William Yang – News
WILLIAM YANG in UNDER THE SUN: REIMAGINING MAX DUPAIN’S SUNBAKER
18 February – 17 April 2017
State Library of New South Wales
For this large scale exhibition, the Australian Centre for Photography has invited 15 artists to create new works in response to the iconic Sunbaker by revered Australian photographer Max Dupain.
Image: © William Yang
‘BREATHING THE RAREFIED ART OF CANBERRA
Exhibition: 9 April – 17 July 2016
Artist Floor Talk: Saturday 23 April, 2-3pm
Canberra Museum + Gallery, ACT
In 2007, William Yang was awarded the H.C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship at the Australian National University. During this residency, Yang produced the series Breathing the rarefied air of Canberra which depicts aspects of Canberra’s arts and academic life and evocative landscape images from the region. The portfolio was acquired National Library of Australia.
Image: © William Yang
BLOOD LINKS
12 – 23 April 2016
Canberra Theatre Centre, ACT
In the performance Blood Links, Yang tells stories about the Chinese Diaspora, how Chinese migrants put down roots in Australian soil, and how over the generations, through intermarriage, blood is mixed - yet the intricate bonds of family tie people together.
Image: © William Yang
‘MY QUEENSLAND’
23 January – 26 March 2016
Kick Contemporary Arts, QLD
William Yang presents personal insights into his Far North Queensland family history through the use of documentary photography in the exhibition ‘My Queensland’. Yang was born in North Queensland and grew up in the small country town on Dimbulah. He has said that a lot of his work is about recreating the memories of his childhood.
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG in ‘PUBLIC IMAGE, PRIVATE LIVES: FAMILY, FRIENDS and SELF in PHOTOGRAPHY’
5 February – 3 July 2016
Art Gallery of South Australia, SA
This exhibition highlights the often close connections between the photographer and subject, whether they be friends, family members or the photographers themselves. Yang is represented by his Sadness portfolio and Self portrait #2 from Old New Borrowed Blue.
Image: © William Yang
FINALIST
JOSEPHINE ULRICK & WIN SCHUBERT PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2015
28 March – 31 May 2015
Gold Coast City Art Gallery, QLD
Stills is delighted to congratulate William Yang whose work Diaries 2013-2015 (2015) is a finalist in this years Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Photography Award. The work was acquired by Gold Coast City Art Gallery.
Image: © William Yang
SELCTION OF WORKS ACQUIRED
Stills is delighted to announce that Wollongong City Council have acquired a large selection of works featuring food from William Yang’s Miscellaneous Obsessions: Australia series (2002)
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG acquired NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA
STILLS is delighted to announce the recent acquisition by National Gallery of Victoria of works by William Yang – William in scholar's costume (2008), Self-portrait #5 (2008) and William, Father, Mother, Graceville, Brisbane (1974).
Image: © William Yang
MARY ELLEN MARK, RICKY MAYNARD, POLIXENI PAPAPETROU, TRENT PARKE & WILLIAM YANG in REMAIN IN LIGHT: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE MCA COLLECTIONS
9 August – 2 November 2014
Western Plains Cultural Centre, NSW
This MCA touring exhibition introduces audiences to developments in photography as an art practice from the 1960s to the present day both in Australia and internationally. Other artists include Julie Rrap, Tracey Moffatt and Rosemary Laing.
Image: © Polixeni Papapetrou
POLIXENI PAPAPETROU, TRENT PARKE, PATRICK POUND & WILLIAM YANG in 13TH DONG GANG INTERNATIONAL PHOTO FESTIVAL KOREA
Opens 18 July 2014
Dong Gang Museum of Photography, Korea
Episodes: Australian Photography Now, curated by Natalie King, is the central exhibition in this years 13th Dong Gang International Photo Festival, Korea including works by Polixeni Papapetrou, Trent Parke, Patrick Pound and William Yang.
Image: © Polixeni Papapetrou
WILLIAM YANG in MADE IN CHINA, AUSTRALIA
2 June – 5 July 2014
KickArts Contemporary Arts, QLD
This CAST touring exhibition questions how the work of 16 Chinese Australian artists is affected by the particular Chinese Australian heritage and experiences they have had. Nine works by William Yang are included in this exhibition.
Image: © William Yang
MARY ELLEN MARK, RICKY MAYNARD, POLIXENI PAPAPETROU, TRENT PARKE & WILLIAM YANG in REMAIN IN LIGHT: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE MCA COLLECTIONS
Until 20 May 2014
Ipswich Regional Art Gallery, QLD
This MCA touring exhibition introduces audiences to developments in photography as an art practice from the 1960s to the present day both in Australia and internationally. Other artists include Julie Rrap, Tracey Moffatt and Rosemary Laing.
