Invited by German curator Dott Felix Schoeber, Yang’s sculptures will appear in Saint Giovanni e Paolo Church, the oldest church in the city. Running alongside the biennale is an exhibition organized by the Cabinet-level Council of Cultural Affairs featuring four of the island’s artists.
“Any artist would be over the moon to participate in the world’s biggest exhibition and I’m certainly no exception,” Yang said. According to the sculptor, he named his latest exhibition “Temple of Sublime Beauty: Made in Taiwan,” to echo the theme of this year’s biennale, “Making Worlds.”
For Yang, the concept of re-interpretation and hybridism are representative of Taiwan’s culture. This explains his rationale for combining Buddhism and iconic animation characters, such as the Little Mermaid and Peter Pan, in sculptures. “Buddhism and animation both come from outside Taiwan, but as time goes by, we accept and localize these sub-cultures,” Yang said. “Through our eyes, they take on new interpretations and personas.”
As for the idea of combining comic book heroes and gods, Yang concedes that on first impressions, bringing these two sets of figures together results in a mismatch of sorts. “Gods are considered the highest and most sublime of entities, while heroes and heroines in comics and animations are far more common,” he said. “They seem completely unrelated, but both the Buddhist gods and superheroes have enormous powers and spirits of sacrifice.”
“For many of us, these comic book heroes and heroines are companions while we are growing up and figures we worship and identify with,” Yang said, “Doesn’t religion play the same role in many people’s lives?”
Yang’s reworked superhero sculptures of Mazinger Z, Peter Pan and Snow White will be displayed in the church as traditional gods and goddesses in their shrines. “The installation will run inside and out, from ground to roof,” he said.
In fact, this is not the first time Yang has played mix and match with religion and animation. In 1996, he employed this idea in his popular series of oil paintings similarly named “Made in Taiwan.”
According to the artist, he felt his “comic gods” deserved to be transformed into wood and stainless steel sculptures. Yang said his inspiration for this act stems from local religious customs. “Deities tend to be worshipped most reverently at the time when they are supposed to return to their celestial homes,” he said, “My exhibition can be viewed as a worshipping ritual in which we human beings bid farewell to these ‘comic gods.’”
Yang’s eye-catching sculptures have proven popular with the critics wherever they have shown. Schoeber, a long-time friend of Yang’s, first saw the pieces in Shanghai around 2005. The curator appreciated the originality of Yang’s concept and asked the artist to create more. “Ever since then, the both of us have been thinking about showing in Venice at the biennale,” Yang said. “Finally, the dream has come true.”
Write to Amber Wu at amber0207@mail.gio.gov.tw