Lambda print, flush-mounted on aluminum, 2007, titled, dated, and numbered 1/12 on certificate of authenticity (backing board, verso), presented in floater frame.

Image size 27 1/2 x 39 1/4 in.; Frame dimensions 30 3/4 x 42 1/2 in.

Private Collection, Durham, North Carolina

Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery

For his photographic series, Uprooted, Yang Yi was inspired by the Tree Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world, and its effects on his hometown of Kaixian, China and other cities. In Kaixian, buildings were demolished, valuable items removed, residents were displaced, and the town was completely submerged underwater due to the dam's reservoir.

Yi situates his subjects within a dreamlike setting inspired by these events, where figures wear snorkel gear and live underwater amidst the remains of the town. Yi dreamt these scenes, and upon waking he immediately recorded and recreated them in these lovely and surreal yet ominous photographs.

The Uprooted series was exhibited widely in China and abroad, at venues including Multi-Dimensional View: Chengdu Contemporary Photo Exhibition (2009); Rising Dragon: Contemporary Chinese Photography at Katonah Museum of Art, New York (2012); the Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition at Museum Jan van der Togt, Amsterdam; Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery, Beijing; Galerie Richard, New York; and others.

$1,000 - 3,000