Lohkchat!

Sponsored by the Consulat de France and the Long March Foundation
in conjunction with
Symposium, “HOME AND AWAY”
Co-presented with Vancouver Art Gallery and Simon Fraser University

“If we want to select someone to represent the typical Canton contemporary art model, Yang Jiechang would probably be the most fitting candidate” – Chen Tong

YANG Jiechang is one of the most significant artists to emerge from the Peoples’ Republic of China in the last twenty years. After graduating from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1982, he took up a rigorous study of classical ink painting with the Taoist priest, Huangtao from Luofu Mountain. At the same time he became a leader on the contemporary art scene, organizing events and helping to articulate a distinct Guangzhou style. After participating in the pivotal international exhibition “Magiciens de la terre”, he relocated to Paris in 1988. There he gained recognition for a series of black paintings, severe in their abstraction and astonishing in their depth. Since the late 1990s he has produced large installation works that involve video projection, sound and painting of monumental scale. He has also been one of the key organizers in presentations of recent art from Guangzhou held at the Kwangju Biennale (Korea, 2002) and the Venice Biennale (“Canton Express”, 2003). Images and critical appreciation can be found at www.chinese-art.com/artists/YangJiechang/

The installation at Centre A involved a video projection, a huge “carpet” depicting Charles de Gaulle Airport, a large photo collage of the cockpit of a 747 and a limited edition flipbook. The piece provokes a complex set of issues associated with flying in airplanes — from children’s fantasies to terrorism, international migration and ultimately the cycle of life and death.

Centre A would like to express its deep appreciation to the Consulat de France de Vancouver and the Long March Foundation for their sponsorship of this exhibition.

Yang Jiechang’s exhibition at Centre A took place as a pparallel to the international group show, “HOME AND AWAY”, at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Centre A gratefully acknowledges the support of the City of Vancouver, the British Columbia Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts in making this exhibition possible.