Kyungwoo Chun

Kyungwoo Chun (*1969 in Seoul) has for many years now been working on photography projects and initiating performances in which the audience is actively involved. Chun attained international recognition through his portraits, many of which have a characteristic blurriness in their movements-the consequence of extended exposure times. As diverse as the artistic approaches seem at a first glance, Chun considers both the performances and the photographs to be in equal measure “visible manifestations of that which is not visible.”

Ever since early 2000s, performance works have arisen in parallel to the photography. These are temporally limited processes which can be carried out individually or as a group. As author and initiator, Chun withdraws to a large extent into the background. He establishes a framework in which the participants can act independently. They generally have the possibility of leaving behind something of their own. Sometimes it is a personal object, a photograph, or just the answer to a question. In other cases, their physical presence is already sufficient.
The sensitization to an altered perception of time and the intensification of a dialogue with oneself and with others are essential aspects of this artistic practice.

The oeuvre of Kyungwoo Chun has been presented in many solo and group exhibitions in Europe and Korea. Furthermore, he has realized numerous performances with participation of the public in many cities including Barcelona, Seoul, Berlin, Liverpool, Zurich, Mumbai, Bremen and New York. The artist’s work is represented in major museum collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston(MFAH), Huis Marseille stichting voor fotografie in Amsterdam, Kunsthalle Emden, Museet for Fotokunst Odense, Musée Mac/Val in Vitry-sur-Seine, The Museum of Photography Seoul, National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea(MMCA) among others.