Yee I-Lann “Like the Banana Tree”
Tyler Rollins Fine Art
This event has ended.
Yee I-Lann’s solo exhibition of new works, Like the Banana Tree at the Gate, takes inspiration from two motifs that are iconic in her native Malaysia and throughout Southeast Asia: the ubiquitous banana tree; and the pontianak, a vengeful female spirit with long black hair who is sometimes said to reside in that plant. With a series of her characteristic digital photocollage works, along with a three-channel video, Yee captures the potency of female power derived from local knowledge and folkloric traditions, reframing it in a contemporary context informed by an active socio-political engagement. She conflates legendary tales with the memory of mid-twentieth century feminist movements such as Indonesia’s Gerwani organization, which gained enormous popularity in the 1950s and ‘60s before being suppressed by the military.
Born in 1971 in Kota Kinabalu, capital of Malaysia’s northern Borneo province of Sabah, Yee received her BA in Visual Arts from the University of South Australia, Adelaide, in 1993. Now based in Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, she has established herself over the past 20 years as one of the region’s leading contemporary artists, known for her digital photocollage series that deftly employ a complex, multi-layered visual vocabulary drawn from historical references, popular culture, archives, and everyday objects – works that speculate on issues of culture, power, and the role of historical memory in social experience, often with particular focus on themes and motifs that reference the indigenous cultures of Borneo.
The public is cordially invited to join the artist for the opening reception this Thursday, April 28, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, at 529 W 20th Street, New York City.
Media
Schedule
from April 28, 2016 to June 17, 2016
Opening Reception on 2016-04-28 from 18:00 to 20:00