Yee, Luis “Junyee,” Jr.

Born in 1942 in the heavily forested, resource-rich terrain of Agusan del Norte, Mindanao, Luis Yee Jr. developed an early, instinctive connection to the rhythms of the natural world. His journey into fine art was marked by fierce, dramatic persistence; facing immense disapproval from his businessman father, Junyee left home alone to pursue his calling. To survive during his youth in Surigao City, he worked as a makeup artist in a local funeral home—an intense early encounter with corpses that permanently shaped his profound reflections on impermanence, death, and painting as the application of color onto flat surfaces.

Arriving in Manila, Junyee’s rare genius was recognized by National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon Abueva. Junyee became Abueva’s studio apprentice, living inside his workshop for three formative years while completing formal studies at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman College of Fine Arts. This period taught him not to copy Abueva’s style, but to replicate his "cunning mind"—a relentless curiosity that refuses to settle for conventional forms.

Settling permanently in the lush environment of Mount Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna, Junyee has spent over six decades building a monumental, legendary studio footprint. His life's output reached a peak historical monument with the inauguration of the 5,000-square-meter UPLB Sculpture Garden, a permanent sanctuary hosting his legendary spatial installations. Continuing to produce raw, boundary-breaking soot works and community monuments from his Laguna laboratory, Junyee remains a revered master mentor—widely nominated for the Order of National Artists—who safeguards the visual language of the archipelago.

Education & Master Apprenticeship
UP Diliman Fine Arts Track: Completed painting and sculpture modules at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman College of Fine Arts, Quezon City.

The Abueva Workshop Residency: Lived and trained for three years as an active studio apprentice under the legendary "Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture," Napoleon Abueva.

Committee Leadership: Served as an active, long-term member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Committee for the Visual Arts (1995–2001).

Major Institutional Distinctions & Laurels
1998: Conferred – Diwa ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

1998: Grand Prize Winner – CCP and National Centennial Commission Installation Competition (For his monumental, one-hectare outdoor masterpiece Isang Daan).

Historic Global Selection: Represented the country at the 12th Paris Biennale, the inaugural Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT1), the Singapore Biennale (2008), and the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale (2009).

Exhibition History
Selected Individual & Survey Exhibitions
2026: Parallel: Two Practices Over Time – Metro Gallery, San Juan City, Metro Manila, Philippines (A highly acclaimed, recent two-man exhibition with Gus Albor tracking their 50-year careers, showcasing Junyee's delicate soot-on-paper abstractions).

2024–2025: of MAN and NATURE – Altro Mondo Creative Space, Chino Roces Ave., Makati City (His historic fifth solo show across a 60-year career, fusing soot surfaces with organic seeds, nuts, and computer components).

2024: Inaugural Launch: The UPLB Sculpture Garden – University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna (A landmark, permanent 5,000-square-meter public sanctuary documenting his masterworks, including Bagong Binhi and Maria Makiling).

2010s Roster: Regular breakout individual series mounted across Galeria Duemila, featuring his acclaimed Dark Matter and Soots You cycles on coated marine ply boards.

Selected Landmark Group Surveys & Historical Exchanges
2025: Nucleus – León Gallery, Makati City, Philippines (A major, generational showcase uniting Junyee alongside his avant-garde contemporaries Gus Albor, Nestor Vinluan, Roy Veneracion, and Gig de Pio).

2015: APEC Summit Cultural Installation – Featured National Creator of the Ugnayan public structural layout, Manila.

2011: Psychopomp’s Reef – Inaugural Exhibit for Bonifacio Global City’s (BGC) Offsite Public Gallery, Taguig.

2009: 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale – Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan.

2008: Singapore Biennale – National Craft & Installation Representative, Singapore.

1993: The First Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT1) – Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia.