Artists

1. Kang Woon-gu, Wonseong-gun (now Wonju), 1974-94, Selenium toned gelatin silver print, 50.8x61cm


Kang Woon-gu, Wonseong-gun (now Wonju)


Kang Woon-gu was born in Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province in 1941. He began his career as a photo journalist in 1966, joining the editorial office of Chosun Ilbo. In 1970, he was dismissed from his job in the press office of Dong-a Ilbo for being a member of an organization that protested government suppression of the press. Since the 1960s, Kang has been documenting the rapid changes that the life, landscape, and people of Korea have undergone in the process of industrialization and modernization.

His work has been featured in many solo exhibitions, including Coincidence or Inevitability (Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul, 1994); Every Sediment (Hakgojae Gallery, 1997); Village, A Trilogy (Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, 2001); and In the Evening (Museum of Photography, Seoul, 2008). He has also participated in numerous group shows and published many photo essays, such as The Light of the Time (Paju: Munhakdongne, 2004); Nature Travel (Seoul: Kachi, 2008); and On the Photographs of Kang Woon-gu (Paju: Youlhwadang, 2010).

 

 

2. Koo Bohnchang, Seoul, Yeouido, 1985-1989, C-print, 30x45cm


Koo Bohnchang, <Seoul, Yeouido>, 1985-1989


Koo Bohnchang was born in Seoul, in 1953. He has held roughly 30 solo exhibitions in Korea and abroad, including shows at Samsung's Rodin GALLERY(2001); the Peabody Essex Museum in the United States (2002), the Galerie Camera Obscura in Paris in 2004 and 2009; the Kahitsukan Museum in Kyoto, Japan; the Raum mit Licht Galerie in Vienna, Austria in 2009, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His works are housed in the many institutions worldwide, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Kahitsukan Museum in Kyoto, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea in Gwacheon and the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul. He has published several photography books including Breath; Masks; and White Porcelain, all published by Hangil Art and Everyday Treasures, published in Japan by Rutles Press.

 

 

3. Nanda, In the Streetcar, 2008, Inkjet Print, 80x100cm


Nanda, In the Streetcar, 2008


Born in 1969, Nanda held her first solo show—Modern-Girl, Tour of Seoul-at Gana Art Space, Seoul in 2008. Her two representative series, Modern-Girl and The Day, have been featured in solo shows at Kustdoc Gallery, Trunk Gallery, Art Space Boan, and the Museum of Photography, Seoul. She has also participated in a number of group exhibitions. As one of the best-reviewed artists of the 2010 Daegu Photo Biennale, she was invited to present her works at the 2012 Biennale as part of An Encounter, Unexpected, but Inevitable, the exhibition of works by the best-reviewed artists.

 

 

4. Min Byung-hun, Portrait series, mg247, 2010, Gelatin silver print, 60x50cm


Min Byung-hun, <Portrait series, mg247>, 2010


Min Byung-Hun was born in Seoul in 1955. In 1984, he held his first solo exhibition at the Pinehill Gallery in Seoul, and he was subsequently awarded the Silver Prize at the Donga Salson for his 25 o'clock. He has held various solo exhibitions in venues such as the Gain Gallery(1995, 1996), the Kumho Museum of Art(1999), the Galerie Baudoin Lebon in Paris(2001); the Seoul Museum of Photography(2004, 2011); the Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica, California (2007); the Lee Hwail Gallery(2009) and Gallery Jireh(2012). His works are housed in the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea; the Gyeonggi Museum of Art; the Daejeon Museum of Art; the Museum of Photography, Seoul; the Seoul Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Art, Houston; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Santa Barbara Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Centre National des Arts Plastiques in Paris.

 

 

5. Park Young-sook, Mad Woman Project / A Flower Shakes Her #2, 2005, C-print, 120X120cm


 Park Young-sook, Mad Woman Project / 
A Flower Shakes Her #2, 2005


Born in 1941, Park Young-sook worked under the influence of modernism until the 1980s. She has also established her identity as a feminist photographer, and since the late 80s, she has remained at the forefront of the feminist art circle of Korea. She helped to lay the foundations for the development of feminist art in Korea by showing her work in an exhibition to commemorate the United Nations' International Women's Year (1975) and in the exhibition Poem Meets Picture: Let's Make a Start. In 1999, she participated in the first "Women's Art Festival: Patjis on Parade," both as an artist and a member of the operating committee. From 1999-2005, she worked on her "Mad Women Project,: and she was invited to display her works from this series at Sungkok Art Museum in 2005.

Her works oppose unfairness towards women by exposing and confronting the "difference" and "discrimination" towards women that she shows to be inherent to the established values of society. The eighth installment in the Mad Women Project, Flowers Shake Her, looks at conventional images of flowers from a feminist perspective.

 

 

6. Bang Byung-sang, Summer #12 , 2010, Inkjet Print, 120X169cm


Bang Byung-sang, Summer #12, 2010


Bang Byung-sang was born in Chuncheon in 1970. His first solo exhibition was held at SK Photo Gallery (Seoul, 2000), and since then he has had solo shows at Art Space Pool (Seoul, 2000), Insa Art Center (Seoul, 2004), Korea Gallery (Berlin, 2006), Kunstdoc Gallery (Seoul, 2009), Sungkok Art Museum (Seoul, 2010), Gallery Chosun (Seoul, 2012), and other institutions. In 2000, he won the Young Photographer Prize from Photography Art Magazine and the Photo Critic Prize from Time Space. He also received the Daum Prize from the Park Geonhi Cultural Foundation in 2003 and the Artist of Tomorrow Prize from Sungkok Art Museum in 2010. His works are housed in the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea; Sungkok Art Museum; Daegu Art Museum; Park Geonhi Cultural Foundation; JGS Foundation in New York; and Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Art in Japan.

