부산대학교 도서관

Chinese, 20th – 21st century, male. Active in Shanghai. Born 1971, in Beijing. Film-maker and photographer. Yang studied oil painting at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, graduating in 1995 and turning his attention to photography and film-making. Yang’s early photographic triptych The First Intellectual (2000) appeared in the infamous Fuck Off exhibition. The pictures show a bloodied young man standing alone on a vast city street. Holding a briefcase in one hand and a brick in the other, the man appears stunned: what has happened, and what he should do next? Yang’s best-known work and magnum opus is the five-part film Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest (2003–2007). Its title refers to the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, a classic theme in Chinese art, dating back to the fifth century, in which seven gentlemen escaped the vicissitudes of politics and led bohemian lifestyles as musicians and poets fuelled by conversation and wine. The films follow a group of five well-dressed young men and two women as they traverse the sublime landscape of Mount Huang, a remote agricultural village, and a seaside fishing enclave, as well as the interiors, streets, and rooftops of Shanghai. Shot with 35-mm black-and-white film, Yang’s dreamlike films are deliberately paced and set in a nebulous era, providing a contemplative showcase for his painterly vision and framing informed by both photography and traditional Chinese landscape painting. Yang’s characters are confounded by their environments and deeply absorbed in their own thoughts, channelling the feelings of isolation and wonder shared by many young Chinese as they grapple with the rapid economic and social change of the early 21st century. Yang’s films have appeared in solo exhibitions and group shows all over the world. Works such as ...