Starting Thursday, the Wright Museum of Art will present the work of Milwaukee-based artist Jason S. Yi, an artist who creates across multiple disciplines.
Yi has exhibited extensively in major cities across the U.S. and abroad in Austria, South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, and his installation and video pieces have also recently become part of permanent collections at the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Rather than being tied to one specific medium, he readily explores drawing, sculpture, photography, installation, and video.
The artist has created a site-specific installation in the Wright Museum that fills nearly half of the North Gallery. Over a period of two days, Jason and his team carefully constructed a mountain of tables and metal folding chairs, which were then bound with countless rolls of colorful duct tape and topped with a cloud of reflective foil. The resulting mixed assemblage essentially transforms these every-day utilitarian objects into a work of art. This imposing structure, although securely anchored, embodies a sense of chaos and movement as it spills into the viewers' space. Jason describes his design aesthetic and inspiration further:
“A sense of location within one’s physical space, culture and history plays a crucial role in the creation of my work. While images and ideas often begin with the landscape, I am also drawn to the incorporation of non-art materials (e.g., foam, packing peanuts, bubble wrap and PVC tubes) and the juxtaposition of ambiguous imagery, deliberately subverting viewer’s visual expectations. My work invokes the paradoxical notion of “harmonious conflict” where compositional/conceptual relationship of materials and images are questioned and yet valued.”
The opening reception for Jason S. Yi’s exhibit “Move a Mountain” is Thursday (Jan. 26) from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., with a special artist lecture at 5 p.m.; the exhibit will be up through March 23.