Isa Ho

1977, Keelung, Taiwan

Introduction

Isa Ho concentrates on digital and contemporary photography to create a simulated reality through which she addresses social concerns and fulfills what she regards as a personal responsibility to society. She is strongly influenced by her previous experience in oil painting, which leads to the rigorous compositional formation of her photographs, which challenges the documentary attribute of photography and adds a flair for storytelling.


Ho received her Master of Fine Arts from Taipei National University of the Arts. She was awarded the 2018 Arte Laguna Prize special prize, 2013 ISE Cultural Foundation Award, 2012 and 2015 Asian Cultural Council Fellowship, and 2011 Kaohsiung Art Award. She was the resident artist at International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York in 2013 and 2015, and at Cité International des Arts in Paris from 2009 to 2010. She was also the resident artists in Muich's Apartment der Kunst and in Shalini Ganendra Fine Art in Malaysia both in 2015. Her most recent solo exhibition was at Westbeth Gallery in New York in 2023.

Ho has exhibited in museums, biennales and galleries around the world, including: The Pioneers of Taiwanese Artist,1971-1980 in National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (2014, Taichung), Instituto Cultural de Mexico (2011, Texas, USA), Taiwan Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (2010, Taichung), Kaohsiung Fine Art Museum (2010, Taiwan), Kuandu Biennale 2008, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (2008, Taipei, Taiwan), PINGYAO international photography festival (2008, China) and also France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Czech, India, Korea, China, Malaysia, Japan, and the United States. 

Important museum collections include White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia; Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea; Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei; Hong-Gah Museum, Taipei; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung; Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Alisan Fine Arts included her works in Asian Cultural Council Fellows: Second Annual Exhibition 2020, and THROUGH THE LENSES in 2022.


BIOGRAPHY
1977  Born in Keelung, Taiwan
2001  BFA, Department of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
2005  MFA, Taipei National University of Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
2009-2010 Residency artist, Cité International des Arts, Paris, France
2013 & 2015  Residency artist, International Studio and Curatorial Program, New York, USA
2015  Residency artist, Apartment der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Residency artist, Shalini Ganendra Fine Art, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023         

  • Isa Ho:Resonance, Westbeth Gallery, New York, USA

2022         

  • Spatial Disorientation, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

2020         

  • Different Dimension 8: Isa Ho Solo, Novosibirsk State Art Museum, Russia

2018         

  • Westbeth Project, Chelouche Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

2017         

  • Not The Chelsea Hotel, Double Square Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2016         

  • Girls Falling, Taiwan Academy, LA, USA

2015         

  • My Peony Pavilion, Apartment der Kunst, Munich, Germany
  • Peony Pavilion, Shalini Ganendra Fine Art, Petaling Jaya, Malaysian

2014         

  • Westbeth: Isa Ho/Moritz Partenheimer, VT Artsalon, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Tales: Isa Ho Solo Exhibition 2005-2014, THE 201 ART, Taichung, Taiwan

2012         

  • Girls/Spring, In Art Space, Tainan, Taiwan

2011         

  • Girls, VT ArtSalon, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Fairy Tales, Instituto Cultural de Mexico, Texas, USA

2010         

  • You Are My Hero, La Chambre Art Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2009         

  • Once Upon a Future, Sakshi Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Project Paris: You Are My Hero, Galerie Etienne de Causans, Paris, France

2008         

  • I Got Super Strong Courage, VT ArtSalon, Taipei, Taiwan

2007         

  • Solo Exhibition, Soka Beijing, China
  • Narcissus, CANS Book Shop, 798 Beijing, China

2005         

  • To Call Me Snow White!, TC284, Taipei, Taiwan

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023         

  • Telling a Story with You, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Aging: A Life Montage, Tainan Art Museum, Tainan, Taiwan

2022         

  • Through the Lenses, Alisan Fine Arts-Aberdeen, Hong Kong
  • Dasein: Born to Be Human, Jut Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Videodrome x de Renava: Bonifacio Contemporary Art Bienniale, Corsica, France
  • I am Who I am: Artists’ Self-Constructing Journey, Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

