Yujin kang

LIST OF ARTWORKS | focus art fair

May 2025

Yujin Kang, Tarragona, 112x162cm,enamel & acrylic on canvas, 2009

Mountain with Road, enamel and acylic on canvas, 65x91cm, 2021

YUJIN KANG

Yujin Kang, Mountain with Oreo cake, enamel and acylic on canvas, 112x145.5cm, 2021

Pool, 72.7 x 91cm, enamel and acrylic on canvas, 2018

ARTIST STATEMENT

“Not only is painting the representation of an intangible world, but it is the expression of the artist at the same time as it is the world of invisible emotion and the spirit of creation that the artist approaches.” 

“For me, the word ‘painting’ is as complex and ambiguous as the words ‘love’ and ‘happiness’, and it is an indefinable object. We define ‘happiness’ as the state of satisfaction where there’s not too much or too little. However, the standard of happiness being too subjective and personal, it’s nearly impossible to measure it. Even though there’s that one perfect ideal out there that everyone agrees and hopes for, it differs in each individual, and that too changes throughout time. 

Abstract concepts such as love and happiness are hard to distinguish while surrounded by them like clouds, smoke, and flame. The shape and color might look scattered and ambiguous when engulfed in it, but from a distance, they take on distinct forms. Such applies to paintings, for the value and the depth of the story of each piece differ depending on the distance between you and the surface of the painting. The traces on the surface of the artwork either succeed or fail in grabbing the audience. Some will just pass by, and some will get lost in it. The trace can be anything from a glob of paint to any type of medium that resembles things that we know. Paintings are hung on the living room and gallery walls to be sold as an expensive item, or they can be replicated into print ads. And provide a series of visual experiences while hidden and stored away in our attic or portfolio. 

The same painting that can be vague and end up being a visual noise to some can become an open sphere where it brings forth originality, complexity, and techniques to others. 

The painting that will be shown is not only the representation of the visible world but also the traces of the movement of my hand. I have attempted to draw out the duality of the paintings through my ‘paintings’ in this exhibition. The conflicting concepts, such as abstract elements/figurative elements, two-dimensional pattern/three-dimensional space, coincidence/intentional, hot/cold, discomfort/comfort, humid/dry, and curve/straight line, are mixed harmoniously without clashing. The two elements are intersected, combined, and juxtaposed. I wanted to position my painting between the incompatible elements. The painting’s tendency to jump back and forth between the boundaries of illusion and reality resembles our lives, where we are in and out of sadness, anger, love, and joy. The picture of ‘happiness’ that everyone has in their heads turns people into illusion-chasing imbeciles and acts as a trap that steals the present moment. Like the illusions in the paintings, deceiving the viewer as if there’s more to it. The joy and experience of painting might change and disappear, but it is my hope that the equilibrium of the two paralleled elements remains unbroken.”

- Yujin Kang 

ARTIST BIO

Yujin Kang is originally from Seoul and recently moved to Virginia after living in Germany, Washington D.C., upstate New York, and Utah. She received her BFA and MFA from Seoul National University and an MA from Goldsmith College, London. She has exhibited work in London, Berlin, Seoul, New York City, and the Netherlands, and participated in six art residencies around the world. Yujin specializes in enamel and acrylic paint on canvas. Her work explores the tension between the self-referential autonomy of the paint and the representation of the external environment through the simultaneous expression of abstract and figurative illusion. 

ARTIST CV

YUJIN KANG (b.1977) 

EDUCATION 

2005 MA Fine Art in Goldsmiths College, University of London, London 

2004 M.F.A. Graduate School of Seoul National University, Seoul 

2001 B.F.A. College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University, Seoul 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 

2024 <Fragments of Fantasy: New Perspectives in landscape>, Sun Gallery, Seoul 

2021 <MOUNTAINOUS>, UMOCA (Utah Museum of Contemporary Art), UTAH 

2020 <Two Mountains and a Swimming Pool >, Online Solo Exhibition, OPENART Advisory + Projects 

2019 <On the Road Again>, Zaha Museum, Seoul 

2019 <Splash!>, KSD gallery, Seoul 

2019 <SEASONS>, Gallery chi-you (Seoul National University Dental Hospital) 

