Akeroyd Collection
Artists
Yee I-Lann
b. 1971, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo; lives and works in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.
Yee I-Lann is a Malaysian artist known for her multimedia works that explore power and society, language and aesthetics. Yee's work is often triggered by the complex and multifaceted cultural and geopolitical landscape of Malaysia, drawing from a longstanding interest in the wider Southeast Asian region, its precolonial and colonial histories, and its global connectivity. Her multimedia works incorporate a range of materials, including photography, video, and local mediums such as textiles, to create powerful visual narratives that challenge conventional ways of seeing and understanding the world. Through her thought-provoking and visually striking works, Yee I-Lann challenges viewers to think critically about issues of power and representation.
Yee I-Lann's recent projects include Art Wall, curated by Victoria Sung, Berkley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, California (2024); 14th Gwangju Biennale: Soft and weak like water, Gwangju (2023); Yee I-Lann: Picturing Power, Perlman Gallery, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota (2022); I-Lann & Collaborators: Borneo Heart, Sabah International Convention Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (2021); Yee I-Lann: Until We Hug Again, CHAT, Hong Kong (2021); ZIGAZIG ah!, Silverlens, Manila, Philippines (2019); and Yee I-Lann: 2005-2016, Ayala Museum, Manila, Philippines (2016). Among her selected group exhibitions are the Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey (2022); Aichi Triennale, Aichi, Japan (2022); Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung City, Taiwan (2019); SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now, The National Art Center and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2017); Yinchuan Biennale, Yinchuan, China (2016); Jakarta Biennale, Jakarta, Indonesia (2015); and Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (1999, 2021).
For further information about this artist please click here.
For Yee I-Lann's entry on Asia Art Archive's website please click here.
Exhibitions
12th Enku Grand Award Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, Japan
Art Wall, curated by Victoria Sung, Berkley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, California, US (solo)
Art Week Tokyo, Okura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan (group)
Prospect.6: The Future is Present, The Harbinger is Home, New Orleans, U.S (group)
Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea (group)
EMAP x Frieze Film 2024, Ehwa University, Seoul, South Korea (group)
A Heart That Weaves Banana Leaves, KF ASEAN Culture House, Busan, South Korea (group)
Strategies of Dissent, UR-MU+N, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (group)
Not Just In Black and White: Works from the Steve Wong Collection, GDP Campus, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (group)
BAYU SENI, Sabah Art Gallery, Imago Mall, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (group)
Harmony and Contrast: Honouring the Past, Celebrating the Present, Shaping a Vibrant Future, Galeri Khazanah, Malaysia (group)
CHAT 5th Anniversary: Factory of Tomorrow, Centre of Heritage, Arts and Textile, Hong Kong (group)
The Spirits of Maritime Crossing, Bangkok Art Foundation, a Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (group)
Markers: Silverlens @ 20, Silverlens, Manila, Philippines (group)
Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, Barbican, London, UK and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands (group)
Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics, Institutum, Gillman Barracks, Singapore (group)
SEA Focus, Silverlens, Singapore (group)
Share the Mat!, The Zhongshan Building, Kuala Lumpur (solo)
Yee I-Lann: TIKAR/MEJA, The Back Room, Kuala Lumpur (solo)
Tamu Tanah & Air, The Godown Arts Centre (co-producer and participant), Kuala Lumpur (solo)
Allom! Amatai! Allom!: photomedia essays by Yee I-Lann, curated by Denise Lai, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur (solo)
Balai Bikin, Rumah Lukis, Kuala Lumpur (solo)
14th Gwangju Biennale: Soft and weak like water, Gwangju, Korea (group)
Indigo Waves and Other Stories, Savvy Contemporary, Berlin, Germany (group)
World Classroom, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (group)
Re-Materialized: The Stuff That Matters, kaufmann repetto, Milan, Italy (group)
SEA Focus, Silverlens, Singapore (group)
Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey (group)
At the roof of the mouth, Silverlens, New York, USA (solo)
The Sea and The Jungle, Frieze Seoul, COEX, Seoul, Korea (group)
Aichi Triennale 2022: Still Alive, Aichi Arts Center, Aichi, Japan (group)
Art Basel, Silverlens, Basel, Switzerland (solo)
Yee I-Lann: Until We Hug Again, MILL6CHAT, Hong Kong, China (solo)
Aqua Paradiso, Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, Korea (group)
Tonight the Air is Warm, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (group)
Borneo Heart, Sabah International Convention Center, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (solo)
2020 Asia Project – Looking for Another Family, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (group)
Asian Art Biennial: The Strangers from beyond the Mountain and the Sea, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung City, Taiwan (group)
S.E.A. Focus, Silverlens, Singapore, Singapore (solo)
ZIGAZIG ah!, Silverlens, Manila, Philippines (solo)
A+ Preferred, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (group)
Sunshower: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980 to Now, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (group)
Through Rose-Coloured Glasses, NorthPark Center, Dallas, USA (solo)
Shared Coordinates, Silverlens, The Arts House, Singapore (group)
On Attachments and Unknowns, Sa Sa Basaac, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (group)
Yee I-Lann: 2005-2016, Curated by Isa Lorenzo, Ayala Museum, Manila, Philippines (solo)
Like the Banana Tree At The Gate, MSAC Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan (solo)
BODY/PLAY/POLITICS, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan (group)
Like The Banana Tree At The Gate, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, USA (solo)
Sous la Lune / Beneath the moon, Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore (group)
Away From The Long Night, Mind Set Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan (group)
Tabled, Silverlens, Gillman Barracks, Singapore (solo)
Yee I-Lann: Picturing Power, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, USA (solo)
Finding your place in the world: Asian Photomedia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia (group)
Encounter: The Royal Academy in Asia, Institute of Contemporary Art, Royal Academy in association with Fortune Cookie Projects & Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore (group)
Fluid World, MSAC Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan (solo)
Medi(t)ation: 2011 Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan (group)
Fluid World, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, Parkside, Australia (solo)
Boogeyman, Black Box, MAP, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (solo)
Daegu Photo Biennale, Asia Spectrum, Daegu Culture & Arts Center, Daegu, South Korea (group)
RE_view, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia (group)
Sulu Stories, Kathmandu Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand (solo)
Kinabalu, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide, Australia (solo)
BioThermocline of Art: New Asian Waves, ZKM Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, Germany (group)
History and Beyond: Malaysian Photography from 1900 to the Present Day, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (group)
Malaysian Art NOW, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (group)
Horizon, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (solo)
Malaysiana: New Works by Yee I-Lann & Sidney Tan, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur (solo)
Goldfish & Football: Yee I-Lann & Yusof Majid, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (solo)
Con + Fuse: Yee I-Lann & Khamal Hamdan, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (solo)
Malaysian Contemporary Photography, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (group)
Contemporary Photography: Yee I-Lann & Sally Foster, Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide, Australia (solo)
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2012
2011
2010
2009
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2004
2003
2002
2000
1997
1996
1992
Awards
First recipient of the Australian High Commission Visual Artist Residency Award (Malaysia); The Gunnery Studios, Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Australia
2003