(b. 1955)

The subject is absent in the works of Hyung Koo Kang, a renowned hyperrealist artist. Rather than merely depicting famous celebrities in the picture, he combines it with contemporary images like film, and reinvents the subject with exquisite craftsmanship using all kinds of possible tools with his painting, such as airbrush technique, nails, drill, q-tips, toothpicks and erasers. In order to actualize a subject that doesn’t exist, Kang expresses the potential and possible realities in a hyperrealistic manner, rather than merely unveiling reality as it is. The figures of the past that are recreated through his hands into contemporary images pierce the viewer with a tactile gaze, exchanging that gaze with the audience, forming emotional bonds secretly.

1980 B.F.A. Chungang University, Seoul

Selected Solo Exhibition
2019 Reaching for the stars, Anima Gallery, Doha, Qatar
2018 Arario Museum in Space, Seoul
2015 Frameless Heads, Museum of Contempoary Art Shanghai, Shanghai China
Soul, Parkview Green, Beijing, China
2014 Oh! Marilyn, ARARIO GALLERY, Cheonan
2013 Engraving, ARARIO GALLERY, Seoul
Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwangju
2011 Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
2010 FACE TO FACE, ARARIO GALLERY, Beijing, China
Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwang-ju, Korea
2009 ARARIO GALLERY, Newyork, USA
ARARIO GALLERY, Seoul, Korea
2007 THE GAZE, ARARIO GALLERY, Cheonan, Korea
2006 Lotte Art Gallery, Busan, Gwangju, Korea
2005 Gwangju Art Museum, Gwangju, Korea
2004 Sang Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Sejong Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
2003 Sejong Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
2002 Samsung Plaza Gallery, Bundang, Korea
Sejong Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
2001 Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
Chosun-ilbo Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Samsung Plaza Gallery, Bundang, Korea

Selected Group Exhibition
2017 ATELIER STORY EXHIBITION, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
2016 SOUTH KOREAN ART: EXAMINING LIFE THROUGH SOCIAL REALITIES, American University Museum, Washington, DC
2015 Tiger Enjoys Art, 110th Anniversary Exhibition of Korea University, Korea University Museum, Seoul, Korea
Illusion and Fantasy, National Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, Korea
2013 Banana and Me, ARARIO GALLERY, CHEONAN, Korea
2012 Korean Eye, Saatch Gallery, London, UK
2011 Artists with ARARIO 2011 / Part 1, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL cheongdam, Korea
靑-Beyond the Blue, GALLERY HYUNDAI, Seoul, Korea
The Seoul Art Festival 2011, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
2010 Artist with Arario, ARARIO GALLERY, Seoul & Cheonan, Korea
2009 Art in Super Star, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Korean Eye; Moon Generation, SC First Bank, Seoul, Korea; Saatchi-Gallery, London, UK
Grand Opeing of Shinsegae Centum City, Shinsegae Centum City, Busan, Korea
2008 Youngeun Residency 2008 – The time of the Transterence, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwang-ju, Korea
2006 Draw, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
The picture like Photograph, The photograph like picture, Zandari Musuem, Seoul, Korea
2005 Face, Young Eun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwangju, Korea
Father, Gail Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Memory of Nature, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
2004 Existence and Illusion, Gwangju Art Museum, Gwangju, Korea
2003 Face, Express, Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, Korea
Exploration of Light and Color, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
2002 Self -portraits of Korea, Sejong Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
Passion and the After, Insa Art Center, Seoul, Korea

Artist in Residency
2008 – present: Youngeun Residency 2008, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwang-ju, Korea

Collections
The Frank Cohen Collection, FC MOCA, Korea
Jimmy Carter Center, Atlanta, USA
PEAK6 Investment, Chicago, USA
Gwangju Art Museum, Gwangju, Korea
The Republic of Korea National Red Cross, Seoul, Korea
Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Korea
The Amore Museum, Yongin, Korea
Federation of Korean Trade Union, Seoul, Korea
Gamsil Olympic Main Stadium, Seoul, Korea
Son Ki-Jeong Memorial Foundation, Korea
ARARIO GALLERY, Cheonan, Korea