2015 <KANGYUJIN>, Doosan gallery, New York 

2012 <Finding Landscapes>, Gallery SUN contemporary, Seoul 

2011 <Into Europe>, Gallery Resy Muijers, Tilburg, Netherlands 

2009 <Memories and Visions> Gallery SUN contemporary, Seoul 

2009 <Buildings, sky and water; Man-made landscapes> 

Youngeun Artist Project 2008-2010 Relay Exhibition, Youngeun Museum, Gyeonggi 

2007 <Gallery> Gallery SUN contemporary, Seoul 

2006 <Between> Kumho Museum, Seoul 

2004 <Transcape> Shinsegae Gallery, Incheon 

2004 <Plane Landscape> Galerie Gaia, Seoul 

2004 <Giant and Tiny Landscape> Gallery mieum, Seoul 

2003 Cafe imA, Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS 

2025.01-2025.02 <Winter Masterpieces>, Sun Gallery, Seoul 

2023.12-2024.01 <Winter Masterpieces>, Sun Gallery, Seoul 

2023.01-2023.02 <Winter Masterpieces>, Sun Gallery, Seoul 

2021.12-2022.01 <Winter Masterpieces>, Sun Gallery, Seoul 

2020.12-2021.01 <Winter Masterpieces>, Sun Gallery, Seoul 

2019 <Kumho Young Artist: The 69 Times of Sunrise>, Kumho Museum, Seoul 

2018 <The 7th BITMULI Exhibition>, Pyeongtaek Southern Culture & Art Center, Pyeongtaek 

2018 <Painting, Reading New Woman> Kyobo Art Space, Seoul 

2013 <FLOATING IN SPACE> space k, Gwangju, Korea 

2011 No.45 Kumho Young Artist, Kumho Museum, Seoul 

2010 <KANG YUJIN, KIM HYUNG GWAN, LEE JOON HYUNG>, geumunhwa gallery, Seoul 

2010 <Immunity>, Zaha Museum, Seoul 

2010 ARCADES PROJECT, inter alia, Seoul 

2009 Space on the Surface, KANG, YUJIN-LEE, JIHYUN, Doosan gallery, Seoul 

2009 SUN Contemporary 0809, Gallery SUN contemporary, Seoul 

2008 SUN Contemporary 0708, Gallery SUN contemporary, Seoul 

2008 Cantilever Left, Gallery I-MYU, London 

2008 Emerging Art Seoul-Berlin, Berlin 

2007 The Edge of Sensation Ⅱ- a slight movement, Gallery Simon, Seoul 

2007 Black Powder & White Party, Art Museum of Kyunghee University, Seoul 

2007 Strange Decalcomanie, YUJIN KANG/ JONG-MOON JEON, gallery Curiosity, Seoul 

2007 NO BOUNDS- Happy Contemporary 2007! , Gallery SUN contemporary, Seoul 

2006 Fosterart Winter Exhibition 2006, Fosterart, London 

2006 More than Words, Usuk-hol, Seoul 

2006 CELESTE ART PRIZE’ 06 FINALIST EXHIBITION, the Well, London 

2006 Below the Radar, At 45 St.John Street, London 

2006 YOUNG ARTISTS CROSSING EUROUP 06-07 Tilburg, Netherlands 

2006 Distance & Proximity, the Trafalgar, London 

2006 INTERSECTION 1, Tilburg, Netherlands 

2006 STILL DYNAMICS, Jerwood Space, London 

2005 Daily fragrance, Sun Gallery, Seoul 

2005 Here & Now, Chinese contemporary, London 

2003 Art World Competition, Danwon Art Gallery, Ansan 

2003 Young Artists Exhibition- New Challenge & Potentiality, Galerie Gaia, Seoul 

2003 Entre Paris et Seoul, Galerie Paris Beaubourg, Paris 

2002 NOKIA Arts Awards-Asia Pacific 2001, Silpakorn University, Bangkok 

2002 Kang, Yu jin & Lee, Zooyeon, Gallery Shilla, Daegu 

2002 REAL'(Dash), Gallery Goo, Seoul 

2002 Vision 21, Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul 

2001 The Direction of Arts 2001, Dongduk Art Gallery, Seoul 

2001 ‘PERSIST’. Gallery Helloart, Seoul 

2001 NOKIA Arts Awards-Asia Pacific 2001, Gallery Thu.Fri.Sat, Seoul 

2001 Interchange Exhibition Between Seoul National University And Beijing Central Arts 

University, Beijing 

2001 Sejong Arts Awards, Baek Sang gallery, Seoul 

AWARDS 

2006 Celeste Art Prize ‘06 Finalist, London 

2004 Kumho Young Artist 

2001 Finalist at NOKIA Arts Awards – Asia Pacific 

2001 Second Prize at the 4th Sejong Arts Awards by Sejong University 

RESIDENCY PROGRAMMES 

2020 UMOCA (UTAH MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART) ARTIS-IN-RESIDENCE, Utah 

2018 The 5th term of Artists-in-Residence, WHITE BLOCK ART CENTER, Cheonan 

2008-2010 The 7th term of Artists-in-Residence, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gyeonggi 

2008 Emerging Art Seoul-Berlin, Seoul-Berlin Artist Residency Program, 

LVBG & ORCO-GSG, Berlin 

2007-2008 The 2nd term of Artists-in-Residence, Nanji Studio, Seoul 

COLLECTIONS 

Art Bank-National Museum of Modern and Contemporaty Art (Seoul) 

Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul) 

Youngeun Museum (Gyeonggi) 

Kumho Museum (Seoul)