Banner Galleries: Andrew Yee - Then & Now 2022

Content from UpNext.com.au. Please don't scrape website.

Then & Now is a collection of works celebrating a handful of Sydney's iconic Asian businesses that have shut their doors or suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Every piece juxtaposes the fierce tiger against each establishment's iconic façade to create empowering images, showing just how vital they were to Sydney's identity. I wish my banners to become more than just artworks; I want to make historical documents that these businesses existed and resonated with communities. In the Asian community, these businesses were spaces of safety, comfort and experiences that will leave everlasting memories.

About the artist:

Andrew Yee (b. 1989, Sydney) is multidisciplinary artist working across illustration, video, installation and podcasting. Yee's formative years spent in Sydney's East Ryde district created a disconnect with his surroundings, searching for his identity through a consumption of 2000s manga, pro-wrestling, the spectacle of K-pop and the emotional draw of music.

His visual practice offers a meditative glimpse into concepts of personal identity and emotions often crafted through imaginative narrative forms presented in an idiosyncratic, surreal and comic- inspired style.

Solo exhibitions:

Demolition (2015), goodspace, Sydney; ANDYSFRNDS (2016), goodspace, Sydney; Andrew Yee (2018), VU Gallery, Washington, United States of America; and YAYALAND (2019), Babekhul Studio, Sydney. He has participated in several group exhibitions including Luminiferous Aether (2013), VIVID Sydney; World Tour (2016), goodspace, Sydney; The Light of Dawn (2017), Kensington Street, Sydney; Hear Me Out (2017), Contemporary Arts Precinct, Melbourne; and Lousy Show (2018), BSIDE Gallery, Melbourne. Andrew has facilitated art workshops for children and adults, including at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, self-produced two publications and was a finalist for the IGTV Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival in 2019.