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Lindy Lee

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Not to be confused withLindy Li.

Lindy LeeAO(born 1954) is an Australianpainterandsculptorof Chinese heritage, whose work blends the cultures of Australia and her ancestral China and explores herBuddhistfaith. She has exhibited widely, and is particularly known for her large works ofpublic art,such as several iterations ofThe Life of Starsat various locations in China and on the forecourt of theArt Gallery of South Australia,andThe Garden of Cloud and StoneinSydney's Chinatown district.

Secret World of Starlight Emberat the east side ofMuseum of Contemporary Art Australia

Early life and education[edit]

Lee was born in 1954 inBrisbane,Queensland,[1]the daughter ofChinese immigrantswho fledGuangdongprovince[2]in China with their two older children after therise of communismin that country.[3]Her father arrived first, in 1949, and her mother and siblings, came afterwards, in 1953.[4]Lee's experiences with racism as a child in Australia coupled with her experience of feeling alienated when visiting China because of her inability to speak in the Chinese language contributed to her interest in melding the cultures in her work.[5]

She first qualified as a secondary school teacher atKelvin Grove Teachers Collegein 1975. After encountering art galleries on a trip to Europe, she decided to pursue a career in art.[2]She attended theChelsea School of Artin London,[5]after which she considered a career as an art teacher, but exposure toportraitureand contemporary art in London and elsewhere in Europe decided her to become a professional artist.[3]During her years at graduate school at theSydney College of the Artsin Australia she made her first portrait utilisingphotocopiers,a technique which featured prominently in her early work.[1][5]

After decades as a practising artist, Lee attended theUniversity of New South Wales,from which she achieved her PhD in Fine Art in 2001.[5]

Themes and practice[edit]

The Life of Starsby Lindy Lee in the forecourt of theArt Gallery of South Australia

Initially denying her Chinese heritage and identity, she decided to embrace it and explore it in her art, initially using photos from thefamily albumand creating two-dimensional artworks.[4]Her later work blends the cultures of Australia and her ancestral China and explores herBuddhistfaith.[6]

Lee's work began in 1983 with a strong interest in originality and reproductions, utilising photocopiers to reproduce famous portraits over which she painted original work[3]withacrylic paintafter distorting the images. The resulting artworks raised questions about "originality and authenticity".[2]Eventually, she began adding portraits of family and others before moving into other art forms, including sculpture.[3]In 2008, during a residency inKuala Lumpur,she began experimenting with first pierced paper, and then, withsoldering ironsandblow torchesin a studio in Beijing, started burning holes in other materials, developing her distinctive "fire drawings".[4]

As she became more involved inZen Buddhism,she began to incorporate elements of religion in her work, which often focuses heavily on the theme of suffering.[3][7]She also reflectsTaoistthemes, including the interconnectedness of the universe and of nature and humanity.[6]

Works[edit]

Lee's most prominent public works include several iterations ofThe Life of Starsat various locations in China and inAdelaide,South Australia, andThe Garden of Cloud and StoneinSydney's Chinatown district.[5][8]

The Life of Stars[edit]

In 2014, Lee was commissioned byTing Hsin International Groupin Shanghai to create a public art work, at which time she first started working withUrban Art Projects(UAP) in Brisbane, usingbronze.After experimenting with a technique inspired by Buddhist spiritual practice which focused ononeness with nature,UAP collaborated with her to create the 6 m (20 ft) mirror polishedstainless steel,egg-shaped sculpture,The Life of Starsfor the commission. The numerous piercings in the steel were arranged in overlappingconcentric circles,representing "earth, life, birth and renewal" that is found in Tao and Buddhist principles,[4]referring symbolically to the connectedness of the universe via a concept used inMahayana Buddhism.[9]

Several more versions ofThe Life of Starsnow exist: in Shanghai; at the Province Midtown Cultural Centre[10]inZhengzhou(Life of Stars: Tenderness of Rain);[5]andXi'an,in China; as well as at the entrance to theArt Gallery of South Australia(AGSA) in Adelaide.[4]The latter 6-metre (20 ft) sculpture was mounted on the AGSA forecourt after being presented for the 2018Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art:Divided Worlds,[9]its polished stainless steel surface reflecting its surroundings[11]while simultaneously radiating light. Over 30,000 holes were individually placed by Lee[12]resemble a map of our galaxy when lit from within. The sculpture was bought by the gallery as a farewell gift for departing directorNick Mitzevichin April 2018.[13]

NGA ouroboros[edit]

