Tai Woong Kang
TaiWoong Kang was born in Sinan, South Jeolla, South Korea. He received both his B.F.A. and M.F.A. from Chung-Ang University in 1986 and 1990. He immigrated to the United States in 1998. He received his M.A. from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 2001 and worked as an artist based in New York. He has moved back to South Korea since 2012 and is currently a professor at Chung-Ang University College of Arts.
Since moving to the United States 20 years ago, one of the main goals of TaiWoong Kang as an artist was to reconnect and communicate with nature through utilizing both two-dimensional and three-dimensional mediums in his work. Alternating between complementary colors that have stark contrasts to more subdued analogous colors, Kang’s exploration of the relationships between colors and projecting the various energies that emanate from them captivates the eye.
Another crucial component of Kang’s works is the element of gesture in which he records his physical movements by manipulating multiple layers of paint by splattering, dripping and scraping, resulting in an infinite number of colorful specks and unique textures overlapping onto the surface. Within the constant layering and disclosing of these painterly marks emerge new abstract forms that actively move across the canvas. It is this dynamic, which represents Kang’s message of hope that all things in nature would move towards the restoration of humanity from the effects of the corrupted world.
Artist Statement:
Modern people find themselves at the center of an ever changing world. We are exposed to an era of chaos that rapidly introduces new paradigms on to our relationships with others and with society. Subsequently, we face daily life in dizziness and shortness of breath, in which we must squeeze to fit into these new paradigms. My hope is that our increasingly desolate humanity returns to a purer, natural state of humanhood. This hope started from a small wish to discover my true self while one with nature.
I have tried countlessly to have a dialogue with nature through my artistic career. The results of which have manifested at times ats three dimensional objects and other times as various shapes. My serial works are titled as “Dream and Daily Life,” “Vestiges,” “Circulation,” and my most recent attempt at a dialogue with nature – “Movement.”
Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself more often alone, and more immersed in nature. I obtained a positive and hopeful energy from deeply observing the seasonal changes of nature, and I tried to express that feeling on a canvas in dual structure.
“Gesture” is an important visual element in my work. Various movements leave different traces and in the process of encompassing these traces gives birth to an entirely new image. The serial work titled, “Movement,” seeks the harmony between Yin and Yang, the internal and external, and through the picture plane. “Movement,” extracted from nature is an embodiment of my hope that all the world’s events will move towards a more nourishing and positive direction.
Movement (Series), Acrylic on canvas, 64 x 51.5 inches, 2022
Movement (Series), Acrylic on canvas, 51.25 x 38.25 inches, 2022
Movement 2223, 72.7x60.6cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2022
Movement 2226, 53x45.5cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2022
Movement 2227, 53x45.5cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2022
CV:
Education:
BFA/MFA Fine Art – Painting, Chung-Ang University, Fine Arts – Painting
MA Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Studio Art
*Currently a member of the Korean Fine Arts Association and a Professor at the Chung-Ang University
Select Solo Exhibitions (49+ solo exhibitions since 1990)
2021 Movement (Sungok Culturl Foundation, Gotbawe Museum, Mokpo, South Korea),
Movement (Gallery Kubota, Tokyo Japan),
Movement Memories of the Seasons (Gallery H, Seoul, Korea)
2020 Movement Feast of the Seasons (ChungHakDae Museum, Ansung, South Korea)
2019 Movement (Kit Gallery, Gumi, South Korea),
Movement (KCC Yonhee Gallery, New Jersey USA),
Movement (Won Gallery, Kwangjoo, South Korea)
2018 Movement (United Gallery, Seoul, Korea),
Movement (Onyou Gallery, Anyang, South Korea) etc.
2017 Movement (Riverside Gallery, New Jersey, USA)
Select Group Exhibitions (500+ group exhibitions since 1986)
2021 Suncheon Eco Art Fair (Suncheon, South Korea)
Korea and Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition (Tokyo, Japan)
Korea International Art Exhibition (Hankuk Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea)
Creative Art Association Exhibition (Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea)
ReStart (Gallery H, Seoul, Korea)
2020 Do Autumn Art (ArtSpace Ryu, Yong-in, South Korea)
City Fantasy (Gotbowe Museum, Mokpo, South Korea)
Hansung Baekje Songpa Art Festival (Songpa Culture & Arts Center, Songpa, South Korea)
Creative Art Association Exhibition (Insa Art Center, Seoul, South Korea)
Korea International Art Exhibition (Yongsan Art Hall, Seoul, South Korea)
Seoul Modern Art Show (KEPCO Art Center Gallery, Seoul, South Korea)
Sosabul Art Festival (Pyeongtaekho Art Center, Pyeongtaekho, South Korea)
2019 Korea Art Festival (Onse Art Center)
Painting Memorial Exhibitiion (Gotbowe Museum, Mokpo, South Korea)
Dongkang Art Festival (Yeongwol Cultural Center, Yeongwol, South Korea)
Kwangju Art Fair (Kim Dae Jung Conventions Center)
Silkroad International Art Fair(Sian City Art Center, China)
Korea China International Art University Exchange Exhibition (Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Space, Gwangju, South Korea)
Additional Info:
Illusion and Materiality 2023 Group Exhibition
Movement 2219, 72.7x60.6cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2022
Movement 2213, 76x76cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2022
Movement 2114, 116.8x116.8cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2021
Movement 2123, 112.1x162.2m, Acrylic on canvas, 2021
Movement 2192, 45.5x37.9cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2021
Movement 2181, 116.8x91cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2021
Movement 2178, 181.8x227.3cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2021
Movement 2105, 72.7x60.6cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2021