Kwang Young Chun

Korean artist Chun Kwang Young incorporates elements of both painting and sculpture in his practice. He is best known for his acclaimed Aggregation series: freestanding and wall-hung amalgamations of small, triangular forms wrapped in antique mulberry paper, often tinted with teas or pigment.

Born in Hongchun, South Korea, in 1944, Chun grew up during the end of Japanese colonization and the brutality of the Korean War. In the early 1970s, he moved to the United States to pursue a Master’s Degree at Philadelphia College of Art, where he was deeply drawn to Abstract Expressionism. “It seemed to be the best way to freely express my surprise and sadness at witnessing the huge gap between idea and reality,” he says.
 
Over time, Chun became disillusioned with the materialistic drive that seemed to fuel the American dream and feelings of loneliness intensified his longing for home. During this period, Chun’s paintings, which explored the effects of light and color, reflected his interest in Abstract Expressionism, however, he ultimately found the expression inauthentic. Chun decided to return to Korea and focus on developing his own methodology, one that was wholly unique and reflective of his history and cultural identity.
 
The development of Chun’s signature technique was sparked by childhood memories of seeing medicinal herbs wrapped in mulberry paper, tied into small packages and hung from the ceiling of the local doctor’s office. He became intrigued with the idea of merging the techniques, materials and sentiment of his Korean heritage with the conceptual freedom he experienced during his Western education. 

Over the years, Chun’s Aggregations have become more colorful and evolved in complexity and scale, but the use of mulberry paper remains at the core of his practice. Although imbued with the spirit of Korean tradition and history, Chun’s work, with its intricate, abstract compositions, is grounded in a purely contemporary context.
 
Chun Kwang Young received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Hongik University, Seoul and a Master of Fine Arts from the Philadelphia College of Art, Pennsylvania. His work is in numerous public collections, including The Rockefeller Foundation and the United Nations, New York; the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.; the Philadelphia Society Building, Pennsylvania; the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, and the Seoul Museum of Art; the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and the National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta.

He was named Artist of the Year by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, in 2001 and in 2009 he was awarded the Presidential Prize in the 41st Korean Culture and Art Prize by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 
 
Born 1944 in Hongchun, Korea | Lives in works in Seongnam, Korea

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019

BECK & EGGELING, Dusseldorf

SUNDARAM TAGORE GALLERY, Singapore, Singapore Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Oregon, USA

DA!MOSCOW. Moscow, Russia.

COSMOSCOW. Moscow, Russia.

ART 021 SHNGHAI, China

2018

BROOKLYN MUSEUM SUNDARAM, Tagore Gallery PKM Gallery, New York, USA, New York, USA Seoul, Korea

2017

MUSEUM DE REED BECK & EGGELING Gallery Pearl Lam Galleries Villa Empain - Boghossian Foundation, Antwerp, Belgium Vienna, Austria HongKong, China Brussels, Belgium

2016

WOOYANG MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, Artsonje museum, Gyeongju, Korea

2015

PEARL LAM GALLERIES BECK & EGGELING GALLERY DOVECOT STUDIO EDINBURGH (Festival), Singapore, Singapore Dusseldorf, Germany Edinburgh, UK

2014

HASTED KRAEUTLER GALLERY BERNARD JACOBSON GALLERY, New York, USA 

2013

ART PLURAL GALLERY MUSEUM OF SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, Singapore, Singapore Seoul, Korea

2012

HASTED KRAEUTLER GALLERY Towson University Asian Art Center Lynchburg College Daura Gallery, New York, USA Maryland, USA Virginia, USA

2011

KNOXVILLE MUSEUM OF ART GALLERY HYUNDAI CONNY DIETZSCHOLD GALLERY, Tennessee, USA Seoul, Korea Sydney, Australia

2009

SINGAPORE TYLER PRINT INSTITUTE, Mori Arts Center Gallery University of Wyoming Art Museum, Singapore, Singapore Tokyo, Japan Wyoming, USA

2008

ROBERT MILLER GALLERY The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, New York, USA gefield, Connecticut

2006

KIM FOSTER GALLERY Annely Juda Fine Art Singapore Tyler Print Institute Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, London, Singapore, New York

2005

KUKJE GALLERY, Seoul

2004

KIM FOSTER GALLERY Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York

2003

NEW CONTEMPORARIES CONNY DIETZSCHOLD GALLERY, Sydney

2002

KUKJE GALLERY MICHELLE ROSENFIELD GALLERY KIM FOSTER GALLERY Columbus Museum

2001

‘2001 THE ARTIST OF THIS YEAR’, The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon

2000

KIM FOSTER GALLERY COMEMENOZ GALLERY, KEY BISCAYNE MICHELLE ROSENFELD GALLERY, Florida New York

1999

PARK RYU-SOOK GALLERY KIM FOSTER GALLERY, Seoul, New York

1998

GALLERY SIKONG, Taegu

1997

GALLERY BHAK, Seoul

1995

GALLERY BHAK, Seoul

1994

JONG RO GALLERY, Seoul

1992

GALLERY HYUNDAI, Seoul

1990

GALLERY DONG SUNG ARTS CENTER, Seoul

1989

GALLERY YOON, Seoul

1988

GALLERY HYUNDAI, Seoul

1987

KWAN HOON GALLERY, Seoul

1986

SIROTA GALLERY, Tokyo

1985

KAMAKURA GALLERY,Tokyo

1984

KWAN HOON GALLERY MURAMATSU GALLERY, Seoul, Tokyo

1980

AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER GALLERY, Seoul

1979

LOTUS GALLERY MALTA NATIONAL MUSEUM, Saint Julien Shin Sea Gea Gallery, New York, Malta, Seoul

1977

FIFTH ST. GALLERY, Wilmington, Delaware

1976

FIFTH ST. GALLERY FINE ART CENTER, Wilmington, Delaware Seoul

1975

LOTUS GALLERY, New York

1971

INTERNATIONAL HOUSE GALLERY, Philadelphia

1968

SEOUL CULTURAL CENTER GALLERY, Seoul