Enter a world where east meets west and be swallowed whole by a serpent...
Join us to celebrate the opening of The Yok and Sheryo's exhibition and welcome them to Perth to participate in the Turner Galleries Artist in Residence Programme. Their exhibition promises to be something quite extraordinary, from the serpent-room installation, to new paintings, drawings, sculptures, works on fabric and a car park mural.
The Yok grew up in Perth, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree at Curtin University, and helped pioneer the Perth street art movement before moving to Africa and South East Asia to explore ideas and new cultures. In addition to being accomplished with the spray paint medium, he also delivers a sophisticated illustrative style to his canvas work. The Yok has exhibited at venues ranging from artist run spaces to The National Gallery of Australia.
Sheryo hails from Singapore and started painting in the streets in 2005. During her formative years, she developed a distinctive style and subsequently emerged as one of Singapore's top street artists. In 2008 she started her travels and moved to Cambodia in 2011. Working from a home studio in the red light district of Phnom Penh, she delved deeper into her twisted world of exquisite lines and quirky mythology. In 2012 she moved to Brooklyn NY to join The Yok, who had been living and working there since 2011.
Since then, the duo have been painting their way up the burgeoning New York street art scene; Complex magazine listed them in the "Top 10 street artists to watch in 2013" and CBS NY listed Sheryo in the "6 women street artists you should know". Their unique styles complement each other perfectly, and their collaborative works are so harmonious that they almost appear the work of an individual.
The Yok and Sheryo have travelled extensively, following the sun and surf, and creating new walls in Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Dubai, Miami, Atlanta, Belgium, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and Mexico. The duo experiment with ancient artisan techniques from lost eras and remix them with their bold styles; a mash-up of tattoo designs, comic illustrations, skate and surf motifs, creating a beautiful cacophony of old and contemporary.
One of the ancient techniques they learned whilst recently in Indonesia was the traditional handicraft of batik, which is a method of patterning fabric using a wax-resist dyeing technique. The Yok and Sheryo noted that: "Just as the Indonesian people used batik to tell stories of their everyday lives, myths and folklores, we too will be doing the same thing. We will be using this ancient technique as a vehicle to tell our story of our lives in Brooklyn and our misadventures to South East Asia. Taking our distinctive style and lending it to the Batik process will give us a beautiful old meets new juxtaposition. A beautiful interplay of east and west, and an almost taboo mixing of styles. Working in the very artisan studios that have been creating these intricate Batiks for years, we will bring our personal stories, beliefs and invented folklore to life, creating a unique and bold body of work that could only be imagined by us."
[Artist statement 2013]
They also explored the traditional world of Indonesian shadow puppet theatre, but instead of Hindi gods, they brought their own characters to life, including; "hotdogs, moustached Mexicans and pizza dudes on motorcycles." These characters were further developed into a series of five sculptural works that have been cast in resin for this exhibition. Their signature 'reversed out style' that graces walls all over the world, is perfect for reinterpreting Indonesian shadow puppetry and batik, and their dark colour palette and bold white outlines lends itself perfectly to these traditional mediums.
The Yok & Sheryo's residency is proudly sponsored by Turner Galleries Art Angels, Central Institute of Technology and FORM.
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- TURNER GALLERIES | showcasing contemporary art
at 470 WILLIAM STREET NORTHBRIDGE WESTERN AUSTRALIA 6003 - TURNER GALLERIES HAS NOW CLOSED.
This website is an archived record of the exhibitions and artwork shown at the gallery. - Turner Galleries acknowledges the Whadjuk Nyoongar people as the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters where Turner Galleries is situated, and pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
- Website © 2000-2024 TURNER GALLERIES. All images are © the artists and are not to be used without permission.
- This is a millapede project.
