Biography
Jun Yang was born in 1975 in Qingtian, PR China. His family emigrated to Austria in 1979 and Jun Yang grew up in Vienna. Jun Yang studied at Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam from 1994 to1995, and Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien from 1996 to 2000. He lives and works in Vienna, Taipei and Yokohama.
Jun Yang’s works include films, installations, performances and projects in the public space, he often tells stories in his works that stem from his personal history and focus on questions of cultural and national identity, in particular, what it means to grow up in-between different cultures without resorting to identity politics, and he explores ideas of landscape, home, architecture and social structure – mostly with quirky humor and intimacy.
Jun Yang has participated in several international biennials including: Manifesta 2002, Venice Biennial 2005, Liverpool Biennial 2006, Taipei Biennial 2008, Gwangju Biennial 2012, 2018 and Sydney Biennial 2018. His recent solo exhibitions/projects include: The Artist, His Collaborators, Their Exhibition, and Three Venues, Taipei, 2020-2021; The Artist, the Work and the Exhibition, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, 2019; The Overview Perspective, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, 2018; Does Europe Matter? Europe (to the power of) n, The Pavilion, Beijing, 2013; Paris Syndrome, Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou, 2008.
Jun Yang was the 25th Msgr. Otto Mauer Prize Winner (2005); in 2017 he received the Prize for Fine Arts of the City of Vienna. Jun Yang is a co-founder of Taipei Contemporary Art Center. Together with his brother Yang Tie and his friend Dong Ngo, he founded the restaurant and bar ra’mien in 2002 and the restaurant chain ra’mien go in 2012. The Café Leopold also recently opened at Leopold Museum in Vienna.
Artist’s Website: http://junyang.info