Lust for life, National Portrait Gallery

William Yang The gang 1977.

My Generation is a work incorporating spoken word, image projection and live music. This vibrant, dramatic and moving work is a reflection on William’s experience and documentation of the artistic, bohemian, and underground social scenes in Sydney in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

William Yang Linda Jackson, Peter Tully and Jenny Kee at the opening of the National Gallery of Australia, 1982

William Yang Peter Tully assembled his slaves at the Mardi Gras and they pulled a giant statue of Edna Everage, 1982

William Yang 1 Linda Jackson, Peter Tully and Jenny Kee at the opening of the National Gallery of Australia 1982. 2 Peter Tully assembled his slaves at the Mardi Gras and they pulled a giant statue of Edna Everage 1982.

My Generation recalls the glamour of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson’s fashion events, the strengthening of the Sydney gay and lesbian community and the flowering of the Sydney Mardi Gras, and the theatrical circle of Jim Sharman, Kate Fitzpatrick and Patrick White.

William Yang William Yang with light
meter at John Fink's
21st birthday, late 80s

William Yang Flamingo Park, Jenny Kee and celebrity model Kate Fitzpatrick, 1975

William Yang Patrick White and Jim Sharman at a lunch at Jim's. Bondi, 1978

William Yang Brett Whiteley dancing with Arna Marie Winchester at a party in his studio in Raper Street, 1985

William Yang 1 William Yang with light meter at John Fink's 21st birthday, late 80s. 2 Flamingo Park, Jenny Kee and celebrity model Kate Fitzpatrick 1975. 3 Patrick White and Jim Sharman at a lunch at Jim's. Bondi 1978. 4 Brett Whiteley dancing with Arna Marie Winchester at a party in his studio in Raper Street 1985.

William Yang’s grandparents migrated from China to northern Australia in the 1880s. Born in North Queensland, William briefly studied architecture at the University of Sydney before embarking on his career in photography. He won the Higashigawa-cho International Photographer of the Year Award in 1993. Since the early 1990s he has exhibited widely and staged a number of performance works that have been acclaimed throughout the world; in 2003 Sydney’s Belvoir Theatre staged a four-part retrospective, The Journeys of William Yang.

William Yang Martin Sharp, with part of his collection of toys named the Dream Museum. Wirian, early 80s

William Yang Martin Sharp. When Luna Park closed the Friends of Luna Park salvaged some of the artifacts from the park and stored them at Wirian, early 80s

William Yang Martin Sharp and Tiny Tim, about whom Martin was making a film. Wirian, early 80s

William Yang Brett Whiteley at the launch of David Marr's biography of Patrick White, 1990

William Yang 1 Martin Sharp, with part of his collection of toys named the Dream Museum. Wirian, early 80s. 2 Martin Sharp. When Luna Park closed the Friends of Luna Park salvaged some of the artifacts from the park and stored them at Wirian, early 80s. 3 Martin Sharp and Tiny Tim, about whom Martin was making a film. Wirian, early 80s. 4 Brett Whiteley at the launch of David Marr's biography of Patrick White 1990.

The first stage of My Generation was developed while William was the HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra in 2007. William is managed by Performing Lines, Sydney.

William Yang Patrick White and Manoly Lascaris at their home in Martin Road, 1985

William Yang William Yang's birthday dinner, Surry Hills, 1981

William Yang Peter Tully at the Gay Mardi Gras March in 1981

William Yang 1 Patrick White and Manoly Lascaris at their home in Martin Road 1985. 2 William Yang's birthday dinner, Surry Hills 1981. 3 Peter Tully at the Gay Mardi Gras March in 1981.