Kyungwoo Chun

Born in Korea, now based in Germany, Kyungwoo Chun is known for his softly controlled treatment of his subjects. Much of Chun’s photographic work is deeply figural and plays with the standards of traditional portraiture. Since his first solo show in 1994, Chun has exhibited heavily in his home country, as well as across Europe and beyond. Chun also works in performance and video. Much of his highly interactive performance work engages directly with public space and site-specificity, and uses the viewers as crucial elements in the work, whether they are writing text, folding paper airplanes, or simply touching it. In Versus (2011), Chun installed a curving, minimalist bench in the heart of Times Square, then filled the structure with two facing rows of people. For the run of the piece, opposing participants gently leaned on one another, in a partial-hug of an embrace. Video functions in several ways for Chun. At times, the moving camera does the same as stills, blurring figural forms into abstracted color and shapes. At others, the videos serve as essential documentation of performances that are only activated by an audience of participants who drive the work. Chun's work has been exhibited at institutions such as the Museum of Photography in Seoul, the Center for Contemporary Art in Aarhus, the Kunstverein Ruhr in Essen, and the Museum of Fine Art Houston.