HYON GYON (B. 1979)

Since her first solo show in New York in 2013, Hyon Gyon been renowned for her masterful and intricate works that incorporate a wide range of materials including fabric, beads, gold leaf, pottery shards, feathers, and encaustic. Works from her most recent major series, which centered on the figure of a Korean shaman, were highly sought after across the US and abroad. Since then she has moved towards a more abstract form of expression. In her most recent works, Hyon Gyon has incorporated sculptural elements onto the canvas’s surface, creating a niche form of art that dwells between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional states. In her Angry Portraits (Lot 21 & 22) the expressive visages depicted in more refined forms in her earlier work, appear again here with more intensity and passion. From the thick impasto and the swirling chaos of feathers, fabric and gold, they seem to be pushing their way out of the two dimensional universe, vigorously attempting to escape into our world. Each work is richly textured, its complex and ornate surface resembling a contemporary tapestry.

Hyon Gyon received her BA from Mokwon University in Korea and her MA and PhD from Kyoto City University of Arts in Japan. Her work has been included in solo and group exhibitions at institutions including the Museum of Kyoto, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, the Kyoto Art Center, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Hyon Gyon’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the High Museum of Art, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, the Kyoto City University of Arts, and the Takahashi Collection, among others. She has received several fellowships and awards, including the Asao Kato International Scholarship, the Kyoto Cultural Award and the Tokyo Wonder Wall Competition Prize. She is currently based in New York.