Yujun Ye: L.A. Dreaming
18th Street Arts Center visiting artist in residence, Yujun Ye of Taiwan, explores the multi-faceted dream that Los Angeles represents to its residents and to the world in her solo exhibition “El Sueño de Los Angeles.” Incorporating elements of sculpture, video, audio, light installation, and live performance, the exhibition creates a surreal landscape of the city exploring themes such as alienation, immigration, the subconscious, childhood, fantasy, film, Hollywood, and dreams. Produced in conjunction with a three-month residency supported by the Ministry of Culture Taiwan, Ye’s installation will continue to transform throughout its duration to reflect her evolving experiences of the city. The project will culminate in the construction of a new interactive work in collaboration with French multimedia artist Alexis Mailles alongside a final performance realized with L.A.-based artists Dan Kwong, Monel Chang, Frida Li, Oshus, Mystic Pete, and others, on Thursday, December 11 at 7pm.
Growing up in Taipei, Ye was interested in art, drawing “as most children do,” but became seriously committed to art practice when she began her studies in France in 2001. She obtained a Master’s degree from Ecole Nationale Supérieur d’Arts de Paris-Cergy and a MFA in Media Numérique from Paris-Sorbonne — eight years in France that were fundamental to the development of her practice. At the school of new media at the Sorbonne, Ye became introduced to the fields of performance, dance, sound, video, and installation, meeting and working with influential artists and teachers like Orlan, Skip Arnold, Judith Perron, and well-known choreographer Daniel Dobbels. There she joined an international art group, Réseau Artskool, and through years of individual and collaborative work, became focused on performance art.
