Ran Hwang is a contemporary New York based, South Korean artist known for her intricate and visually stunning installations. Born in 1960 in South Korea, Ran Hwang graduated with a Bachelors 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.
Ran Hwang creates iconic artworks that embody her in-depth contemplation with the nature of cyclical life, non-visibility and the beauty of transient glamor. Her earlier career in the fashion industry and the personal memories of 9/11 attack have led her to adopt everyday materials into the delicate and dramatic works. Her installations, often created with thousands of pins, buttons, and beads, evoke a sense of meditative tranquility and intricate beauty.
She has won Gold Prize by AHL Foundation NY in 2004 and Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2015. Her works are internationally acclaimed in galleries and museums around the world.
Ran Hwang creates iconic artworks that embody her in-depth contemplation with the nature of cyclical life, non-visibility and the beauty of transient glamor. Her earlier career in the fashion industry and the personal memories of 9/11 attack have led her to adopt everyday materials into the delicate and dramatic works. Her installations, often created with thousands of pins, buttons, and beads, evoke a sense of meditative tranquility and intricate beauty.
She has won Gold Prize by AHL Foundation NY in 2004 and Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2015. Her works are internationally acclaimed in galleries and museums around the world.
Publications 
Publications
Transcendent Nature, 2024
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.
The work of Hwang Ran illustrates the term ‘Sangjeuk(相卽)’, the ‘relation’ means the ‘whole’, the world of pure network that each sides requires the other as long as one of any side is present.(Cheagab Yun, 2023). 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."
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.
The work of Hwang Ran illustrates the term ‘Sangjeuk(相卽)’, the ‘relation’ means the ‘whole’, the world of pure network that each sides requires the other as long as one of any side is present.(Cheagab Yun, 2023). 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."
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
SOLO
EXHIBITIONS
2024 Transcendent Nature, Ode To Art Gallery, Singapore
The Bright Beginning, Gallery Bakyoung, Seoul, South Korea
Breathwave, AHL Foundation, New York, USA
2023 Hope Springs Ethernal, Asian Art Works, Busan, South Korea
All That Cascades, Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Plum blossoms, the vanishing beauty, Inseo-ri Park, Gwangyang-si, South Korea
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
2017 Joseon Korea: Court Treasures and City Life, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore
Ran Hwang: Sacred Space, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2016 Visual Symphony, Asian Art Works, Busan, Korea
2015 Beginning of the Bright, UNESCO Paris Headquarters, Paris
Ran Hwang: Untethered, MASS MoCA, Massachusetts, USA
Game of Artifice, International Museum of Art and Science (IMAS), Cardenas Gallery,Texas, USA
2014 Becoming Again, Aloft at Hermès(former Third Floor-Hermès), Singapore
Ran Hwang: The Snowfall of Spiders, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Intervals, Asian Art Works, Beijing, China
2012 Ran Hwang: Transition, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2010 Illusion & Reality, Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2009 Dreaming of Joy, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2007 Present Absence, Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2006 Haas Gallery, Bloomsburg University, PA, USA
2005 Open Studio, Vermont Studio Art Center, Jonson Vermont, USA
2004 Hutchins Gallery, Long Island University, New York, USA
2002 Hudson River Gallery, New York, USA
Yeemock Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2001 Hudson River Gallery, New York, USA
2000 Artsnal Gallery, Paris, France
1999 Hudson River Gallery, New York, USA
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2024 Ascend to the Eternity : A Requiem, Anniversary Museum, Chavit some, Seoul, Korea
2019 Zen Grace, Easel Gallery, Shenzhen, China
2016 Re:visioning HANJI, Korean Cultural Service, New York, USA
2015 Reincarnation, Asian Art Works, Busan, South Korea
