HONG SUNGCHUL
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ARTIST BIO & STATEMENT
Hong Sungchul is an artist currently based in Korea who uses elastic strings as the main element in his works while also reflecting the regularity of parallelism. He turns photographs into three-dimensional works of art by printing the photographs onto a series of elastic bands using planar imaging software, that he then aligns at varying depths.
His works resist immediate interpretation, conveying a profound longing for human connection in society. With an ethereal quality, they challenge viewers to question their reliance on sight alone, encouraging them to use their bodies and voices to engage with the pieces. By breaking away from the traditionally isolating gallery experience, Hong fosters dialogue both with and among viewers, cultivating a sense of community deeply valued in Korean culture.
Hong’s work has been exhibited internationally at venues including HADA Contemporary and Saatchi Gallery in London, Galerie Orem in Paris, Kallenbach Gallery in Amsterdam, Waterfall Gallery in New York City, Atelier Kyma in Seoul, Korea, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwanju, Korea, Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts in New York, CalArts in Los Angeles, and Gallery IHN in Seoul. His work is permanently installed as part of the LeBron James Innovation Center on NIKE’s Campus in Beaverton, OR. He earned both his BFA and MFA in sculpture from Hongik University in Seoul before pursuing an MFA in Integrated Media at the California Institute of the Arts.
His works resist immediate interpretation, conveying a profound longing for human connection in society. With an ethereal quality, they challenge viewers to question their reliance on sight alone, encouraging them to use their bodies and voices to engage with the pieces. By breaking away from the traditionally isolating gallery experience, Hong fosters dialogue both with and among viewers, cultivating a sense of community deeply valued in Korean culture.
Hong’s work has been exhibited internationally at venues including HADA Contemporary and Saatchi Gallery in London, Galerie Orem in Paris, Kallenbach Gallery in Amsterdam, Waterfall Gallery in New York City, Atelier Kyma in Seoul, Korea, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwanju, Korea, Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts in New York, CalArts in Los Angeles, and Gallery IHN in Seoul. His work is permanently installed as part of the LeBron James Innovation Center on NIKE’s Campus in Beaverton, OR. He earned both his BFA and MFA in sculpture from Hongik University in Seoul before pursuing an MFA in Integrated Media at the California Institute of the Arts.
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The impact tactile work gives us is so powerful that we come to understand everything with just one touch. Hong’s work offers a variety of approaches to communicate through strings and the portrayal of hands. We use hands for day to day activities but we also use hands to communicate awkwardness, anger, affection and a sense of closeness. His hands seem to have an insight that we do not. In a world where digital conceptualization has dominated actual reality, Sungchul questions the significance of unity existing in approximation to one another, pre-determined by assumptions and societal structures of what is real in cultural associations.
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Hong Sungchul x NIKE
Artist Hong was chosen as a key artist to create a large-scale portrait and life story of Bill Bowerman, the co-founder of Nike, in honor of his innovative spirit. The commissioned work is featured at Nike’s Global Innovation Center (LeBron James Innovation Center), designed by Tom Kundig and completed in 2021 in Portland, Oregon.
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