John Alexander Young Zerunge is a Hong Kong-born Australian artist. During the time of The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China, he was sent to Australia to complete his education. In the 1970s, he read philosophy at The University of Sydney, later attending and lecturing at Sydney College of the Arts.
John Young began his exhibiting career with a solo exhibition, 'The Second Mirage’, comprising a work shown for one minute on the door of a hut in the small fishing village of Rosroe, Connemara, Ireland (1982). On his return from Europe, he was a founding member of the artists’ group, Various Artists Ltd. Since that time, he has worked on many series of works, in particular, the 'Silhouette’ series (1985-89), the 'Polychrome’ series (1989-93) and, of late, the 'Double Ground’ (1992-present) and 'Square Painting’ series (1995-present). This later work revolves around such issues as frameworks of representation, mood states, certainty, the plight of Asians in the diaspora, and images in and memories of cultural tourism.
Important groups exhibitions include 'Antipodean Currents’, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1995). His major survey exhibition, 'Orient/Occident: A Survey of Works by John Young, 1978-2005’, was held at the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Melbourne, in 2005-06.
John Young has completed work for numerous prestigious commissions including a large tapestry for the new Nanjing Library, gifted from the Victorian Government to the Chinese province of Jiangsu (2004-05); the Boardroom, AXA, Melbourne (2003); the foyer, AMP Building, Sydney (2000); and commissions in Hong Kong, including a permanent installation, over five levels, at North Point Interchange, Mass Transit Railway, and Credit Suisse, First Boston (both 2001). His work is held in international collections, including the United Nations Collection, New York, as well as all major public collections and many corporate and private collections in Australia.

Writers:

Murray-Cree, Laura

Date written:

2006

Last updated:

2011