Manimals 1993

The ancient Chinese zodiac is comprised of a cycle of twelve animal signs associated with birth years. They are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Cock, Dog and Boar. A person is believed to exhibit behavioral and personality traits, sometimes even physical characteristics, relative to the animal year during which he or she was born.

In the twelve portraits of the "Manimals" series, the artist Daniel Lee interprets the Chinese zodiac in contemporary terms through computer manipulation of photographic images. Each portrait represents the animal sign of that person. The "Manimals" series is composed of twelve 24"X30" color photographs. The original images were photographed with Ektachrome in medium format camera, then converted digitally and rearranged on a Macintosh Quadra 950, using Adobe Photoshop software.

"Year of the Ox" was included in the exhibition "Photography and the Human Soul, 1850 - 2000" at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2000 and "Future Face" at the Science Museum in London, 2005. The series of “Manimals” was featured in "Animal Instincts", 2004 at Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA, "Facing Difference" at Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan 2005 and “In Vivo In Virto, Ergostasio Center, Athens, Greece, 2006.

- Daniel Lee

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• 2019
  “Return to the Sea” at Taitung Art Museum, Taitung, Taiwan
• 2016
  “Looking Glass/Daniel Lee Retrospective” at Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2014
  “Daniel Lee/Metamorphing” at OCT Art Center, Shanghai, China
• 2014
  “Trans-Presence” at Art Center of Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
• 2012
  “Trace to the Origin: Daniel Lee Retrospective” at Luoca Art Center, Xiamen, China
• 2011
  “Animal Instinct / Photographs of Daniel Lee” at San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas, USA
• 2009
  “Then, Now & Next” at Tangram Art Center, Shanghai, China
• 2008
  “Daniel Lee 1993-2007 Retrospective” at Tsing Hua University, Beijing, China
• 1996
  “Manimals” at J.J. Brookings Gallery, San Francisco, California, USA
• 1993
  “Manimals” at O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, USA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• 2019
  “XIII Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennale” at Krasnoyarsk Museum Center , Krasnoyarsk, Russia
• 2013
  “Post-Humanist Desire” at Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2007
  “Taiwan: From within the Mist” at Vancouver Int’ Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Vancouver, Canada
• 2006
  “Digiarte 2006” at Limonaia of Bardini, Florence, Italy
• 2006
  “In Vivo In Vitro” at Ergostasio Center, Athens, Greece
• 2005
  “Future Face” at National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung, Taiwan
• 2004
  “Light Conversation” at Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
• 2004
  “Il Bello e le bestie” at Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto Trento, Italy
• 2004
  “Animal Instincts” at Montalvo Art Center, Saratoga, California, USA
• 1999
  “Photography and the Human Soul 1850-2000” at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
• 1998
  “Revolution, First Decade of Digital Photo” at Museum of Science & Technology, Milan, Italy
• 1996
  “Il Ritratto Maltrattat” at IL Diaframma, Milan, Italy
• 1995
  “Manimals” at Galerie du Chateau d'Eau, Toulouse, France