In September 2021 theNational Gallery of Australia(NGA) under director Nick Mitzevich commissioned an immersive 4 m (13 ft) sculpture based on theouroboros(an ancient symbol depicting a snake eating its own tail), to be placed near its main entrance of the gallery.[14]Scheduled to be finished in 2024, at 14 million dollars the sculpture is the most expensive commission to date.[15][16]Two art critics criticised the purchase in 2021:John McDonaldofThe Sydney Morning Heraldthought that the money could have been better spent filling some significant gaps in its collection,[17]whileChristopher Allenconcurred, and thought that it merely "offer[s] a passive experience to audiences who are unwilling or unable to engage more actively with works of art".[18]

Other roles[edit]

Lee was a founding member ofGallery 4A(now the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art) in Sydney in 1996.[5]

She was a senior lecturer at theSydney College of the Arts(a faculty of theUniversity of Sydney) for more than two decades,[5]and has been a trustee at theArt Gallery of New South Wales.[19]

She has served on the boards ofArtspace Visual Arts Centreand theAustralian Centre for Photography,and was president of theAsian Australian Artists Associationas well as deputy chair of theVisual Arts and Crafts Fundof theAustralia Council.[5]

Recognition[edit]

Considered one of the foremost contemporary artists in the country, Lee has been commissioned to create several pieces ofpublic art,such asCloud GateinSydney's Chinatown districtaround 2013, consisting of cloud shapes made ofbrassinlaid into the footpath. Valued at approximatelyA$500,000,the artwork was mistakenly covered during construction of theSydney Light Railnetwork in 2018, but was scheduled to be repaired.[20]

Lee is also widely known internationally, having exhibited in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.[5]

In 2018[10]Lee, in collaboration with art fabricatorsUrban Art Projects(UAP), won an international competition run by theNew York State Department of Transportationto build a public artwork in the heart ofNew York's Chinatown,beating around 80 other entries. Her design, initially called "Drum Tower", is a cylindrical steel tower approximately 20 m (66 ft) high, based on thedrum towers(guzou) found in villages and cities in China, marking the symbolic centre. They were used to mark nightfall and to summon the people for civic ceremonies and significant occasions, such asChinese New Year.[4]Following some objections to the design, later namedThe Dragon's Roar,the future of the sculpture was to be decided after community consultation in September 2019.[21][22]

Tony Costa's oil painting of Lee won theArchibald Prizefor portraiture in 2019. He said that he had been "attracted to her wisdom, humility, courage, humour and, above all, her deep focus regarding her art practice".[23]

Elizabeth Ann Macgregor,curator of theMuseum of Contemporary Art Australia(MCA), commented in 2021:[24]

Lindy Lee's work is especially pertinent today, as society is challenged by the realisation of the extent of theclimate crisis,the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemicwhich separates rather than connects people, the rise of populist policies that foster racism, and theBlack Lives Mattermovement... Lee's work is essentially concerned with the direct and intimate connection between humans and the universe, as a consequence of her exploration of her own identity, living between two cultures and her study of Zen Buddhism.

Lee was appointed anOfficer of the Order of Australiain the2024 Australia Day Honoursfor "distinguished service to contemporary visual arts as a sculptor and painter, and to arts administration through leadership roles".[25]

Exhibitions[edit]

Lee started exhibiting her work in the 1980s.[1]She has exhibited widely, with shows outside Australia in the United States, Germany, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.[6]

In 1991, Lee was included inFrames of Reference: Aspects of Feminism and ArtatArtspace.Her work, along with that of two otherAsian Australianartists, was featured in the inaugural exhibition ofGallery 4A(now the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art) in 1997.[26]

In 2014, theUniversity of Queensland Art Museummounted a survey of her work to date.[27]

From 2 October 2020 until 28 February 2021,Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop,the largest ever solo exhibition of Lee's work, was mounted at the MCA in Sydney, curated byElizabeth Ann Macgregor.The exhibition features more than 70 artworks, including a number of new works specially commissioned for the MCA.[24]The exhibition then went on tour, starting with a stint at the Western Plains Cultural Centre inDubbo,New South Wales, from 22 May to 1 August 2021, to be followed by the Lismore Regional Gallery inLismore(NSW);Artspace Mackay(Queensland);Devonport Regional Gallery(Tasmania); and theJohn Curtin Gallery(Perth,WA),[10]finishing on 24 July 2022.[28]

Personal life[edit]

