T-yong Chung

T-yong Chung (Daegu, South Korea, 1977) lives and works between Milan and South Korea. After earning a degree in Environmental Sculpture from Seoul National University, he studied Sculpture at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan.

Classicism, Arte povera and Minimalism are three elements that keep returning in his sculptural and installation work, where the tension between the fullness of western culture and the essentiality of eastern culture create a full formal balance.

The artist uses waste materials, such as antique chairs, rusty tools and pieces of sheet metal, that he dismantles and reassembles, smooths and polishes, giving them a new identity, with a permanent link to the dignity of their past. He is famous for his sculptures depicting human faces, made of plaster, ceramics, resin, wax and bronze. He draws inspiration from Greek and Roman classicism, but also from contemporary figures of European culture that are relevant in his day-to-day life. His sculptures are characterized by a clean cut that is handmade and then refined and this creates an abstraction and they evoke an idea of absence, an uninterrupted presence. Through this process of subtraction and cancellation – gestures that evoke generative acts in eastern culture – the artworks reveal their essence in the research of diMerent perspectives, diMerent spaces, diMerent identities. Recently, the artist has been working on new projects using printmaking techniques. By realizing overlapping spaces on fabric through analog printmaking methods, the artist is discovering new surfaces and spatial forms.

Solo shows and group exhibitions

From 2007 to today his works have been presented in different solo shows at Artsohyang (Busan, 2025), Spazio Bidet (Milan, 2024), Gallery Palzo (Daegu, 2023), Collezione Cattelani (Modena, 2022), Galleria Renata Fabbri (Milan, 2019), Keats-Shelley House (Rome, 2019), Neon/fdv (Milan, 2007).

In addition, in group exhibitions in important spaces such as Dalseong Daegu Contemporary Art Festival (Daegu), Careof (Milan), MAMbo (Bologna), BienNoLo (Milan), ACAW (Field Meeting) at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum & Asia Society (New York), Triennale of Milano, Galleria Comunale d’Arte Contemporanea (Monfalcone, Italy), Galleria Civica d’Arte Contemporanea (Trento, Italy), AR/GE Kunst (Bozen, Italy).

T-yong took part in many artistic residencies and workshops including Museo Carlo Zauli (Faenza, Italy) and Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa (Venice).