Solo Exhibitions (Brief)

Yang Jung Uk has held a total of 10 solo exhibitions from 2013 to 2025 at Gallery Hyundai, Doosan Gallery, OCI Museum (twice), The Soso, and Musée de Kerguéhennec (Bignan, France), among others.

In particular, 《Maybe, It's like that》(2021, OCI Museum, Seoul, Korea) and 《We Placed the Photograph Taken Yesterday in Plain Sight》(2019, Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea) were noted for their abstract sculptural interpretations of meticulous observations of everyday life.

Group Exhibitions (Brief)

Since 2009, Yang Jung Uk has participated in approximately 39 curated group exhibitions at institutions including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul, Gwacheon, Cheongju), Seoul Museum of Art, Nam June Paik Art Center (Yongin), Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Changwon Sculpture Biennale (Changwon), Daejeon Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Busan, Kumho Museum of Art, F1963 (Busan), Incheon Art Platform, Paradise Art Space (Incheon), Ottawa Art Gallery (Canada), and Utah Museum of Fine Arts (USA).

Recent key group exhibitions include 《Korea Artist Prize》(2024, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea), 《The Unboxing Project 3.2》(2024, Various Small Fires, LA, USA), 《My Your Memory》(2022, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea), 《Masquerade Ball》(2022, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea), and 《Changwon Sculpture Biennale: Channel - Wave-Particle Duality》(2022, Changwon, Korea).

Awards (Selected)

Yang Jung Uk gained recognition in the Korean art scene after winning the Excellence Award at the 35th Joongang Fine Arts Prize(2013). In 2015, he was selected for OCI Young Creatives(OCI Museum, Seoul, Korea), and in 2020, he received the Kim Se Choong Young Sculptor Award. In 2025, he was selected for the 《Korea Artist Prize 2025》, organized by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA).

Collections (Selected)

Yang Jung Uk's works are housed in major domestic and international collections, including National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Korea), Seoul Museum of Art (Korea), Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art (Korea), Museum of Contemporary Art Busan (Korea), Daejeon Museum of Art (Korea), Jeonnam Museum of Art (Korea), Daelim Changgo (Korea), OCI Museum of Art (Korea), Sindoh (Korea), Southern Utah Museum of Arts (USA), and Gentle Monster (USA).

Originality & Identity

Yang Jung Uk has consistently explored the process of constructing sculptural narratives derived from the relationship between individuals and society. His work transcends traditional sculpture or kinetic art, establishing a unique concept known as "storytelling machines," where moving devices and narrative structures intertwine.

In his early works, Yang focused on the landscape of labor, occupational habits, and the interplay between individuals and society, reinterpreting these themes through sculptural methods. His representative series, ‘Standing Workers’ (2015–2022), investigates the bodily rhythm and repetition of laborers maintaining a standing posture, visualizing the structural patterns of daily life through kinetic sculptures. Over time, his interests expanded toward exploring how memory and emotions transform into physical forms. This transition is evident in 《We Placed the Photograph Taken Yesterday in Plain Sight》 (2019, Gallery Hyundai, Seoul), where he experimented with translating the "form of memory" within human relationships into sculptural language.

A key concept in Yang’s work is “nonverbal narratives.” Unlike straightforward storytelling or literary descriptions, his pieces generate narratives through movement and structure within sculpture and installation. His approach encourages audience participation, prompting viewers not merely to observe his works but to engage with their own memories and experiences. By extending the boundaries of traditional sculpture, Yang's practice evolves toward a new form of narrative-driven art that fuses technology with emotional expression.

Style & Contents

Yang’s work combines mechanical structures with organic movement, utilizing diverse materials such as wood, wire, motors, lights, threads, and plastic to create immersive spatial experiences. His early piece, Yang Tae-hwan for Nam-hee (2008), employed a small mechanical device, marking the beginning of his exploration into integrating kinetic structures with narrative elements.

A distinctive feature of his work is the balance between repetitive motion and sculptural equilibrium. Adversity Whispers That There Is Hope (2011) employed motorized structures to express the repetitive patterns and uncertainties of life, while He Explained for a Long Time Over a Corded Telephone with a Long Cord (2016) visualized the structure of conversation through kinetic sculptural elements. These works reflect his continued exploration of how mechanical structures mediate human emotions.

Yang also extends his narratives by incorporating text into installations. In 《Maybe It’s Like That》 (2021, OCI Museum, Seoul), he experimented with sculpturally representing the ambiguity and misunderstandings in everyday communication, encouraging viewers to recall and interpret their own experiences through his work.

Ultimately, his work maintains a delicate balance between concrete sculptural forms and visual storytelling, stimulating the viewer's imagination and establishing a distinctive sculptural language that merges mechanical structures with human sentiment.

Topography & Continuity

Yang Jung Uk’s artistic practice maintains continuity through his exploration of the ever-changing moments of daily life and their connection to individual identity. While his early works focused on observing and sculpturally reconstructing the rhythms of labor and repetitive movements, his recent works have expanded towards investigating how memory and sensory perception transform into spatial structures.

Notably, his selection as a finalist for the 《2024 Korea Artist Prize》 at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) marked a shift in his practice towards a broader exploration of the relationship between human perception, memory, and technology. In Someone I Know, in His Garden I’ve Never Seen(2024), he experimented with how personal memory and space can be sculpturally intertwined, creating a structure that functions not as a fixed form but as one that continuously evolves through audience engagement.

Beyond merely experimenting with kinetic sculpture, Yang’s work poses a crucial question: how can sculpture generate new sensory experiences and narratives? Moving forward, his practice is expected to further explore the integration of technology and materiality, as well as the role of time and audience participation in shaping contemporary sculpture.