Lee was married to photographer Robert Scott-Mitchell (1954-2021), whose portrait of her won theNational Photographic Portrait Prizein 2007. They lived in theNorthern Riversregion ofNew South Walesfrom 2014 until his death from cancer in June 2021.[29]

Lee has long been a practisingBuddhist,which infuses both her life and her work.[30]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcKent, Rachel."Lindy Lee".Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.Retrieved24 April2019.
  2. ^abc"Lindy Lee".National Gallery of Australia.Know My Name. 14 November 2020.Retrieved27 September2021.IncludesLindy Leeby Anne O'Hehir, excerpted fromKnow My Name(2020).
  3. ^abcdeRichard Glover(13 March 2019)."Contemporary artist Lindy Lee".ABC Radio Sydney.Retrieved12 February2022.
  4. ^abcdefYoung, Michael (28 August 2019)."Lindy Lee's Drum Tower in New York".Asian Art Newspaper.Retrieved25 September2021.
  5. ^abcdefghij"About".Lindy Lee.Retrieved24 September2021.
  6. ^abcGan, Natasha (4 November 2017)."The Life of Stars at ART021 Shanghai".Indonesia Design.Retrieved24 April2019.
  7. ^"The alarming beauty of suffering".Art Guide Australia.Retrieved24 April2019.
  8. ^"Tenderness of Rain".Sullivan+Strumpf.Retrieved24 September2021.
  9. ^ab"Lindy Lee: The Life of Stars".Art Gallery of South Australia.22 March 2018.Retrieved11 October2020.
  10. ^abc"Major contemporary art exhibition to visit Dubbo".Dubbo Regional Council.2020.Retrieved27 September2021.
  11. ^"The Life of Stars".Art Gallery of South Australia.Retrieved11 October2020.
  12. ^Stranger, Lucy (26 September 2017)."Lindy Lee".Artist Profile.Retrieved11 October2020.
  13. ^McDonald, Patrick (27 April 2018)."Stellar farewell for gallery director".Adelaide Now.Retrieved11 October2020.
  14. ^"Lindy Lee:Ouroboros".National Gallery of Australia.23 September 2021.
  15. ^Convery, Stephanie (23 September 2021)."National Gallery of Australia orders $14m Ouroboros sculpture – its most expensive commission so far".The Guardian.Retrieved24 September2021.
  16. ^Daniel Browning."Public art, toppled monuments and the statue in the crate"(Audio + text).ABC Radio National(Interview). The Art Show.Retrieved21 October2021.
  17. ^John McDonald (23 September 2021)."Is the National Gallery of Australia's new sculpture worth the $14m price tag?".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved12 February2022.
  18. ^Christopher Allen(24 September 2021)."Stupid NGA money reflects poor leadership".The Australian.Retrieved12 February2022.
  19. ^Stephens, Andrew (8 June 2012)."Through familiar eyes".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved24 April2019.
  20. ^Brown, Michelle (1 November 2018)."$500,000 artwork becomes bitumen after Sydney light rail bungle".ABC News.Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Retrieved23 September2021.
  21. ^Smithson, Aaron (5 August 2019)."Proposed Chinatown sculpture stirs controversy in New York".The Architect's Newspaper.Retrieved25 September2021.
  22. ^Glassman, Carl (21 July 2019)."Design for a New 'Gateway' Chinatown Tower Is Blasted by CB1 Committee".The Tribeca Trib.Retrieved25 September2021.
  23. ^"Archibald Prize Archibald 2019 finalist: Lindy Lee by Tony Costa".Art Gallery of NSW.Retrieved25 September2021.
  24. ^ab"Largest solo exhibition of Lindy Lee's works opens at MCA Australia".Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.Retrieved27 September2021.
  25. ^"Dr Lindy Lee".Australian Honours Search Facility.Retrieved25 January2024.
  26. ^Tai, Mikala (26 October 2020)."Defining Moments: Founding of Gallery 4A"(Podcast+ text).Australian Centre for Contemporary Art(Lecture).Retrieved23 September2021.
  27. ^The University of Queensland Art Museum (16 September 2014)."UQ Art Museum showcases 30 years of Lindy Lee".UQ News.University of Queensland.Retrieved24 April2019.
  28. ^"Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop".MCA Australia.Retrieved27 September2021.
  29. ^"Rob Scott-Mitchell".Lone Goat Gallery.Retrieved12 May2024.
  30. ^"Lindy Lee".MCA Australia.8 September 2020.Retrieved12 May2024.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lindy_Lee&oldid=1226008680"