Timothy Yip Kam-tim (; born 1967) is a Hong Kong
art director
Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...
and designer for fiction films. He is best known for his work on the 2000
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...
film ''
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 epic romantic drama wuxia martial arts film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Z ...
'', for which he won an
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fr ...
. Yip also won a
BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
award for the film's
costume design
Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...
. He has been alternatively credited as Tim Yip Kam-tim, Kam Tim Yip, Kam-tim Yip, and Tim Yip.
Biography
A renowned artist, Tim Yip has multidisciplinary works in
costume design
Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...
, visual and
contemporary art
Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...
. For his work in ''
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 epic romantic drama wuxia martial arts film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Z ...
'', Tim won
the Oscar for
Best Art Direction and Costume Design in 2000 and he won the
British Academy Film Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...
for Best Costume Design in 2000.
Tim graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic with a degree in photography. Since working on his first film
A Better Tomorrow
''A Better Tomorrow'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong action film directed, co-written and co-produced by John Woo, co-produced by Tsui Hark, and starring Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun-fat. The film had a profound influence on Hong Kong action c ...
directed by
John Woo
John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...
in 1986, he has accomplished costume designs and art direction for many film and theatrical performances over the past two decades. In addition to Woo, Tim has collaborated with other film directors of international acclaim such as
Ang Lee
Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...
,
Tsai Ming Liang,
Tian Zhuangzhuang
Tian Zhuangzhuang (; born April 1952 in Beijing) is a Chinese film director, producer and actor.
Tian was born to an influential actor and actress in China. Following a short stint in the military, Tian began his artistic career first as an am ...
, Li Shaohong,
Stanley Kwan
Stanley Kwan (traditional Chinese: 關錦鵬; simplified Chinese: 关锦鹏); born 9 October 1957) is a Hong Kong film director and producer. He first landed a job at TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist Colle ...
,
Chen Kuo-fu
Chen Kuo-fu (born 13 May 1958) is a Taiwanese film director, screenwriter and producer. His film '' The Personals'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.
Biography
Born in 1958 Chen worked as a film ...
,
Chen Kaige
Chen Kaige ( zh, s=陈凯歌, link=no; born 12 August 1952) is a Chinese filmmaker. A leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese directors, Chen is known for his visual flair and epic storytelling.Berry, Michael (2002). "Chen Kaige: His ...
, and
Feng Xiaogang
Feng Xiaogang ( zh, s=冯小刚, t=馮小剛, p=Féng Xiǎogāng; born 18 March 1958 in Beijing) is a Chinese filmmaker and actor. Rising to fame for directing comedies, Feng played a pivotal role in shaping the Chinese New Year films, with f ...
. Tim has also worked with many renowned Taiwanese theatrical groups such as Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Contemporary Legend Theatre, Han Tang Yue-fu Dance Ensemble, Tai-Gu Tales Dance Theatre, and U Theatre, with performances that have toured
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. His striking costume design and art direction for the theatre production ''Medea'', television drama ''Oranges Turn Ripe'', and feature films ''Temptation of a Monk'' and ''Double Vision'' have further attracted worldwide attention to his work.
In earlier works, Tim introduced his concept of the "New Orientalism" aesthetic, making him an important
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
in helping the world understand the beauty of
Chinese culture
Chinese culture () is one of the Cradle of civilization#Ancient China, world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole ...
and arts. Since 2002, he has held many costume
exhibitions
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
such as Faces of the Time at the Taiwan
National Palace Museum
The National Palace Museum, also known as Taipei Palace Museum, is a national museum headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in Beijing in 1925, the museum was re-established in Shilin District, Shilin, Taipei, in 1965, later expanded with a S ...
, Bourges Maison de la Culture in France and a special photography exhibition in Spain, conveying his interpretation of beauty in Oriental art to Western audiences. In 2004, Tim Yip was the art and costume director for the Beijing handover performance at
the Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competiti ...
closing ceremony in Athens. In recent years, he has held various solo art exhibitions in New York,
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
and
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, and in 2005 he was invited by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to participate in the China Red exhibition. The Beijing
Today Art Museum organized his solo art exhibition Illusions of Silence in late 2007. Tim has several publications including Lost in Time, Flower of the Wind, Floating, Circulation, Rouge: L’art de Tim Yip (published in both French and English), Illusions of Silence and Passage. He is the art director for a production of "The Dream of the Red Chamber," produced by the San Francisco Opera in September 2016.
[ ]
Tim Yip was set and costume designer for the Metropolitan Opera's new production of ''Lohengrin'' that premiered in 2023.
References
External links
*
Hong Kong Cinemagic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yip, Tim
1967 births
Living people
Hong Kong art directors
Chinese costume designers
Best Art Direction Academy Award winners
Best Costume Design BAFTA Award winners