Ran Hwang’s oversized installations are intricate and poetic. From far, they transforms into a Buddha, a temple, a chandelier or a bird. When you look closely, you get surprised by the extreme level of detail in her work and the unusual materials. The artist nails thousands of pins and buttons, using these as pixels on a screen which creates mind-boggling silhouetted images.
"My immense wall installations are extremely time consuming and repetitive manual work. This is a form of meditative practice that helps me find my inner peace." Ran Hwang sees her work as a form of performance that leads to finding oneself. She hammers her spins on the wall like monks practicing Zen. That sense of peace is conveyed in her artwork, which invites the viewer to attempt to reach the state of fulfillment promoted by Buddhist philosophy.
Pins are often used to hold buttons onto the surface to form an image. The artist uses buttons because they are common and ordinary, like the existence of human beings. No adhesive is used so the buttons are free to stay and move, which implies the genetic human tendency to be irresolute. In other works, a massive number of pins connect yards of thread suggesting connections between human beings and a communication network between seemingly unlinked human experiences.
Ran Hwang is a Korean-born artist working in New York and Seoul. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. She has exhibited her work at several international institutions including the Queens Museum of Art, New York; the Chelsea Art Museum, New York; the Seoul Art Center Museum; and the Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju Island. Her work is also a part of numerous private and public collections including the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; the Hammond Museum, North Salem, New York; and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong.
Various works
Various works
Ran Hwang - First Wind
Ran Hwang - First Wind
Ran Hwang-Gold Blossom
Ran Hwang-Gold Blossom
Healing Forest_NL
Healing Forest_NL
Healing Forest_MWR
Healing Forest_MWR
Healing Forest_TWH_R
Healing Forest_TWH_R
Ran Hwang-Healing Forest (blue)
Ran Hwang-Healing Forest (blue)
Ran Hwang-Healing Forest (red)
Ran Hwang-Healing Forest (red)
Ran Hwang-Healing Grove
Ran Hwang-Healing Grove
Ran Hwang-Healing Grove
Ran Hwang-Healing Grove
Ran Hwang-Mother of Pearl Work
Ran Hwang-Mother of Pearl Work
Ran Hwang-Ode to Second Full Moon
Ran Hwang-Ode to Second Full Moon
Ran Hwang-Soaring Again-B4
Ran Hwang-Soaring Again-B4
Ran Hwang-Soaring Again-H3
Ran Hwang-Soaring Again-H3
Ran Hwang-Soaring Again M1
Ran Hwang-Soaring Again M1
Ran Hwang-Two Love Blossoms
Ran Hwang-Two Love Blossoms
Ran Hwang-Gold Blossom
Ran Hwang-Gold Blossom
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium
2017 Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore
Leila Heller Gallery, New York
2015 UNESCO Paris Headquarters, Paris
MASS MoCA - Hunter Center Mezzanine, MA
International Museum of Art and Science (IMAS), Cardenas Gallery, Texas, USA
2014 Third Floor-Hermès Singapore, Singapore
Leila Heller Gallery, New York
Asian Art Works, 798 Beijing, China
2012 Leila Heller Gallery, New York
2010 Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2009 Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2008 ACAF (Asian Contemporary Art Fair), Pier 92, Special Exhibition, New York
2007 2X13 Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2006 Hass Gallery, Bloomsburg University, PA, USA
2005 Open Studio, Vermont Studio Art Center, Jonson Vermont U.S.A
2004 Hutchins Gallery, Long Island University, NewYork
2002 Hudson River Gallery, New York
Yee Mook Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2001 Hudson River Gallery, New York
2000 Artsnal Gallery, Paris
1999 Hudson River Gallery, New York
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2016 Re:visioning HANJI (Two Person Show), Korean Cultural Service, New York, USA
2015 Reincarnation, Asian Art Works, Busan, South Korea
2005 Refresh! _Curated by Lilly Wei, 2x13 Gallery, New York
When Art Encounters Fashion, Space Shin Choi, New York
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Then and Now: Contemporary Asian Art, Hermitage Museum & Gardens, Virginia, USA
2018 Infinite Blue, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Connected: The AHL Foundation Contemporary Visual Art Awards Exhibition, AHL Foundation,
Yonsei University Dental Hospital, Seoul, Korea
POSTMODERNISM AND AESTHETICS: COLLIDE OR STEER, Korea Cultural Center, New York, USA
Paper Moon, Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete, Rethymno, Greece
PASSION. CONTINUED: A Wave of Peace from Korea to the World, Asia Week New York
Special Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center of New York, USA
PASSION. CONTINUED. 100X100, PyeongChang 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games Special
Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center NY, New York, USA
2017 Infinite Blue, Brooklyn Museum, New York
Mykonos Biennale, Trans Allegoria
2016 Art & Life, Art Space Ben, Seoul
AHL Foundation 13th Annual Benefit Gala, New York
Material Girls, Contemporary Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Pinned Stitched and Glitzed, Asian Art Works, Beijing,