2020         

2019         

  • Home to all, Public Art Online Project
  • After Hope: Videos of Resistance, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
  • I See You, Taichung Shiyakusho, Taichung, Taiwan
  • Westbund, Shanghai, China
  • XIII Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennale, Krasnoyarsk Museum, Moscow, Russia
  • A Thousand Faces: The Transformation of Laksana, Lin & Lin Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Anxiety of Images, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan

2018         

  • 9th Cairo Video Festival, Medrar for Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt
  • Videodrome Paris: Charon Cycle, Tick Tack, Paris, France

2017         

  • Les Rencontres Arles: What’s Going On, Fondation Manuel Rivera-Ortiz, Arles, France
  • Chance and Coincidence, Juming Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Nuit Blanche: TPE, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 12th Arte Laguna Prize Exhibition, Arsenale of Venice, Venice, Italy
  • MADATAC 2017: International Acontemporary Festival of Digital Audiovisual & New Media Art, ASPA Contemporary, Madrid, Spain

2016         

  • A New Vision of Printmaking, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Dream Team of Kaohsiung Awards and Its Four Challenges, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  • Snap Taking, Slow Thinking: Social Spectrum in the Age of Staged Photography, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  • Dear Hometown: Taiwan Contemporary Photography, Farglory Museums, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Very Image, Shalini Ganendra Fine Art, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

  • Double Vision, Double Square Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

  • KUSO Project, Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA

  • 2016 Taipei Photo, National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2015         

  • Daily Scenery-Narrative of Landscape in Taiwanese Contemporary Photography, Art Bank, Taichung, Taiwan

  • Night View Keelung, Keelung City Cultural Centre, Keelung, Taiwan

  • Our Eyes, Double Square Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

  • People Mountain People Sea, In Art Space, Tainan, Taiwan

  • Big Picture, Absolute Art Space, Taiwan

2014         

  • Voice, City Museum of Art, Taiwan

  • Starting from Hatsune Miku, The Pier-2 Art Centre, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  • Everyday Life, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  • ISE NY Art Search 2013 Award Winners Exhibition, ISE Cultural Foundation Gallery, New York, USA

  • Woman-Home: In the Name of Asian Female Artists, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  • The Present and Future of Japanese and Taiwanese Contemporary: Amplitude of Global and Locality, Chinretukan Gallery, University Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

  • Exchange, 44 Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

  • The Pioneers of Taiwanese Artist 1971-1980, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan

2013         

  • Archisle#2 Open Photography Exhibition 2013, Berni Gallery, Jersey Arts Centre, St Helier, Jersey

  • Art Gwangju:13, KDJ Convention Centre, Gwangju, South Korea

  • Art x Literature: Inside and Outside of the Boundary, Bopiliao, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Artshow Busan 2013, Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre, Busan, South Korea

  • Mona Lisa Made in Taiwan, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  • Turning Gazes：Women and Arts in Dialogue, Juming Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

  • ARENA, Armature Art Space, New York, USA

  • Fell in Love With Your Own Imagination, CANS Tea & Book House, Taipei, Taiwan

  • The Power(s) of Local and Elsewhere, Pingtung Art Museum, Pingtung, Taiwan

  • Dragon, Asia Aspiring, Absolute Zenith, Banqiao, Taipei, Taiwan

  • High Line Open Studios 2013, Armory Show Arts Week, New York, USA

  • Open Studio at ISCP, New York, USA

2012         

  • DIVA, Sakshi Gallery, India

  • International Women Arts Exhibition: Lights of Women, Gwangju Museum of Arts, Gwangju, Korea

  • D'abord les Forêts Opus 3, La Maison Laurentine, Aubepierre-sur-Aube, France

  • Manifestation of Homunculi, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts,Taipei, Taiwan

  • Aire de Taiwan, Hôtel de Savigny, Provinces, France

  • Life is Elsewhere: 2012 4th Dali International Photography Exhibition, Dali, China

