Born in 1944 in Hongcheon, South Korea
Lives and works in Seoul, South Korea
Kwang Young Chun, acclaimed for his sculptural assemblages of hanji bundles, mediates between Korean tradition and contemporary abstraction.
After earning his BFA from Hongik University in Seoul (1968) and his MFA from the Philadelphia College of Art (1971), Chun was deeply influenced by American Abstract Expressionism. However, he later sought to reconnect with his cultural roots, developing his signature Aggregations series in 1995. These works feature triangular parcels meticulously wrapped in hanji—Korean mulberry paper historically used for books and records—often over a century old and inscribed with remnants of Korean characters. Stained with tea and natural pigments, his compositions embody an organic, timeworn quality. Chun, drawing inspiration from childhood memories of the hanji-wrapped herbal packages from his great-uncle’s traditional medicine shop, transforms modest materials into monumental wall-based and freestanding structures that evoke both natural formations and historical relics.
With a career spanning over five decades, Chun has exhibited at major institutions worldwide, including the Brooklyn Museum (New York), Mori Arts Center Gallery (Tokyo), National Museum of Contemporary Art (Seoul & Gwacheon), and Moscow Museum of Modern Art. His works are held in esteemed collections such as the Victoria & Albert Museum (UK), M+ (Hong Kong), and the National Gallery of Australia. Recognized for his contributions to contemporary art, he was named Artist of the Year by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul (2001) and received the Presidential Prize at the 41st Korean Culture and Arts Awards (2009).
Kwang Young Chun’s large-scale work is an elegy in paper that speaks to transience and rebirth. Through his nuanced practice, he brings past and present into resonance, folding the souls and stories of ancestors into the contemporary.
education
B.F.A., Hong-Ik University, Korea
M.F.A., Philadelphia College of Art, USA
solo shows
2025
Perrotin Seoul, Korea
2024
Gana Art, Seoul, Korea
Sundaram Tagore, New York, USA
2023
Tang Contemorary, Beijing, China
2022
Times reimagined, Biennale Arte 2022, Palazzo Contarini Polignac, Venice, Italy
Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russia
2019
Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, OR, USA
Beck & Eggeling Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany
2018
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York, NY, USA
PKM Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2017
Museum de Reede, Antwerp, Belgium
Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong, China
Boghossian Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
Beck & Eggeling Gallery, Vienna, Austria
2016
Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art, Gyeongju, Korea
2015
Edinburgh Festival, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, UK
Beck & Eggeling Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany
Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore
2014
Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London, UK
Hasted Kraeutler Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2013
Art Plural Gallery, Singapore
Seoul National University Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
2012
Hasted Kraeutler Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Asian Arts and Culture Center, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA
Lynchburg College Daura Gallery, Lynchburg, VA, USA
2011
Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, USA
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea
Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2009
Mori Arts Center Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY, USA
Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore
2008
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA
Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2006
Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore Annely Juda Fine Art, London, UK
2005
Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2004
Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2003
Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, Australia
New Contemporaries, Sydney, Australia
2002
Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA, USA
Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Michell Rosenfield Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2001
“The Korea Artist Prize 2001,” National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea
2000
Michelle Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Comemenoz Gallery, Key Biscayne, FL, USA
Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1999
Park Ryu-Sook Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1998
Gallery Sikong, Daegu, Korea
1997
Gallery Bhak, Seoul, Korea
1995
Gallery Bhak, Seoul, Korea
1992
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea
1988
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea
1987
Kwan Hoon Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1986
Sirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1985
Muramatsu Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Kamakura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1984
Kwan Hoon Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1980
American Cultural Center Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1979
Malta National Museum, Saint Julian’s, Malta
Lotus Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1977
Shinsegae Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1976
Fifth St. Gallery, Wilmington, DE, USA
Fine Art Center, Seoul, Korea
1975
Lotus Gallery, New York, USA
1971
International House Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, USA
1968
Seoul Cultural Center Gallery, Seoul, Korea
group shows
2023
The 7th Guangzhou Triennial, Guangzhou, China
2021
Luna Sonata: Hanji Works and Contemporary Art, Jeonbuk Museum of Art, Jeonju, Korea
2020
“Believing is Seeing,” Gana Art Nineone, Seoul, Korea
The Eastern Gesture Five Voices from the Korean Avant-garde, Dep Art Gallery, Milan, Italy
“Winter Group Show,” Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Chelsea, NY, USA
2019
Colore, Forma, Vuoto, Museo d’Arte Moderna di Ascona, Ascona, Switzerland
2015
“Frontiers Reimagined”, Palazzo Grimani Art Museum, Venice, Italy
Museum SAN, Wonju, Korea
Spalding House: LESS = MORE, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI, USA
