Queensland Art Gallery - Queensland Government

Artist biographies
Minam Apang
b.1980 Naharlagun, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Lives and works in Bangalore, India
Minam Apang's drawings reference the imagery of
India’s cities, as well as the mythology of her native
Arunachal Pradesh in India’s far north-east, located
between China, Bhutan and Myanmar. Trained in
traditional Buddhist thangka (scroll) painting, as
well as contemporary Western practices, Apang
investigates the forms, methods and languages
of drawing, while reflecting a culture that is
interconnected and rich in narrative. She studied
for a Bachelor of Fine Art at Elmhurst College,
United States, and the University of Leeds, United
Kingdom, as part of an exchange program in 2001.
She initiated the art collaborative Lazy Rebels while
studying for her Masters in Mumbai in 2004.
Exhibitions (solo): Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai, India,
2008, 2007. Exhibitions (group): ‘Present/Future’,
National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, 2005.
Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan
Maria Isabel Gaudinez-Aquilizan
b.1965 Manila, the Philippines
Alfredo Juan Aquilizan
b.1962 Cagayan Valley, the Philippines
Live and work in Brisbane, Australia
The husband-and-wife team of Isabel and Alfredo
Aquilizan creates works that use the processes
of collecting, collaborating and educating to
express ideas of migration, family and memory.
Often working with local communities, the
Aquilizans compose elaborate, formal installations
reflecting individual experiences of dislocation
and change. Having migrated from the Philippines
to Australia, the Aquilizans’ work reflects personal
experience, while conveying points of exchange
and communication that extend beyond borders.
Alfredo Aquilizan received a Bachelor of Fine
Arts from the Philippine Women’s University
and a Masters of Arts in Fine Arts from Anglia
Polytechnic University, Norwich School of Arts
and Design, United Kingdom, also undertaking
Education units in Teaching at the University of the
Philippines. Isabel Aquilizan received a Bachelor
of Communication, majoring in Theatre Arts
Production, from Assumption College, Makati City,
the Philippines.
Exhibitions (solo): Logan Art Gallery, Brisbane,
2008; The Drawing Room, Manila, 2006.
Exhibitions (group): Singapore Biennale, 2008;
Adelaide Biennial, Australia, 2008; 15th Biennale
of Sydney, 2006; Gwangju Biennale, South Korea,
2004; 50th Biennale of Venice, 2003.
Chen Chieh-jen
b.1960 Taoyuan, Taiwan
Lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan
Chen Chieh-jen has been a significant figure in
the development of Taiwanese conceptual art
since the early 1980s. A self-taught artist, he was
a prominent and controversial figure during
Taiwan’s martial law period (1949–87), and
his practice — photography, installation and
performance — directly reflects on the historical
events through which he has lived. Chen’s first
film was completed in 2001.
Exhibitions (solo): Museo Nacional Centro de
Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2008; Asia Society
Museum, New York, 2007. Exhibitions (group):
53rd Biennale of Venice, 2009; 10th Istanbul
Biennial, 2007; 15th Biennale of Sydney, 2006;
51st Biennale of Venice, 2005.
Chen Qiulin
b.1975 Hubei, China
Lives and works in Chengdu, China
Chen Qiulin creates evocative works that comment
on the scale and pace of change in contemporary
China, and includes concern for the people
living along the Yangtze River. Thousands of
communities have been displaced by the Three
Gorges Dam hydro-electric project, including
those of Chen’s hometown in Wanzhou. Chen
studied printmaking at the Sichuan Fine Arts
Institute, China, and graduated in 2000. Her
work has since included photography, sculpture,
performance and installation.
Exhibitions (solo): University Art Museum, Albany,
New York, 2007; Long March Space, Beijing, 2006.
Exhibitions (group): Gwangju Biennale, South
Korea, 2008; ‘China Power Station Part 2’, Astrup
Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway,
2008; ‘The Wall’, China Millennium Art Museum,
Beijing, 2005, toured to Albright-Knox Art Gallery,
Buffalo, United States, 2005.
Cheo Chai-Hiang
b.1946 Singapore
Lives and works in Singapore
Cheo Chai-Hiang is one of Singapore’s pioneering
contemporary artists; his instruction pieces from
the early 1970s are generally regarded as the first
conceptual art works made in the country. Cheo
initially eschewed formal art instruction in favour
of self-education. He left Singapore for the United
Kingdom, however, in 1971 to pursue formal art
training, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
(Hons) in Fine Art from Brighton Polytechnic in
1975, and a Master of Art from the Royal College
of Art in London in 1978.
Exhibitions (solo): Osage Gallery, Hong Kong,
2009; Sculpture Square, Singapore, 2005; Casula
Powerhouse, Sydney, 2000. Exhibitions (group):
Singapore Biennale, 2008; ‘Telah Terbit (Out
Now)’, Singapore Art Museum, 2006.
DAMP
Dan Cass
b.1970 Melbourne, Australia
Rob Creedon
b.1969 Melbourne
Narelle Desmond
b.1970 Melbourne
Ry Haskings
b.1977 Melbourne
Sam George
b.1987 Melbourne
Sharon Goodwin
b.1973 Melbourne
Deb Kunda
b.1972 Melbourne
James Lynch
b.1974 Melbourne
Dan Moynihan
b.1974 Melbourne
Lisa Radford
b.1976 Melbourne
Nat Thomas
b.1967 Brisbane, Australia
Kylie Wilkinson
b.1971 Melbourne
est.1995 Melbourne
DAMP is an artist group with 12 current members.
Membership has been fluid over the years, with
an alumnus numbering over 70, though not all
members identify themselves as artists. Many of
DAMP’s projects involve audience participation,
inviting them into the group or diffusing DAMP
members into the audience, deliberately confusing
the two. DAMP does not have a particular identity
beyond being simply a group, and is consequently
open to change and external influence.
Exhibitions (solo): Heide Museum of Modern Art,
Melbourne, 2008; Uplands Gallery, Melbourne,
2007; Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide,
2001; 200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 1999.
Exhibitions (group): ‘2004: Australian Culture Now’,
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2004;
‘Charley’, PS1, New York, 2002; ‘Octopus 2’,
200 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 2001.
Solomon Enos
b. 1976 Wai’anae, Hawai’i, United States
Lives and works in Kalihi, Hawai’i
Born and raised in Wai’anae, Solomon Enos is
a native Hawaiian painter, teacher and activist.
Dedicated to preserving and communicating
his Maoli culture through art, Enos has garnered
respect for his paintings, children’s book
illustrations and major mural commissions. Between
2006 and 2007, he published Polyfantastica, an
epic 40 000-year backstory to Hawaiian culture
in a weekly comic in the Honolulu Advertiser
newspaper. Enos, with his family, also acts as
caretaker of the Kalihi Valley Nature Park in Hawai’i.
Exhibitions (group): Hawai‘i State Art Museum,
Honolulu, 2009; ‘Nä Akua Wahine: Celebrating
the Female Gods of Hawai‘i Nei’, Bishop Museum,
Honolulu, 2005; ‘Right to Know: Multimedia
Installation on the World of Information’, The
Arts at Marks Garage, Manoa, Hawai’i, 2005.
Publications: Ka Mo’olelo O Hi’iakaikapoliopele
(The Epic Tale of Hi’iakaikapoliopele), text and
translations by Puakea Nogelmeier, illustrations by
Solomon Enos, Awaiaulu Inc., Honululu, Hawai’i,
2006; Akua Hawai’i: Hawaiian Gods and their
Stories, text by Kimo Armitage, illustrations by
Solomon Enos, Kamahoi Press, Bishop Museum,
Honolulu, Hawai’i, 2005.
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
b.1924 Qazvin, Iran
Lives and works in Tehran, Iran
With a distinguished career spanning over
50 years, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
is a senior figure in contemporary Iranian art.
Farmanfarmaian spent many years living in New
York as an art student and, later, as a fashion
illustrator at department store Bonwit Teller, where
she worked alongside Andy Warhol. She returned
to Iran in 1957 and established herself as an
artist, holding major exhibitions in Tehran, Paris,
Venice and New York. After the Islamic Revolution
of 1979, she took refuge in New York, returning
permanently to Tehran in 2000.
Exhibitions (solo): Leighton House Museum,
London, 2008; The Third Line, Dubai, United Arab
Emirates, 2007; Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, 2006. Exhibitions (group): ‘East-West
Divan’, 53rd Biennale of Venice, 2009; ‘The Power
of the Ornament’, Belvedere, Vienna, Austria, 2008;
Biennale of Venice, 1964 and 1958.
