Mun-gi YANG

Mun-gi Yang is a South Korean artist born in Gwang-Ju in 1970. After graduating from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Chosun University, he fully devoted himself to the medium of the sculpture. He then chose stone as his favorite material. He diverts his neolithic aesthetic by assimilating it to a very contemporary symbolism: luxury handbags. He thus questions the nature of the object, and of the relationship it has with the human being. It is a sociological approach to the mechanisms of human desires that guides Mun-gi’s critical universe.

The utilitarian function of the handbag has disappeared. Only the brand remains. Moreover, we must add the hegemonic status of work of art that the artist confers on it. Then, The object becomes an icon. An oxymoron appears then: the luxurious primitive.

The work can be presented on a pedestal, as it would be usually within the windows of luxury stores, or on the ground, where is originally its primary material, the stone.

The artist confides:

"Stones are fascinating, they are desirable. From the heaviest, hardest and roughest stones to those whose shape is destroyed by the wear of time, they have an immeasurable variety of shapes and textures. Maybe that's why I never tire of them. My work has changed the way I look at stones. Today I want to go against the idea that stone is not a contemporary enough material and maximize its characteristic plastic potential to give it meaning in contemporary artistic thinking."

In 2012, he presented his exhibition Story of Luxury Stone at the Okgwa Art Museum in South Korea. It was a real success. The artist has since integrated many personal and public collections. He has also performed at the Fiac and to the Centre Pompidou to showcase his work.

Do not miss to contact us if you wish to introduce one of his works within your collection.

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