Solo Exhibitions (Brief)

Since 2014, Jiyoung Yoon has held three solo exhibitions in South Korea and the United States. Her first solo exhibition, 《Glorious Magnificent》 (2014, Mana Contemporary Chicago, Chicago, USA), was followed by 《A Single leg of Moderate Speed》 (2015, Being & Thing Archive, Seoul) and 《Yellow Blues_》 (2021, ONE AND J. Gallery, Seoul), where she presented a diverse range of works.

Group Exhibitions (Brief)

Jiyoung Yoon began her career as an emerging sculptor with 《2010 NEW ARTISTS》 (Kim Chong Yung Museum, Seoul). From 2012 to 2016, she actively participated in approximately ten group exhibitions in New York and Chicago, expanding her presence in the international art scene.

Returning to South Korea, she presented her evolving artistic practice to domestic audiences through exhibitions such as 《Discrete Use of Reality》 (2016, DOOSAN Gallery, Seoul), 《No Longer Objects》 (2016, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul), 《Ecological Sense》 (2019, Nam June Paik Art Center, Yongin), 《This Event》 (2020, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul), and 《Young Korean Artis 2021》 (2021, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon). Recently, she was selected as a finalist for 《Korea Artist Prize 2024》 (2024, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul), solidifying her position as a leading contemporary artist in South Korea.

Awards (Selected)

In 2023, Jiyoung Yoon was selected for the Artist-in-Berlin Program by DAAD. In 2024, she was named a finalist for 《Korea Artist Prize》 at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea.

Collections (Selected)

Jiyoung Yoon's works are part of the collections of Seoul Museum of Art (South Korea) and Suwon Museum of Art (South Korea).

Originality & Identity

Jiyoung Yoon’s work begins with an exploration of the structure of perception and belief, questioning the boundaries between what is seen and what exists. She does not treat sculpture as a mere physical form but as a medium that reveals social and conceptual structures, examining how personal experiences are connected to broader social contexts. In her early works, she addressed the precarious nature of artistic practice and the sustainability of creative life. In Dear Peer Artists 1_; Maslow, Bullshit (2014), she critically reinterpreted Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, creating a structure in which different needs press against each other until balance inevitably collapses. Through this work, she visually articulated the vulnerability and instability of sustaining an artistic life.

Her interest later expanded to the role of the body within sculptural structures. Seeing Things the Way We See the Moon (2013) presents a performance in which the artist ties her long hair to the ceiling while hanging from an iron bar, only to have her assistants cut the hair, causing her to fall. Through this piece, she explores physical dependence, trust, and the dynamics of relationships under uncertain conditions.

In more recent works, her focus has shifted toward issues of gender and corporeality. In Leda and the Swan (2019), she subverts the male-centric gaze by reinterpreting classical mythology. Through the relationship between the body and sculpture, Yoon examines the ontological position of women, demonstrating how sculpture can function as a conceptual device that generates meaning within a social framework rather than existing merely as a physical object.

Style & Contents

Jiyoung Yoon’s work investigates the formal properties of sculpture while simultaneously experimenting with how it operates within space. Early in her practice, she dismantled the structural logic of sculpture and its occupation of space. In No Planar Figure of Sphere (2018), she used unfolded anatomical figures to create silicone sculptures, revealing the impossibility of fully reconstructing physical form. This work underscores the idea that sculpture is not merely an imitation of form but a medium that navigates the boundaries between presence and absence.

A key formal characteristic in Yoon’s work is the technique of suspension. In A Single Leg of Moderate Speed (2016), she suspended sculptural elements from the ceiling, allowing the state of one element to inevitably influence the entire structure. This approach highlights the idea that sculpture is not a fixed form but rather exists within a continuously shifting relationship of tension.

Yoon also expands the relationship between sculpture and the body through material exploration. Rather than using cold industrial materials, she works with organic substances such as latex and silicone, which evoke the tactile qualities of skin. In In the Still of the Night (2019), she experimented with how sculpture could connect with sensory experience by making the surface pattern visible only when exposed to body temperature. Similarly, in Me, No (2021), she examined the fluidity of identity and corporeality by creating six sculptures of the same volume but different shapes, designed to exchange outer layers with one another.

Topography & Continuity

Jiyoung Yoon’s work expands the concept of sculpture within contemporary art, forming a significant trajectory that explores the relationships between the body, gender, technology, and spatial dynamics. While her early works examined the structural conditions of existence within the tension between creation and survival, her recent projects have extended into interpreting corporeal experience and social contexts through sculptural language.

Her artistic influence is particularly evident in her approach to sculpture as a conceptual medium that operates within a social framework rather than as a mere physical object. This perspective aligns with the broader discourse in contemporary art, which seeks to explore the expanding possibilities of sculpture beyond its conventional material and spatial limitations. Her recent selection as a finalist for 《2024 Korea Artist Prize》 at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art underscores her work’s significant position in the current artistic discourse. Moving forward, Yoon’s practice is expected to continue pushing the boundaries of sculpture, further exploring the intersections between corporeal experience and social structures, positioning her as a key figure in the evolution of contemporary sculpture.