2003
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Tree . Man

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Nov 08, 2003 - Nov 28, 2003

@1a space

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Curator :  Choi Yan Chi and May Fung
Participating Artist﹕ DannyYung

The Past and The Present: Tree and Forest;
Still and Action: Individual and the Mass

Inspired by an experimental concept that had occupied Danny Yung for over ten years: “Digital Technology and Reading behavour”, he has at last merged all these elements and created the main theme of this exhibition.

The exhibition comprises two huge paintings (8 x 12 feet) conceptualized by Danny, appropriated from an ancient Chinese painting and an image from the July First rally respectively. They are blended by digital technology revolving around the subject matter of tree and man. “Tree”, in the Chinese painting, is a unit of “Forest”; Man is a unit of the July First rally. All these elements are re-explored in Danny’s digitalized paintings. Viewing these two paintings closely and from afar, one will perceive different visions macroscopically and microscopically in which a tree is so entwined with forest and an individual with the mass. It will give the viewer a whole new experience of seeing.

This show also features Danny’s artworks with photo documentations. In addition, several critics, writers and artists have been requested to write on his on his previous works that will bring insights to the readers about the relationships between an artist, his art works and the institutions. A publication will be issued to this effect during the exhibition period.

Two Dialogues: "The Cross-over of Media Arts" & "Arts and Civil Society", will be held in conjunction with the exhibition, are presented by 1a space in collaboration with International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong)


Biography of Danny Yung
Danny Yung was born in Shanghai, China in 1943 and moved to Hong Kong with his family at the age of five. He studied Architecture at the University of California University, Berkeley, and completed his master degree on Urban Design and Urban Planning at Columbia University. In 1979, he returned to Hong Kong and held his first one-man cartoon exhibition. After which he became deeply involved in all aspects of the arts, including experimental films, cartoons, conceptual art, installation, video and performing arts. He formed the avant-garde arts collective Zuni Icosahedron in 1982 and he has been Artistic Director of Zuni since 1985.

Yung has been involved in over 100 theatrical productions as director, scriptwriter, producer and stage designer since 1982. His "Journey to the East" series, "Two or Three Things" series, "Hundred Years of Solitude" series and "Deep Structure of Chinese Culture" series were staged in many countries, including Japan, Taiwan, Belgium, Germany, England and the United States. His recent "Four Grand Inventions" was staged in Hong Kong and Berlin in 2000. In 2000, Yung organized an eleven weeks Festivals of Vision a cross-cultural festivals and conferences in Berlin and Hong Kong, which involves 1000 artists and cultural practitioners from some thirty-five cities in Asia and Europe.

Yung is also a keen advocate of new art forms. His experimental films, video work, and installation works have been shown at festivals in Berlin, London, Rotterdam, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and New York. His artwork is selected as one of the 56 Chinese visual artists for the Inside Out: New Chinese Art in 1999. His one-person show “Tree and Man” opens at 1A Space in 2003.

Since 1987, Yung has initiated a series of public forums on cultural policies on arts. In 1990, he organized the Cultural Policy Study Group that has since produced several influential reports, including In Search of Cultural Policy, 1991, and In Search of Cultural Policy, 1993. He has also founded two pressure groups to work on cultural policy issues. From 1997 onward, Yung has initiated several important arts network in Asia, among them, Asia Arts Net, Chinese City to City Cultural Forum, Asia Pacific Performing Arts Network.

In 1993, Yung was appointed by the Hong Kong Government as a founder member of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) and was the first chairperson of its Arts Education Committee, which was involved with the formulation of Hong Kong’s arts policy. He was reappointed to the Council in 2000. In 2001, he co-organized the World Culture Forum, and became the vice-president in 2003. He is currently a part-time member of Central Policy Unit, a Hong Kong Government Think Tank. He has written extensively on arts, culture, and the media.

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