,” Wu said. “I've been following her steps comfortably, but I also like the new challenges.”
Wu's art gallery gives visitors an illusion similar to the theatre illusion. In space, darkness, light, sound, and a variety of ongoing experiments are all woven together. Wu said he likes multimedia art. Her roster includes many artists from Taiwan and other Asian countries. One of them, Taipei-born Yuan Gong Min, is currently holding a solo exhibition at the gallery.
In one room, his video, “The War of Everyday Life” (2024), is played, depicting the seemingly orderly room being destroyed, returning to normal as if nothing had happened. In another space, dark objects slowly move back and forth in front of the visitor, in a work by Yuan entitled “The Breating Black Hole” (1995-2024).
“I consciously promote more works by local Taiwanese artists in my gallery,” Wu said.
In 2013, WU introduced TKG+ Projects. TKG+ Projects is a special exhibition area for emerging artists in the gallery, and give curators and artists a more experimental art project. In one corner of the area, I was standing in “Night and the Soul” (2025). This is a huge bookshelves created by Chui Chenghan, made of steel beams and concrete supplied from buildings that collapsed in the earthquake. Above, works from Julia Hang's Wisps and Whispers series are made from enamel on silver white and hung like clouds floating in the night sky.
“I like something innovative and a little experimental. It's more difficult to maintain commercially at first,” Wu introduced the collection. “But I think talent needs to be on a stage like this.”
As Ken and Wu head to Art Basel Hong Kong, they will be 13 consecutive times to attend the fair. They will showcase the works of Yang Maolin, former Hui-li, Chen Qing Yuan and nine others. They said attending the exhibition has become a regular part of the annual schedule. But what they want is to see Taiwan as a host of artists from all over the world in the near future.
“The industry is different from when it first came 30 years ago, but I hope that one day Taiwan will not only become an Art Basel exhibitor, but also become a host,” Ken said.