2014
Odd Volumes: Book Art from the Allan Chasanoff Collection, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, USA
2013
The Moment, We Awe-Contemporary Art from Korea, How Art Museum, Wenzhou, China
2012
Design Futurology, Museum of Art Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Museum KUNSTWERK I Sammlung Alison und Peter W.Klein, Eberdingen-Nussdorf, Germany
2011
Artist of the Year 1995 – 2010, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea
2010
I am the Cosmos, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ, USA
Aldrich Undercover 2010, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA
2009
Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Urban Archeology, Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2008
“Midnight Full of Stars,” Visual Art Center, Summit, NJ, USA
Undercover Project, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA
2007
“Addicted to Paper,” Gallery Lelong, Zurich, Switzerland
2006
Holland Paper Biennial, CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
2005
2005 Seoul Art Exhibition, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
2004
The Art Scene in New York, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, USA
Commemorative Exhibition of South Branch opening, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
2003
Crossings 2003, Korea/Hawaii, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI, USA
2001
Compelled, Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, NJ, USA
2000
Dealer's Choice, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI, USA
San Francisco Art Exhibition, Park Ryu-Sook Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
1997
Korean Paper Artist, Walker Hill Museum, Seoul, Korea
1995
Seoul International Art Festival, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea
1993
Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh
1987
Seoul-Yokohama Contemporary Artists Exhibition, Gallery of Art Cosmo Center, Yokohama, Japan
1986
Yokohama Contemporary Artists Exhibition, The Museum of Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan
1985
ISPPA, Walker Hill Museum, Seoul, Korea
1984
84 ISPPA-HUKUOKA, The Museum of Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
1982
Ecole de Seoul, The National Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, Korea
Korea Today's Artists Exhibition, Kwan Hoon Gallery, Seoul, Korea
1976
The Invited Exhibition Contemporary Artists, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
The Invited Exhibition Contemporary Artists, Balch Institute Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
1975
William Penn Memorial Museum, Harrisburg, PA, USA
1974
The 24th Cheltenham Art Exhibition, Cheltenham Art Center, Cheltenham, UK
Drexel University Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
1973
Civic Center Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Earth Art Modern II Art Exhibition, Philadelphia Civic Center Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
1971-78
National Forum of Professional Artists Show, Philadelphia Civic Center Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
1966-68
Korean Contemporary Artists Invited Exhibition, The Chosun Il-Bo Press Group, Seoul, Korea
1966-67
The Shin Sang Group Show, National Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, Korea
public collections
The British Musuem London, U.K
M+ HongKong
Wooyang museum of contemporary art (Artsonje museum) Gyeongju, Korea
Yale University Art Gallery Connecticut, USA
Victoria & Albert Museum London, U.K
KUNST Museum Bonn Bonn, Germany
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Gwachun, Korea
Columbia University of Law New York, USA
University of Virginia Art Museum Virginia, USA
How Art Museum Wenzhou, China
United Nations headquarters New York, USA
Dr. Christiane Hackerodt Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur Bonn, Germany
The Seoul National University Museum of Art Seoul, Korea
Seoul Museum of Art Seoul, Korea
Busan Metropolitan Art Museum Busan, Korea
Pak Young Sa Publishing Co Seoul, Korea
Hansol Foundation of Culture Seoul, Korea
Rosewood Stone Group CA, USA
Woodrow Wilson International Center Washington DC, USA
Malta National Museum, Malta, USA
The Museum of Hong-ik University Seoul, Korea
Hansol Foundation of Culture Seoul, Korea
Arario gallery Cheonan/Seoul, Korea
Neiman Marcus Department Store Dallas, USA
The Leeum, Samsung Museum Seoul, Korea
The Honolulu museum of Art Honolulu, USA
Potash Corporation-USA Headquarters Chicago, USA
William Penn Memorial Museum Philadelphia, USA
Rockfeller Foundation New York, USA
Hotel Shilla Seoul, Korea
Chosun Hotel Gyeongju, Korea
LG Group Seoul, Korea
Han Wha Corp. Seoul, Korea
Syn Key Group Seoul, Korea
Il Shin Spinning Co. Seoul, Korea
Seoul 63 Building Seoul, Korea
Sa Jo Corp. Seoul, Korea
Tita and Gene Zeffren Chicago, USA
Oracle Corporation New York, USA
Woong-Jin Group Seoul, Korea
The National Military Academy Seoul, Korea
International Finance Corp. Washington.DC, USA
Fidelity Investments Boston Boston, USA
National Gallery of Australia at Canberra Canberra, Australia
Continental-Bental L. L.C. Washington, USA
Jacson Consulting Corp. Coral Gables, USA
Codina Group Inc. Coral Gables, USA
Dong Yang Tinplate Corp Seoul, Korea
Seo Heung Metal Co. Seoul, Korea
Yu Yu Ind. Ltd. Seoul, Korea
Lake Hills Country Club Su Won, Korea
Sea Ah Group Seoul, Korea
Philadelphia Society Building Philadelphia, USA
Seo Won Valley Country Club Song-Chou, Korea
Lattangio E Associati SRL Milan, Italy
Chase Manhattan Bank New York, USA
awards
2009
Presidential Prize in the 41st Korean Culture and Art Prize, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Seoul, Korea
2001
Chun Kwang Young; Artist of the Year 2001, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea
1974
Silver Prize in the 27th Cheltenham Art Center Exhibition sponsored by Cheltenham Art Center, Cheltenham, PA, USA
1973
Special Prize in the Earth Art II sponsored by Civic Center Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
1969
Special Prize in the 18th Korean National Art's Exhibition sponsored by the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation, Seoul, Korea
1967
Korean Contemporary Artist's Invited Exhibition Special Prize, held by Chosun Press Group, National Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, Korea
1967-66
Special Prize in the 5th, 6th Shin Sang Group Exhibition, held by Shin Sang Group, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea