Spongimal, mixed media, mixed media incl: hair, twigs, 2008 part of an interactive sound and moving image art installation

Paradise Found?
Supported by the Liverpool Culture Company and RIBA.

A huge duck with a foxes head, a Scouse Buddhist monk, an interactive wigwam-igloo and Indian woman dancing to gospel and techno… just some of the characters, flora and fauna inhabiting artist Kai-Oi Jay Yung’s Paradise Stories exhibition.

Liverpool’s transformation and mankind’s endless pursuit of happiness have inspired Yung to create a unique two venue multi-sensory exhibition that employs a mixture of art forms to explore the quest for utopia, inviting visitors to find a sanctuary from reality and reflect on the city’s journey to current day European Capital of Culture renewal.

In the Renew Rooms between March 4 and 28, Yung focuses on stories from Liverpool’s inhabitants, featuring subjects from a range of backgrounds, ages, occupations and ethnicities. Through interconnected one-to-one investigations, chance and contrived meetings, her installation crosses sculpture to video installation and live performance, voicing modern day vices, loss, aspirations and solidarity.

People can expect an assault on the senses at Renew Rooms, with eight video including an insight into a cab driver’s unsuspecting daily encounters, a feng shui expert talking about how the Chinese Archway was positioned using ancient techniques, and the raised voices from Afro-Carribean mother and daughter ‘The Wentons’ discussing integration across Liverpool since the Toxteth riots. The videos are embedded amongst exuberant day-glow half-animal forms, at once humorous and sinister, and a plethora of explosive improvised jungle surroundings - even a water feature. There is respite though, as a shelter construction enables people to spend time away from the noise of the surrounding plastic Paradise.

Simultaneously in the International Gallery between March 4 and 21, Yung will curate the work of eight artists from San Francisco to Stuttgart, presenting a collage of work spanning live performance and sound art to photography. Works include an audience interactive ‘Shadow Tracing’ event, a movement triggered instrumental installation ‘The Note C’, and dreamlike alienation worlds of Maslen and Mehra’s photographed light sculptures.

Kai-Oi Jay Yung said: “I’ve been away from Liverpool for fifteen years and it’s incredible how a city changes but still remains ‘home’. I want to question what it means to be Scouse, especially at a time when all eyes are on its growth and investment. Paradise is a universal yearning; that is why I chose a second venue to voice interpretations across continents, as well as involve the city’s inhabitants, prompting them to consider how they try to make sense of their lives. I want visitors to see the beauty as well as stark reality of their lives through the work; this is really about my passion to employ art to connect with real people.

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Notes to editors:

-About Kai-Oi Jay Yung: Graduating in 2006, Yung is rapidly gaining recognition as an international artist for her prolific and characteristically challenging deployment of art forms investigating identity. Recent activity include commissions/invitations for Istanbul Biennial, The Whitechapel Art Gallery, Biennial/British Council exchange to Libya as well as Arts Council funded projects to San Francisco and Hong Kong. In 2008 she will embark on a long term project alongside Grizedale Arts to China, plus artist residency at Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester.

- The artists selected for exhibition in the International Gallery part of Paradise Stories are Chong Boon Pok, Chris Eckersley, Didi Dunphy, Faye Peacock, Mehra & Maslen, Kurtz & Beatty, Sari Lievonen and Kaspar Wimberley.

Members of the media are invited to a private view of both exhibitions on Tuesday, March 4, starting at the RENEW Rooms at 6pm, followed by street interaction piece leading to The International Gallery at 8pm. To confirm you attendance, or for more information on Paradise Stories, please contact Kai-Oi Jay Yung on 07961 915 011.

Listings information:

Paradise Stories:

The International Gallery, 34A Slater Street, Liverpool, L1 4BX
Exhibition dates: 4-21 March 2008 (Thursday-Sunday 12-6pm)

The RENEW Rooms, The Tea Factory, 82 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ
Exhibition dates: 4-28 March 2008 (Weekdays 9-5pm, Sat/Sun 11-5pm. Closed 21-24/3/2008 Easter)