Biography

Biography
Ran Hwang graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, New York, and subsequently went on to attain her Masters Degree in Fine Arts at the Graduate School of Arts Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea. This Korean-born artist currently resides and practices her craft in New York, and is best-known for creating intricate, large-scale wall installations with exquisite materials from the fashion industry such as beads, buttons, pins and thread.
To the artist, buttons and beads symbolize the commonplace ordinariness of human beings; pins being the points of connection, and threads as a communicative link. Using a hammer to pound thousands of pins into walls in the process of her art, Ran Hwang herself projects the austere embodiment of a monk practicing spiritual discipline and Zen. This repetitive and laborious working process results in grandiose images of objects and beings, representing the natural and divine, in an attempt to address current social issues. Through her works, she constantly seeks to explore and delve into human experiences and connections, as well as positive and negative spaces. For the past decade, her works have been exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions across the globe in countries such as Korea, Switzerland, USA and France, and are collected by distinguished hotels, museums and companies including the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Hong Kong, the Shin Choi Fashion Company in New York, and the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul.
Ran Hwang has completed several residencies such as at the Performance Space Studio Residency Program in 2011; the AAI-Artist Alliance, Lower East Side-Rotating & Long Term Studio Program in 2006; as well as the Full Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center Residency Program, Vermont, U.S.A in 2004. Her works have been awarded the Gold Prize at the AHL Foundation Annual Arts Competition, New York in 2004; the Kyung-In Art Grand Exhibition at Puchun City Museum, Korea in 1996, and the Korean Water Watercolor Public Subscription Exhibition, Cultural Art Promotion House Art Hall, Seoul in 1995.
At first glance, simplicity may seem to define her work, but simplicity is merely a thin veil over an intricate and thoughtful process resulting in an alluring and seductive body of work. Ran Hwang uses buttons, or threads, with pins to produce provocative images of vessels, of birds and of the Buddha both as installations and as objects on their own. Her practice speaks to the meditative nature that a repetitive process inspires where the experience of the work cannot be separated from its materiality and how it is made. In her most recent series, Hwang reflects on the nature of the vessel. As she explains, "Containers can be empty or serve to contain something. Like our bodies, they can be filled or emptied." Her works can be seen as a contemplation of impermanence and mortality. The strength of Hwang's work is in its process and the resulting immediacy and resonance with the viewer.
Hwang constructs the complex textuality of her works with simple, everyday objects, such as buttons, pins and threads, and, by recontextualizing them, they are transformed and seen anew. Because they have been removed from their recognizable, functional context into an unconventional one, they create a visuality that is tactile, and call upon a mimetic knowledge that becomes re-experienced in their presence. Her objects offer a familiar site in which to delve deeper in order to generate reflection, and even wonder. For Hwang, contemplating and representing a larger wholeness bring a sense of peace. The process of constructing these works is an object of meditation for Hwang.
One way to approach Hwang's work is by considering the Buddhist ideas of the interdependence of form and emptiness, in other words, form is emptiness, and emptiness is nothing other than form. In the case of Hwang, this concept can be seen in the interdependence of negative and positive space. The self (body and mind) depend on all that is not-self, just as the vessel's form depends on the space around it. Similarly, a vessel's usefulness depends on the interplay of form and emptiness.
Artist Statement
"I create large icons such as a Buddha or a traditional vase, using materials from the fashion industry. The process of building large installations is time consuming and repetitive and it requires manual effort which provides a form of self-meditation. I hammer thousands of pins into a wall like a monk who, facing the wall, practices Zen. My works are divided into two groups. In the first, pins used to hold buttons remain free to move and suggest the genetic human tendency to be irresolute. I choose the material of buttons, which are as common and ordinary as human beings. In the second group of works, a massive number of pins connects yards of thread creating a negative space of the presented images, threads suggesting connections between human beings and a communication network between seemingly un-linked human experiences. The filled negative space in the absence of positive space suggests mortality at the heart of self-recognition."
