- Chinese Name: 楊英風美術館
- Located At: Taipei City (Northern Taiwan)
- Year of Establishment: 1992
- Did You Know That…?
- The gorgeous equine statue under the limelight of every Golden Horse Awards, Asia's equivalent of the Academy Awards, was designed by Yang Ying-feng in 1963.
- English Address:
- No. 31 Chongqing S. Road Section 2, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
- Opening Hours: 11 AM to 5 PM (Closed on Sundays)
- Contact Number: +886-2-2396-1966
- Website:www.yuyuyang.org.tw(Chinese only)
Yang Ying-feng (楊英風) was a prolific artist who redefined the sculpture genre for Taiwan towards the end of the 20th century. From the "East-West Gate” (東西門) on Wall Street to the "Heaven-scaling Phoenix” (鳳凌霄漢) loaned to Beijing for the 1990 Asian Games, his artistic impact can be traced around the globe.
The museum takes its name from the late sculptor's childhood nickname, "Yu Yu” (呦呦), which literally means "the bleating of the deer.” Reconstructed from Yang's former workshop, the three-story museum was designed by the artist himself, who had the intent of passing on the essence of his "lifescape sculpture” philosophy and aesthetics.
The phoenix symbolism
Born in 1926 to a family of traders, Yang was mostly brought up by his maternal grandmother in Taiwan while his parents worked in mainland China. Reunited with his parents only once every three years when they came back to visit, Yang often watched his mother brush her hair in front of an ornate, phoenix-etched redwood mirror. The longing for intimacy and companionship soon became inexplicably intertwined with the fantastic creature.
Moreover, in the ancient Chinese oracle bone script, the word for "phoenix” and "wind” are the same; a subtle concurrence that can be perceived as a play on words, for the third character of the artist's name also stands for wind.
Man, Earth, and Heaven
Yang produced more than 1,000 pieces of artwork during his lifetime, and his artistic style and philosophy can be categorized into three periods — Man, Earth, and Heaven.
"Man” refers to his earliest productions, including the Buddha statues he crafted as a student in China and the sketches of Taiwanese rural life that he created while serving as a magazine editor.
The "Earth” period is tied to a three-year stay in Rome and culminated in his famous "Sanshui” bronze series (山水系列) inspired by Taiwan's steep Taroko Gorge, while the "Heaven” period encompasses all the public sculptures in his late years, during which he worked almost exclusively with stainless steel.
The trinity of "Man, Earth, and Heaven,” which has served as the essence of Chinese philosophy and outlook on life, is fully displayed through the collection displayed at the Yu Yu Museum.
‘Lifescape Sculpture'
Yang's lifelong affair with artistic creation culminated in what he coined "lifescape sculpture” (景觀雕塑), an approach that emphasizes the relationship between the art piece and its environment, as well as the relationship with the viewer.
An extension of environmental sculptures, a school of thought Yang learned under Japanese architect Yoshida Isoya (吉田五十八) that highlighted the importance of harmonizing building materials with local settings, "lifescape” adds a third element: mankind.
Take, for example, the East-West Gate placed in front of the Orient Overseas Building on 88 Pine Street in Lower Manhattan's Wall Street Plaza. Yang made the stainless steel surface of his 1973 piece as smooth and reflective as a mirror, thus the Gate continuously reacts to its surroundings and passerbys.
Legacy
Five years before his death, the sculptor finished remodeling his workshop and the Yu Yu Yang Lifescape Sculpture Museum opened to the public on Sept. 26, 1992.
Yang's legacy still resounds through the museum's interior design, in which there are no visible dividers or walls, yet there are visibly separate pockets of space.
The spacious gallery houses the comprehensive set of art by Yang: from calligraphy and meditative decor inspired by traditional Buddhist art in mainland China, highly-stylized sculptures during a three-year stay in Rome, to his own distinct minimalism crafted out of stainless steel.
Media Gallery