Young Sun Han - PROJECTS

ABOUT

Young Sun Han is a Korean-American/Kiwi artist and curator working across the mediums of photography, performance, installation, and sculpture.

Born in 1982, Young grew up in Skokie, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, where he attended Niles North High School. There, he developed a passion for the arts through the school's internationally recognized theatre program where he worked as a painter, set builder, and costume maker.

In 2001, Young attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago experimenting in various departments before focusing on art history and photography. His first solo travel experience occurred on a residency to Skopelos Island, Greece, followed by a year of study at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He received his BFA from SAIC in 2005 and relocated to Cologne, Germany where he was the recipient of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange grant to attend the Kunsthochschule fuer Medien, Cologne.

Travel has informed Young's interest in social politics, cultural habits, and the lives of strangers. Young spent the next few years travelling through South Korea, Eastern Europe, Morocco, Turkey, the Balkans, and India. In 2007, he moved to New Zealand where he was offered the position of Curator and Co-Director of an Auckland-based gallery and project space. After 3 years of contributing to the NZ art scene, Young returned to the US in 2010 while remaining a New Zealand permanent resident.

Young's art practice is concerned with the human experience, sexuality, intimacy between strangers, and the merging of life and art. The generation of artists who have influenced his work include Tehching Hsieh, Marina Abramovic, Nan Goldin, Andy Warhol, Sophie Calle, Pierre et Gilles, and Catherine Opie among others. Curation serves as a way for Young to tap into the worlds of other artists and to create social events that connect the public with the art.

Professionally, Young has worked as an assistant for many artists including Theaster Gates, Jin Soo Kim, and Gerda-Meyer Bernstein. He has also worked behind the scenes of many galleries as the go-to Jack-of-all-trades: preparator, sales consultant, photographer, writer, and public relations. His goals are to realize programs that expand the arts community through first-hand art experiences, to provide visual access to what is happening internationally, and to offer educational opportunities for young people and adults.

"My passion for art and culture stems from a belief that the quality of a place's creative production makes it a more rewarding place to live and flourish socially, intellectually, and economically."

ARTIST CV

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