Selected Collections
2019
LG Household & Health Care (Artwork commission for LG Cosmetics, The History of Whoo), Korea
Raffles Hotel Singapore, Singapore
2018
Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete, Greece
EURIA company, Tour Carpe Diem Paris La Defense, France
2017
NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, USA
2016
Dubai Opera House, Dubai, UAE
Christian Dior, Paris (Artwork commission for Lady Dior As Seen By), France
2015
Pullman Kaifeng Hotel, Zhengzhou, China
Four Seasons Hotel, Seoul, Korea
2014
AFT Wall Art, Anthem of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International, USA
Third Floor-Hermès, Hermès Foundation, Singapore
Mandarin Oriental, Paris, France
2013
Des Moines Art Centre, Des Moines, IA
Peninsula Hotel, Paris, France
2012
Brooklyn Museum, New York
2011
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong
2010
The Peninsula Hotel, Shanghai
2010
Shin Choi Fashion Company, New York
2009
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Bank, Seoul, Korea
2006
HANEZA Itariana, Fashion Company, Seoul, Korea
2005
Hammond Museum, New York
Selected Awards
2017
AHL-Jason J. Kim Grant 2017, AHL Foundation, New York, USA
2015
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation New York, USA
Artist in Residency, International Museum of Art and Science (IMAS), Texas, USA
2014
Selected for 2014 program, Third Floor-Hermès, Hermès Foundation, Singapore
The Studios at Mass MoCA, Residency Program, Mass MoCA, Massachusetts, 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 Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center Residency Program, Vermont, U.S.A
2004
Gold Prize, AHL Foundation Annual Arts Competition, New York
1995
Gold Prize, Korean Watercolor Public Subscription Exhibition, Cultural Art Promotion House Art Hall, Seoul, Korea
1995
Art World Grand Prix, Kyung-In Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Exhibitions

Exhibitions
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Infinite Blue, Brooklyn Museum, New York
Becoming Again, The Baker Museum, Artis-Naples, Florida, USA
2021
Becoming Again, Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Hope Springs Eternal, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2019
The Flight of Time, Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium
2017
Joseon Korea: Court Treasures and City Life, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore
Ran Hwang: Sacred Space, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2016
Visual Symphony, Asian Art Works, Busan, Korea
2015
UNESCO Paris Headquarters, Paris
MASS MoCA - Hunter Center Mezzanine, MA
International Museum of Art and Science
(IMAS), Cardenas Gallery, Texas, USA
2014
Becoming Again, Third Floor-Hermès Singapore, Singapore
Ran Hwang: The Snowfall of Spiders,
Leila Heller Gallery, New York
Intervals, Asian Art Works, 798 Beijing, China
2012
Ran Hwang: Transition,
Leila Heller Gallery, New York
2010
Illusion & Reality,
Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2009
Dreaming of Joy,
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, New York
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
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
Pinned, Stitched, and Glitzed: Challenging the Gender Stereotype, Art Appel Gallery, Athens, Greece
2019
Then and Now: Contemporary Asian Art, Hermitage Museum
& Gardens, Norfolk, VA
Zen Grace
, Easel Gallery, Shenzhen, China
DIFC Sculpture Walk, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai, UAE
Matter 物, SA+ Gallery, Hong Kong
DOUBLE VISION (Curated by Jane "Baby Jane" Holzer), Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2018
Infinite Blue, Brooklyn Museum, New York
Art in the Workplace, Yonsei
University Dental Hospital
POSTMODERNISM AND AESTHETICS: COLLIDE
OR STEER, Korea Cultural Center, New York
Paper Moon, Museum of
Contemporary Art of Crete, Greece
PASSION. CONTINUED, Asia Week New York
Special Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center, New York,
2017
Infinite Blue, Brooklyn Museum, New York
Mykonos Biennale, Trans AllegoriaJoseon Korea: Court Treasures and City Life, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore
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, China
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, Canada
Water, KANEKO, NE, USA
2015
AHL Foundation 12th Annual Benefit Gala, New York
Regeneration, Opera Gallery Paris, Paris,
France
Pinned Stitched and Glitzed, Anya and Andrew
Shiva Art Gallery, New York
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, China
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, Korea
Annual Watermill Summer Benefit Auction, The
Watermill Center, Water Mill, New York
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, New
York, 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, China
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, Korea
Triple of Light, mnav (Museo Nacional de
Artes Visuales), Uruguay
2008
KIAF (Korean International Art Fair), COEX, 2x13 Gallery,
Seoul, Korea
Facial of Art- 20 Years Anniversary
exhibition, Seoul Art Center Museum, Seoul, Korea
2007
Incarnation, Hammond Museum, New York
Drawing the Line - Against Domestic
Violence-Auction, The Metropolitan Pavilion,
Woman in Love, Tenri Gallery, New York