Huang Yongyu
Born in 1924 in Fenghuang, Hunan Province, Huang Yongyu is a self-taught multi-talented artist with recognized achievements in painting, sculpture, printmaking and a writer of poems, essays, novels and screenplays. He has held exhibited in France, Germany and Italy, Norway, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and parts of Southeast Asia. He has lived and worked in Shanghai, Taiwan, Beijing and Hong Kong.
Huang Yongyu has a very distinct character. He spends his life absorbed in the arts and developed a most unique personal language. In the 70s his Chinese painting is characterized by boldness, energy and passion. A style that astonished his contemporaries, he played a leading role in the modernization of Chinese Ink art. As he matured and age, he became more and more unrestrained and creative, making works that are humorous and wise at the same time.
In 2008 Huang became the first Chinese to be awarded the “Olympic Art Prize” by the International Olympic Committee to acknowledge his contribution to arts and cultural development. In 2006, he was awarded an “Honorable Achievements in the Arts” award from China. The same year he donated a large 2m x 3m painting titled “World Peace” to United Nations in China, which is another large scale painting that promotes peace after Picasso’s “Guernica”. The following year Huang was given a special award for his charity. In 2005 he was the winner of “Lifetime Achievement in Arts and Culture Award” in China. His outstanding artistic achievement is recognized in Italy where he was awarded the highest honor award “Commander of the Order”.
From 1948 to 1953, Huang lived in Hong Kong and he left his mark in the local art, culture and film scene. He was once arts editor of newspapers such as “Tai Kung Po” and the journal “The Great Wall Pictorial”, where he published his sketches of places that he lived and worked in, like Kennedy Road and Wanchai. He also edited scripts at Great Wall Movie Enterprise Limited, where the actors and actresses there became subjects of his portrait sketches.
Between 1953 and 1988 Huang left Hong Kong but returned several times to exhibit his works. He has exhibited many places including Hong Kong City Hall, Museum of Hong Kong University, Hong Kong Art Museum, and recently in 2007, in Times Square, Causeway Bay. He is presently an adviser to Ming Pao Monthly.
Initially famed for his woodcut prints and Chinese paintings, Huang now dedicates most of his creative energy to sculpture. However, very few of his sculptures are available for sale; therefore, many art lovers and collectors from all over the world look forward to Huang’s release of the new animal zodiac sculpture each year. Galerie Ora-Ora is very proud to be the sole representative of this celebrated sculpture series in Hong Kong.