  • Sincere Subversion, VT ArtSalon, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Art Meets Fashion, Bellavita, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Asian Contemporary and Modern Art, Soka Art Centre, Tainan, Taiwan

2011        

  • 2011 Kaohsiung Fine Arts Award Exhibition, Kaohsiung Fine Art Museum, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

  • FOTOSEPTIMBRE USA: SAFOTO International Photography Festival, Texas, USA

  • A Poetry of Silence, TAD, Shanghai, China

2010        

  • Yes Taiwan:Taiwan Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan

  • Taipei Biennial: Life Drawing Exam, VT Artsalon, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Urban Crack, MOT Mobile Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

  • The Other Book, G-dot Art Space, Beijing, China

2009        

  • Indian Art Summit, Delhi, India

  • Art Madrid, Madrid, Spain

  • Being in the World: An Exhibition for Self and Situations, Taichung, Taiwan

2008        

  • Sweeties: Celebrating 20 Years of IT Park, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Kuandu Biennale 2008, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

  • PINGYAO International Photography Festival, Pingyao, Jiang Xi, China

  • ART TAIPEI 2008: Made in Taiwan, Young Artist Discovery Exhibition, Taipei World Trade Centre, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Grooving 2, Project Fulfill Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan

  • FU New Generation Female Artists in Taiwan, Da Xiang Art Space, Taichung, Taiwan

  • Blue Dot Asia, Seoul Art Centre, South Korea

  • Bubble Tea: Art of Taiwan and Its Contemporary Mutations, Moravian Gallery in Brno, Czech

2007        

  • Frolic: Humor and Mischief in New Taiwanese Art, 2X13 Gallery, Tenri Cultural Center, Taipei, Taiwan; Gallery of Taipei Cultural Center, New York, USA

  • Taiwan: From Within the Mist, Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science, Sioux Falls, USA

  • Fashion Accidentally, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Absolute Role: Absolute Beauty, Soka Art, Beijing, China

2006        

  • Re-Genesis: An Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Haikou, China

  • Taipei Art Award Exhibition, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Art Taipei 2006, Huashan Art District, Taipei, Taiwan

2005        

  • Scylla and Charybdis: The Challenges Facing Contemporary Taiwanese Artists, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Oil Painting Study Society Great Exhibition in 2005, National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan

2004        

  • Simulation Generation, Soka Art Centre Beijing, China

  • Scylla and Charybdis: The Challenges Facing Contemporary Taiwanese Artists, Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea

  • Huashan Round Table: The 3rd Artist Fair, Huashan Art District, Taipei, Taiwan

2003        

  • 1:15: Diversion and Progress of the Mood in the Present Time, Main Trend Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Spirit Reconstructing Trilogy: Caroling Life, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Digging Jazz, The Galerie Pierre, Taichung, Taiwan

2002        

  • 2002 Artist Fair, Huashan Art Direct, Taipei, Taiwan

2000        

  • Choosing the Sample by Chance, Crown Art Centre, Taipei, Taiwan

  • 30% Off, National Institute of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

1999        

  • Bird Spotting, National Institute of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

  • Scenes of Life, Photography Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan

  • All for Love, National Institute of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan


SELECTED AWARDS
2018  Special Prize, 12th Arte Laguna Prize, Venice, Italy
2016  Asan Cultural Council Grantee, New York, USA
2013  3rd Prize of Archisle #2 Open Photography Exhibition, Berni Gallery, Jersey Arts Centre, St Helier, Jersey
ISE Cultural Foundation Award, New York, USA
2012  Asian Cultural Council Grantee, New York, USA
Prix Pictet Nomination, LOndon, UK
Asia Pioneer Photographer Nomination
2011  Kaohsiung Art Award, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2008  Taiwan Young Art Award, Taiwan 
2005 Taipei Art Award Nomination, Taiwan

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, USA
White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Pushkin Museum, Mosco, Russia
MoCA Modern Contemporary Art, Venice, Itlay
Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea
Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
Hong-Gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Jut Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan