House of Oracles:
A Huang Yong Ping Retrospective
Vancouver Art Gallery
Vancouver BC – Apr 8-Sep 16, 2007
|
|
|
Huang Yong Ping, La Pêche (2006), fiberglass, animal hair, wood, bamboo, iron, installation view [Vancouver Art Gallery BC, Apr 5-Sept 16]
|
House of Oracles is the first retrospective of one of China’s most influential contemporary artists, Huang Yong Ping. The Chinese-born and Paris-based artist is known for his spectacular large-scale installations that simultaneously entertain, shock and critique. The exhibition, a “hybrid of fun house, diorama and menagerie”, was previously shown at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and features more than forty of Huang Yong Ping’s works, including a monumental sculpture
Huang's sculptures and installations have been described as “highly realistic and energetic”. He draws on the legacies of western modernists like Joseph Beuys and John Cage, as well as Chinese traditions of Zen and Taoism when juxtaposing traditional images with modern references. The most amazing sculpture in this exhibit expresses “the nightmare of George V” by posing a snarling tiger on top of a life-size elephant. The materials are as diverse as concrete, reinforced steel, animal skins, fabrics and plastics, wood and cane.
Since his leadership, in the 1980s, of a subversive artists’ collective in Xiamen, China, Huang has been described as artist, magician, fortune-teller, alchemist, healer, teacher, philosopher, and writer. In the last decade, he has created a completely original and provocative zoological realm using both live animals and animal reproductions to represent various man-made social, political and historical events. House of Oracles is accompanied by a 250-page illustrated catalogue.
PROGRAMS IN CONJUNCTION
WITH HOUSE OF ORACLES
April 5, 7pm
Tour exhibition with curator, Philippe Vengue. Free with admission.
April 7, 2:30pm
Chinese Art on the Move, panel discussion.
April 17, 7pm
Public Lecture: Melissa Chiu, Director/Curator, Museum at Asia Society, NY.
$10, $5 members/seniors/students
May 10, 7pm
Public Lecture: Stephanie Holmquist, Inside Art in Contemporary China.
May 15, 7pm
Public Lecture: Dr. Paul Crowe: Future Seeing.
|
www.vanartgallery.bc.ca
All images: courtesy the artist, Paris, photos: courtesy the Walker Art Centre
Huang Yong Ping, 11 June 2002 - The Nightmare of George V (2002), concrete, reinforced steel, animal skins, paint, fabric cushion, plastic, wood and cane seat, installation view [Vancouver Art Gallery BC, Apr 5-Sept 16]
|
Huang Yong Ping, Passage (1993-2005), iron, wood, lion urine, light boxes, metal coiling door, installation view [Vancouver Art Gallery BC, Apr 5-Sept 16]
|
|