Image: © Ricky Maynard
WILLIAM YANG: FRIENDS OF DOROTHY
Arts Up Late, ABC1
Sunday 2 March 2014, 10:30pm
William Yang: Friends of Dorothy is an autobiographical feature film from the Sydney based photographer and multi-media performer. The film, which premiered earlier this month as part of Queerscreen and the Mardi Gras Film Festival, will be broadcast on ABC1 program Arts Up Late on Sunday 2 March at 10:30pm to coincide with Mardi Gras weekend.
William Yang has been a presence in Sydney's LGBT community for four decades, using his camera to chronicle the history and character of Sydney's people, places and parties, from the late 60s, to the beginnings of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the AIDS crisis if the 80s, the party scene of the 90s, and beyond.
Image: © William Yang
TRENT PARKE, GLENN SLOGGETT & WILLIAM YANG in AUSTRALIAN VERNACULAR PHOTOGRAPHY
8 February – 18 May 2014
Art Gallery of New South Wales, NSW
This exhibition includes sixteen Australian artists and over twenty-five photographs taken from the 1960s through to the 2000s. It explores what an Australian vernacular photography might be, and comprises works from a photo-documentary tradition that forged a vision of Australian life via the camera. Depictions of modern Australian life are demonstrated through the works of Trent Parke Backyard swing set, QLD (2004), Glenn Sloggett Empty (1996) and William Yang.
Image: © Glenn Sloggett
WILLIAM YANG in CROSSING BOUNDARIES
22 January – 9 February 2014
Sydney Town Hall, NSW
William Yang in included in this exhibition of contemporary Asian Australian art in celebration of Chinese New Year Festival 2014. Yang's work Australia Now is on loan from the Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art and features in this year's dedicated children's program as part of the Festival.
Image: © William Yang
PAT BRASSINGTON, MARK KIMBER & WILLIAM YANG in IMAGES FOR LIFE FORCE 2013
17 November 2013, 3 – 6pm
Stills Gallery, Paddington
Life Force Cancer Foundation will fold their annual fundraising event for 2013 at Stills Gallery. Donated works by artists such as Pat Brassington, Mark Kimber and William Yang are up for auction, which will be conducted by well known art auctioneer Andrew Shapiro. All proceeds go to the Life Force Cancer Foundation, a not-for-profit charity providing emotional and psychological support to people dealing with the experience of cancer.
Image: © Pat Brassington
NARELLE AUTIO, TRENT PARKE & WILLIAM YANG in PHOTOFILE
Issue 93
The Australian Centre for Photography’s recently relaunched magazine Photofile features Narelle Autio’s new work Simpson Desert on the cover this month. The current issue features profiles on the latest series from Trent Parke and Narelle Autio, To The Sea, as well as William Yang.
Image: © Narelle Autio
WILLIAM YANG: MY GENERATION - the film
8 June @ 7pm 2013, Dendy Opera Quays, NSW
16 June @ 10:30pm 2013, ABC1
Well known for his live 'slideshow performances', William Yang has long been subverting this format more often encountered in boardrooms or lecture halls, to tell stories of his friendships with creatives such as Brett Whitely, Nobel Prize-winning author Patrick White, director Jim Sharman and fashion designers Linda Jackson and Jenny Kee.
Yang's presentation has now been adapted for the moving screen, and with his trademark frank, deadpan style he takes us on a journey through Sydney's emerging artistic, literary, theatrical and queer circles in the 1970s and '80s; a decadent and colourful era of drug-fuelled parties, outrageous fashion, the AIDS crisis, and a bursting-out-of-the-gate sense of liberation.
Sydney Film Festival, in partnership with ABC TV Arts, presents William Yang: My Generation at 7pm on Saturday 8 June at Dendy Opera Quays cinemas; followed by William Yang: In Conversation at the Museum of Contemporary Art, hosted by Vivid LIVE. The film will also be broadcast at 10:30pm on Sunday 16 June on ABC1's Sunday Arts Up Late.
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG
Snake Snake Snake, Sydney Town Hall 5 Feb – 23 February
Summer Camp, Bondi Pavilion 19 February – 2 March
Friends of Dorothy, South Hill Gallery Goulburn 8 & 9 March
William Yang has had a busy month, involved in local Sydney exhibitions Snake Snake Snake celebrating Chinese New Year at Sydney Town Hall, Summer Camp at Bondi Pavillion as part of Sydney Mardi Gras, and presentation Friends of Dorothy, a personal memoir of the gay movement in Sydney at South Hill Gallery, Goulburn.
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG in THE LIFE OF PATRICK WHITE
13 August - 28 October 2012
State Library of New South Wales
Marking 100 years since the birth of Patrick White, this exhibition looks at the life of Australia’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature. Featuring portraits of White taken by William Yang alongside items from the National Library and State Library’s collections, The Life of Patrick White provides insight into the story of White and the post-war Australian arts scene.