Subodh Gupta
b.1964 Khagaul, Bihar, India
Lives and works in Gurgaon, Haryana, India
One of India’s most prominent contemporary
artists, Subodh Gupta works in a wide range
of mediums, including painting, installation,
photography, video and performance. He is
perhaps best known for his large sculptures
constructed from dozens of stainless steel and
copper utensils, which translate the conceptual art
format of the readymade into a rich exploration
of everyday life in India, including the shifting
notions of artistic and economic value. Born in
the predominantly rural state of Bihar in central
India, Gupta studied for a Bachelor of Fine Art
(Painting) at the College of Arts and Crafts, Patna,
India, between 1983 and 1988. He has lived in
New Delhi since 1990, and currently resides in the
rapidly growing satellite city of Gurgaon.
Exhibitions (solo): Hauser & Wirth, London, 2009;
Arario Gallery, Beijing, 2008; BALTIC Centre for
Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom,
2007. Exhibitions (group): ‘Altermodern’, Tate
Triennial, Tate Britain, London, 2009; ‘Indian
Highway’, Serpentine Gallery, London, 2008;
51st Biennale of Venice, 2005.
Gonkar Gyatso
b.1961 Lhasa, Tibet
Lives and works in London, United Kingdom
Gonkar Gyatso grew up during the period of
the Cultural Revolution in China, when much
art and culture was destroyed, and traditional
Tibetan art forms — most of which were tied
to religion — were forbidden. While studying
Chinese calligraphy in Beijing, Gyatso became
aware of the distinctiveness of his heritage and,
after graduating, moved to Dharamsala, India,
where he studied traditional Tibetan thangka
(scroll) painting before moving to London. Gyatso
founded the Sweet Tea House there in 1985,
which became the first Tibetan avant-garde artists’
association. Since his move to London, his works
have aimed to map the shifts in identity and
belonging caused by continual migration. His
current practice combines traditional calligraphy
and the iconography of Buddhist thangka with
collages of colourful stickers, cut-out text and
mass-media imagery, subverting typecast
notions of Tibetan culture and considering the
popularisation of Buddhism in the West.
Exhibitions (solo): ‘Tibetan Word: Art of
Communication’, Sweet Tea House, London,
2004. Exhibitions (group): 53rd Biennale of
Venice, 2009; ‘A Question of Evidence’, Thyssen-
Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, Austria,
2008; ‘Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves’,
ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2007.
Kyungah Ham
b.1966 Seoul, South Korea
Lives and works in Seoul
Kyungah Ham works in installation, video,
performance and traditional art and craft. Her
seemingly absurd actions — like replacing
cappuccino cups in France with those ‘stolen’ from
a Korean cafe, or filming the journeys of people
wearing yellow in several Asian cities — result in
arrestingly deadpan yet disturbing works. In 1989,
she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the
Seoul National University, Korea, and undertook
the Graduate Program in Painting at the Pratt
Institute, New York, in 1992. She was awarded a
Master of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts,
New York, in 1995. Recent works include blueand-white
porcelain sculptures of weaponry and
Persian carpets traced in oil, critically exploring the
dynamics of war.
Exhibitions (solo): SSamzie Space, Seoul, 2008.
Exhibitions (group): Prague Biennial, Czech
Republic, 2009; ‘Correspondence’, Artsonje
Center, Seoul, 2008; Gwangju Biennale, South
Korea, 2006; Yokohama Triennale, Japan, 2001.
Ho Tzu Nyen
b.1976 Singapore
Lives and works in Singapore
Ho Tzu Nyen’s practice includes filmmaking,
painting, performance and writing, and
investigates the forms, methods and languages
of art; the relationship between the still, the
painted and the moving image; and the
constructed nature of history. Between 1999
and 2002, he undertook a Bachelor of Creative
Arts (Dean’s Award) at the Victorian College
of the Arts, University of Melbourne, and from
2003 undertook a Master of Art (Research) at the
Southeast Asian Studies Programme, National
University of Singapore. In May 2009, Ho Tzu Nyen
presented his first feature film, HERE, at the 41st
Directors’ Fortnight, at the Cannes International
Film Festival, France.
Exhibitions (solo): The Substation, Singapore,
2003. Exhibitions (group): Singapore Biennale,
2006; 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, Japan,
2005; 26th São Paulo Biennial, Brazil, 2004. Film
festivals: Cannes International Film Festival, 2009;
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