Jun Yang
The solo exhibition by Jun Yang in the Kunsthaus Graz is dedicated to fundamental questions of artistic practice: Besides the presentation of Yang’s works, the exhibition reflects authorship, constructions of identity and allocations of roles. How is artistic practice defined when exchanged with others? At the beginning of 2018, The Monograph Project by Jun Yang was published, a monograph totalling six volumes about the artist and his work, which challenges monographic conventions and biography. The format, cover and even spelling of the artist’s name changes from volume to volume. This is precisely what interests Yang: to break the narrative of authentic, brilliant creators – a narrative that has proven particularly well-suited to the branding of an artist and his/her work. The solo exhibition at the Kunsthaus Graz links up to this. The exhibition, like the monograph, becomes itself the subject of artistic investigation. With works by Siren Jung, Lee Kit, Paul McCarthy/Mike Kelley, Michikazu Matsune, Yuuki Nishimura, Yuki Okumura, Koki Tanaka, Bruce Yonemoto and Maja Vukoje.
Jun Yang is represented with a second project, The Emperor’s Ice, in the Austrian Sculpture Park in Premstätten at the same time. In November 2018 he had a block of ice cream buried in the ground, which will be dug up again on May 19th, 2019 as part of the Spring Celebration – reconstructed according to an old Chinese method whereby ice cream was preserved up to the summer.