Viewing The Past Thru Modern Eyes, Kang Collection, New York, USA
Lady Dior As Seen By, House of Dior, Seoul, South Korea; World Tour exhibition
Material Girls, Doris McCarthy Gallery, Ontario,
Water, KANEKO, NE, USA
2015 AHL Foundation 12th Annual Benefit Gala, New York
Regeneration, Opera Gallery Paris, Paris
Pinned Stitched and Glitzed, Anya and Andrew Shiva Art Gallery, NY
Summer Show, Leila Heller Gallery, New York
Accidental Encounter, Buk Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Diverse Works: Director’s Choice, 1997-2015, Brooklyn Museum, New York
Arts in Spring, Guangzhou Library, Guangzhou, China
Material Girls, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
2014 Asian Collection, Asian Art Works, Beijing
The Lineage of Vision, Korean Cultural Service, New York
AHL Foundation 11th Annual Benefit Gala, New York
MASS MoCA 15th Anniversary Benefit, New York
Art International Istanbul (Leila Heller Gallery), Istanbul, Turkey
Mix & Match, Artspace Ben, Seoul
Annual Watermill Summer Benefit Auction, The Watermill Center, Water Mill, NY
The Archives of Korean-American Artists, Queens Museum of Art, New York
The Fabergè Big Egg Hunt, New York
The Armory Show, Leila Heller Gallery, New York
2013 Abu Dhabi Art, Kashya Hildebrand gallery, Abu Dhabi
Korea International Art Fair-Vip Lounge, AAW Beijing, Korea
Paths to Peace, Hammond Museum Guild Hall Gallery, New York
Living Room, Asian Art Works, Busan, Korea
Summer Group Show, Leila Heller Gallery, NY, USA
Freedom: Just another word for…,Kidspace@ Mass Moca, North Adams, MA
Transparencies: Contemporary Art and A History of Glass, Des Moines Art Center
2012 Media Variegations, Asian Art Works, 798 Beijing
L'Asie en Vogue Exhibition, Pagoda Paris Gallery, France
Peekskill Project V, HVCCA-Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, NY
Conference of Birds, CYNTHIA-REEVES Projects, Mana Contemporary, New Jersey
FIFTH ANNUAL QUEENS ART EXPRESS, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, NY
VIP Art Fair 2.0, Leila Heller Gallery, NY
2011 Aha Moment!, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Art Center, Seoul Korea,
AHL FoundationAnnual Auction, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York
Sofia International Paper Art Biennale 2011, Sofia, Bulgaria
Finding Flow, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju Island, Korea
2010 Foundation, Gala Auction, Arario Gallery, New York
B.I.E.N.N.A.L.E + ONE, Kwang-ju, Korea
Fokus Lodz Biennale 2010, Lodz, Poland
2009 Kaleidoscope, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
Beginning of New Era, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
Triple of Light, mnav (Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales), Uruguay
2008 KIAF (Korean International Art Fair), COEX, 2x13 Gallery, Seoul
Facial of Art- 20 Years Anniversary exhibition, Seoul Art Center Museum, Seoul
2007 Incarnation, Hammond Museum, New York
Drawing the Line - Against Domestic Violence-Auction, The Metropolitan Pavilion,
Woman in Love, Tenri Gallery, New York
ART FAIRS
2017 LA Art Show 2017, LA, USA
2016 Context Art Miami 2016, Miami, USA
KIAF 2016 (Korean International Art Fair), Seoul
2015 Context Art Miami 2015, Miami, USA
Art Busan 2015, Busan, South Korea
Art 15, London, UK
Art Central Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2014 Scope Miami, Miami, USA
Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Art International Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
The Armory Show, New York
2013 Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2012 VIP Art Fair 2.0, New York
2008 KIAF (Korean International Art Fair), COEX, Seoul, South Korea
GRANTS, AWARDS & RESIDENCY
2015 Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant, New York
International Museum of Art and Science (IMAS), Artist in Residency, Texas, USA
2014 Third Floor-Hermès of Hermes Foundation, Selected for 2014 program, Singapore
Mass MoCA, Residency Program, MA, USA
AAW Artist Studio Residency, Asian Art Works, Beijing, China
2011 PS122 STUDIO Residency Program, New York
2006 AAI-Artist Alliance, Lower East Side-Rotating & Long Term Studio Program, New York
2005 Full Fellow ship, Vermont Studio Center Residency Program, Vermont, U.S.A
2004 Gold Prize, AHL Foundation (Korean American), Annual Arts Competition, New York
1995 Gold Prize, Korean Watercolor Association, Seoul, Korea
COLLECTION
2017 NYU Langone Medical Center, New York
2016 Dubai Opera House, Dubai, UAE
Christian Dior, Paris (Artwork commission for Lady Dior As Seen By), France
2015 Pullman Kaifeng Hotel (Artwork Dimension: W463cm x W940cm), Zhengzhou, China
Four Seasons Hotel, Seoul, South Korea
2014 Royal Caribbean International Anthem of the Seas AFT Wall Art
(Artwork Dimension: W360cm x L2340cm), USA
Third Floor-Hermes, Singapore
2013 Peninsula Hotel, Paris
King County Library in Issaquah, WA, USA
Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, USA
2012 Brooklyn Museum, New York
2011 Ritz Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong
2010 New York Plaza Hotel, New York
2009 National Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Bank, Seoul, South Korea
2005 Hammond museum, New York