Image: © William Yang
POLIXENI PAPAPETROU, STEPHANIE VALENTIN, JUSTINE VARGA, WILLIAM YANG IN WILLIAM AND WINIFRED BOWNESS PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2012
4 October - 18 November 2012
Monash Gallery of Art, Victoria
The judging panel of Australia’s most celebrated photography accolade, the William and Winifred Bowness prize, has announced Polixeni Papaetrou, Stephanie Valentin, Justine Varga and William Yang are among the finalists. Stills photographer Trent Parke, NGV’s Senior Curator Photography Isobel Crombie and MGA Gallery Director Shaune Lakin selected 42 photographs from over 2000 entries, the largest number in the prize’s history. The winner of the $25 000 prize will be announced at MGA on Thursday 4 October 2012, when the finalist exhibition is opened.
Image: © Polixeni Papapetrou
WILLIAM YANG WORKS FEATURED IN THE LIFE OF PATRICK WHITE, AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA
National Library of Australia, ACT
13 April - 8 July 2012
William Yang’s images of Patrick White are featured alongside the Library’s vast collection of his papers. The exhibition not only tells the story of White in all his guises, it also provides great insight into the post-war Australian arts scene - straight from the man who was often its star attraction. After Canberra, the exhibition goes to the State Library of NSW from 13 August to 28 October 2012.
Image: © William Yang
MICHAEL RILEY AND WILLIAM YANG: ME, HERE, NOW - IDENTITY AND PLACE IN CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN ART
Ateneo Art Gallery. Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, Philippines
22 June - 5 August 2011
This exhibition presents work by Michael Riley and William Yang amongst other contemporary works by Australian artists, who investigate the diverse and multifarious grounds of identity and place. Taking this broad premise as a starting point the exhibition examines the concepts of Australianness, landscape as place, youth culture, immigration and contemporary Aboriginal identity. The artists focus a lense on the many aspects, which make up who we are, right here right now, asking us to consider a richer sense of what constitutes a modern Australia.
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG: 2 Pieces by Pina Bausch photography exhibition during Spring Dance 2011, Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House western foyer, Drama Theatre and The Studio 23 August - 4 September 2011
During 1982’s Adelaide Festival William Yang documented two pieces by Pina Bausch, Kontakthof and 1980. Yang managed to beautifully capture this elusive and enigmatic camera-shy choreographer as she directed two of her greatest works. Witness the intimate and inspiring moments between Bausch and the performers who revered her.
William Yang has been taking photos in the documentary style since 1974. His great subject is Sydney social life, and he has extensive files on the Sydney gay and artistic community and the Chinese in Australia. He is best known around the world for his performance pieces - story telling with projected images and music in the theatre -which he has been performing since 1989. The best-known work is Sadness (1992), which was made into a film by Tony Ayres in 1999.
This FREE photography exhibition will run in the Western foyer during Spring Dance.
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG: PERFORMANCES DURING FEBRUARY 2011
Riverside Theatre, Parramatta
Stories East & West
William Yang will be conducting a unique and deeply moving theatrical experience in Sydney theatres this February. Stories East & West sees six storytellers come together to share their histories, exploring the relationship they have with their ancestors and their cultural heritage, and how this impacts on their lives today.
Accompanied by personal photographs Yang reveals engaging and moving insights into family, identity, ambition, confusion and determination. William Yang, Chinese-Australian photographer, storyteller and artist, meets with indigenous elder, researcher and former Australia Day Citizen of the Year, Noeline Briggs-Smith to swap stories about their remarkable lives.
Performances will be held at the Belvoir, Surry Hills & Riverside Theatre, Parramatta. Please contact respective theatres for ticket enquiries and details.
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG
Moree Plains Gallery, NSW
1 October - 14 November 2010
Yang has recently been producing a film documentation on Kamilaroi people in
Moree. These plus works from previous series will be shown in the Moree Plains
Gallery. His enigmatic works are on the theme of sadness which are interwoven
with links to his Chinese heritage
Image: © William Yang
UP CLOSE: CAROL JERREMS WITH LARRY CLARK, NAN GOLDIN AND WILLIAM YANG
Heide Museum, Victoria
31 July - 31 October 2010
William Yang’s work will be included in the group show Up Close at the Heide
Museum, alongside work by Carol Jerrems with Larry Clarke and Nan Goldin.
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG: MY GENERATION
Performance Space, Sydney
23 February - 6 March 2010
William Yang recounts his experience of the Sydney art scene of the 1970-80s
in his inimitable performance style that interweaves slide projection,
anecdotal story telling and music.
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG'S MY GENERATION
Hot House Theatre
Albury
16 - 20 June 2009
William Yang recounts his experience of the Sydney art scene of the 1970-80s
in his inimitable performance style that interweaves slide projection,
anecdotal story telling and music.
Image: © William Yang
WILLIAM YANG: LIFE LINES
GALLERY OF MODERN ART
South Bank, Brisbane
28 March - 28 June 2009
Life Lines presents a commissioned installation by William Yang, developed in
response to the architecture of the Gallery of Modern Art. Yang's photographic
and performative work reflects on his Chinese heritage and draws on personal
experiences of both Australia and China.
Image: © William Yang