 

 

7. Lee Gap-chul, Brier and old woman, Hapchon, 1994, Inkjet print, 150x100cm


Lee Gap-chul, Brier and old woman,
Hapchon, 1994

Lee Gap-chul was born in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do Province in 1959. He has held many solo exhibitions, including The Land of the Others (Kyung-In Museum of Fine Art, Seoul 1988) and Conflict and Reaction (Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, 2002), as well as solo shows at the Museum of Photography, Seoul (2002 and 2007); Andrew Bae Gallery (Chicago, 2009); and Ryugaheon, Mainly Photograph's Gallery (Seoul, 2011). He has also participated in a number of group shows, such as Fotofest 2000 (Williams Tower Gallery, Houston, 2000); Chaotic Harmony: Korean Contemporary Photography (Museum of Fine Art, Houston, 2009); and Disappeared but Remained (Australian Center for Photography, Sydney, 2011). He has published many photo collections, including Lee Gap-chul (Paju: Youlhwadang, 2012); In Autumn (Seoul: Ryugaheon, 2011); and Photographs by Lee Gap-chul (Seoul: Hanmi Foundation of Art & Culture, 2004). His works are in the collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea; Kumho Museum of Art; Dong-gang Museum of Photography; Museum of Photography, Seoul; and other institutions.

 

 

8. Lee Sang-hyun, Nostalgia 2, 2008, Digital C-print, 110x198cm


Lee Sang-hyun, Nostalgia 2, 2008


Born in 1968, Lee Sun-min has held solo exhibitions at Namu Gallery (Seoul, 1996); Lux Gallery (Seoul, 2004); Now Gallery (Seoul, 2006); Jebiwool Museum (Gwacheon, 2007); Hakgojae Gallery (Seoul, 2007); and KT&G Sangsangmadang Gallery (Seoul, 2011). Her works are housed in the collection of KT&G Sangsangmadang; Songeun Art Foundation; Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art; Art Bank of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea; and the Joy of Giving Something Foundation in New York. She won the Gangwon Documentary Artist Prize in 2006 and Songeun Art Grand Prize in 2009.

 

 

9. Lee Sun-min, Sangyeop and Hansol, 2008, C-print, 100x125cm


Lee Sun-min, Sangyeop and Hansol, 2008


Born in 1968, Lee Sun-min has held solo exhibitions at Namu Gallery (Seoul, 1996); Lux Gallery (Seoul, 2004); Now Gallery (Seoul, 2006); Jebiwool Museum (Gwacheon, 2007); Hakgojae Gallery (Seoul, 2007); and KT&G Sangsangmadang Gallery (Seoul, 2011). Her works are housed in the collection of KT&G Sangsangmadang; Songeun Art Foundation; Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art; Art Bank of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea; and the Joy of Giving Something Foundation in New York. She won the Gangwon Documentary Artist Prize in 2006 and Songeun Art Grand Prize in 2009.

 

 

10. Choi Bong-lim, Arranged by Chance, 2008, Inkjet Print, 120X155cm


Choi Bong-lim, Arranged by Chance, 2008


Born in Daejeon in 1959, Choi Bong-lim is a leading photo critic, photographer, and independent curator. In 2007, he held his first solo show Photographic Reconstruction at Gallery Sun Contemporary, followed by his second show Arranged by Chance at Gallery Kong in 2010. Choi is the author of 32 Scenes from the History of Western Photography (Seoul: Archive Books, 2011); From Mechanical Art to Photographic Art: Past and Present of Fine Art Photography (Seoul: Photonet, 2007); and Edward Steichen (Seoul: Design House, 2000). His works are in the collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea and the Museum of Photography, Seoul.

For his Arranged by Chance series, Choi spent three summers collecting nighttime images of moths and nocturnal insects. He used lights to attract the moths and insects to a flat surface, and then scattered them to emphasize the accidental characteristics of photography. This work, which lies somewhere between the processes of traditional and digital photography, reflects the artist’s long years of study, as he examines the very nature of photography in terms of its contingency, reproducibility, and variability.

 

 

11. Hwang Gyu-tae, Reproduction, 2010, Digital C-print, 150x300cm


Hwang Gyu-tae, Reproduction, 2010


Hwang Gyu-tae was born in Yesan, Chungcheongnam-do Province in 1938. He began his career as a photojournalist with Kyunghyang Shinmun before immigrating to the United States in 1965. Living in Los Angeles for about 30 years, he built a successful career as a photographer, and became the CEO of Dong-a Ilbo in the U.S. Following his first solo show at Press Center (Seoul, 1973), he has held solo exhibitions at numerous institutions, including Sino Gallery (Log Angeles, 1975); Nikon Salon (Tokyo, 1992); Walkerhill Museum (Seoul, 1994); Kumho Museum of Art (Seoul, 1998); Art Sonje Center (Seoul, 2001); Gallery Ihn (Seoul, 2004); and Jangheung Art Park (Yangju, 2011). His works are housed in the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea; Seoul Museum of Art; Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Walkerhill Museum; Art Sonje Center; Daejeon Museum of Art; Seoul National University Museum; National Assembly of the Republic of Korea; Kumho Museum of Art; Sungkok Art Museum; and Seoul Arts Center.