Tang Contemporary Art is pleased to present 《 My Realm - 2024 Yang Yong Solo Exhibition 》, a solo exhibition by Chinese artist Yang Yong, better known to us through his special exhibition at the 2002 Gwangju Biennale and the 2003 Venice Biennale, from June 7 to July 13, 2024.

 

《 My Realm - 2024 Yang Yong Solo Exhibition 》 will present a wide realm of Yang Yong's works from 2008 to 2024, including his recent series, ‘Velocity-Limit Edition’. Born in the 1970s and living through China's opening and urbanization process, Yang Yong has been living in the spiral of a rapidly changing society, keeping an eye on reality, change, and the gap between them. As a multimedia artist, he especially uses various approaches depending on the environment to reflect scenes of globalized realities. In this exhibition, through images reproduced in paintings, he questions us about the existence and meaning of the ‘in-between’ for our contemporaries.

 

“2024-Memories-No.1” and “2024-Memories-No.2”, like a still cut from the movie, include two people, a mattress and cushions with pillowcases, and a pillow on which a man puts his head. The two people in the works are the artist and his friend from the 90s, and he uses different mediums to express the emotions he felt while looking at the old photographs from his current perspective. Through the transition of expression, a change in medium, a space of time and emotion is created between photography and painting, and new feelings and thoughts arise from this 'in-between'.

 

High heels on a woman's feet, a woman in a red dress opening a European-style door-knob, palm trees and crumpled wrapping paper and such—The artist collects images from the rapidly consumed mass media, deconstructing and reassembling them. Images that are easily found in everyday life are selected, enlarged and cropped by the artist.  Through this process, the complete image is divided into several different parts, each of which can exist as an independent image, like individual cell. These images contain metaphors, which are analogies for attributes of everyday life and situations of modern society, and induce deeper thought and encourage viewers to discuss social issues.

The tension in the pit lane and the flow of air in the reflection of the race circuit on the racer's helmet create an interesting atmosphere, contrasting with his painting style, which calmly depicts the outside world. Yang Yong's 'Velocity-Limit' series, emphasizes the fleeting moments, presents images of racing in an interesting way.

 

The fascination and sensation of racing—with its adrenaline-pumping speed with extravagance, competition and victory, technology and innovation—is similar to our gaze being attracted to the splendor of a fast-paced society. His reflections on the rapidly changing society and system are expressed calmly but vividly, while maintaining the breathtaking tension felt from the sense of speed. ‘Speed-Limit’ is generally used as a term to regulate the speed limit range. But, the artist translates the title '限速(Speed-Limit)' into English as 'Velocity-Limit'. This title by the artist has dual meaning. At the first glance, the word 'Velocity' which expresses speed, and 'Limit' which means a limit, seem to mean 'speed limit', but in fact, 'Velocity-Limit' is often used in financial transaction and refers to a rule that limits the maximum amount or frequency of transactions allowed in a certain period of time. Through the high-speed movement of the image, the details found in it, and the witty choice of words, he alludes to a life that has lost control due to fast-paced speculation, raising questions about individual freedom and social constraints, consumption culture and alienation, and the values of modern society.

 

Through his first solo exhibition in Korea, 《 My Realm - 2024 Yang Yong Solo Exhibition 》, Yang Yong suggests to us that we feel the moment of “in-between”, share and think about the meaning of “in-between” in a modern society where we are changing together.

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