We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.
William Yang / Australia b.1943 / Patrick White #1, Kings Cross 1980 / Gelatin silver photograph on paper / 49 x 33.1cm (comp.) / Purchased 1998. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © William Yang
William YangPatrick White #1, Kings Cross 1980
Not Currently on Display
While much of William Yang’s photography has documented his personal journey, his involvement in Sydney’s gay community and the AIDS epidemic, he has continued to photograph people from the arts community with whom he has been associated.
A well known figure from Sydney’s cultural milieu is the late Australian writer Patrick White who was also an assiduous art collector. Patrick White #1, King’s Cross 1980 is a revealing portrait which highlights the intensity of White’s gaze, presenting the viewer with a tough and sturdy character.
This photograph was taken at a lunch for Patrick White and Brett Whiteley given by Kate FitzPatrick at her place in King’s Cross. Yang stated: ‘At the time Brett Whiteley wanted to do a portrait of Patrick for [the] Archibald Prize, which never occurred. However these photos provided the basis of many portraits of Patrick by Brett’.1
Endnotes:
1. Artist’s file, QAGOMA Research Library.
William Yang is a third-generation Chinese Australian whose grandparents migrated to Australia during the 1880s gold rush. He grew up at Dimbulah on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland and describes his upbringing as one in which his Chinese ethnicity was suppressed and denied.
Yang studied architecture at The University of Queensland, and in 1969 he moved to Sydney to become a playwright. He took up social photography as a way of making money and soon gained entry into the city’s theatrical and artistic circles. His photography during the 1980s and early 1990s documents the social and artistic life of Sydney.
In 1983, Yang met Yentsoon Tsai, a Chinese teacher from Taiwan. Their friendship led Yang on a quest to discover his Chinese culture and heritage. He changed his name from the anglicised ‘Young’ to ‘Yang’, and he began researching his family history.