2005 Refresh! (Curated by Lilly Wei), 2x13 Gallery, New York, USA
When Art Encounters Fashion, Space Shin Choi, New York, USA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 The Great Heritage: Exploring Korean Cultural Heritage Through Art, Savina Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Singing from the Dark Times, Spazio Punch, La Beinnale de Venezia, Venezia, Italy
2023 Ran Hwang & Artists from New York, Asian Art Works, Busan, South Korea
Romantic Reflexes, Gallery Simon, Seoul, South Korea
Christian Dior : Lady Dior Celebration, Dior Seoungsu, Seoul, South Korea
2022 Immersive, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, USA
OMNI VERSE, Museum SAN, Wonju, South Korea
Christian Dior : Designer of Dreams, Museum of Contemporary Art(MOT), Tokyo, Japan
2021 No Strings, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, United Kingdom
2020 Pinned, Stitched, and Glitzed: Challenging the Gender Stereotype, Art Appel Gallery, Athens, Greece
2019 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
Conversations: Contemporary Asian Art, Hermitage Museum & Gardens, Virginia, USA
KOREAN CONTEMPORARY PAINTINGS & DECORATIVE TRADITIONAL ARTS, Kang Collection Korean Art, Asia Week NY, New York, 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, USA
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
The Art of Matter- New Arts of Asia, Opera Gallery, Monaco
2017 Infinite Blue, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Light & Shadows - A Curated Exhibition Of Korean Artists, Opera Gallery Beirut, Lebanon
Trans Allegoria, Mykonos Biennale, Mykonos, Greece
Material Girls, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
2016 Art & Life, Art Space Ben, Seoul, Korea
Material Girls, Contemporary Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Pinned Stitched and Glitzed, Asian Art Works, Beijing, China
Poeticizing Nature, The Surrey, New York, USA
Viewing The Past Thru Modern Eyes, Kang Collection, New York, USA
Lady Dior As Seen By(World Tour exhibition), House of Dior, Seoul, Korea
Material Girls, Doris McCarthy Gallery, Ontario, Canada
Water, KANEKO, Nebraska, USA
2015 Regeneration, Opera Gallery Paris, Paris, France
Art & Life, Art Space Ben, Seoul, Korea
Pinned Stitched and Glitzed, Anya and Andrew Shiva Art Gallery, New York, USA
Summer Show, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Accidental Encounter, Buk Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Diverse Works: Director’s Choice, 1997-2015, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
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, USA
Mix & Match, Artspace Ben, Seoul, Korea
Annual Watermill Summer Benefit Auction, The Watermill Center, Water Mill, New York
Shades of Time: The Archives of Korean-American Artists, Queens Museum of Art, New York, USA
The Fabergè Big Egg Hunt, Fabergè, New York, USA
2013 Paths to Peace, Guild Hall Gallery at Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll
Garden, North Salem, New York, USA
Secret Obsession, Asian Art Works, Busan, Korea
Living Room, Asian Art Works, Busan, Korea
Summer Selects: Ran Hwang, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Freedom: Just another word for…,Kidspace at Mass Moca, Massachusetts, USA
Transparencies: Contemporary Art and A History of Glass, Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, USA
2012 Media Variegations, Asian Art Works, 798 Beijing, China
L'Asie en Vogue, Pagoda Paris Gallery, Paris, France
Peekskill Project V, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, New York, USA
CYNTHIA-REEVES Projects: Conference of Birds, Mana Contemporary, New Jersey, USA
2011 Aha Moment!, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
Sofia Paper Art Fest 2011, Amateras Foundation, Sofia, Bulgaria
Finding Flow, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju Island, Korea
2010 B.I.E.N.N.A.L.E + ONE, Gwang-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, Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo, Uruguay
2008 Facial of Art, 20 Years Anniversary exhibition, Seoul Art Center Museum, Seoul, Korea
2007 Incarnation, Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden, New York, USA
Drawing the Line - Against Domestic Violence-Auction, The Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, USA
2005 Woman in Love, Tenri Gallery, New York
2004 Green Light: Twenty Young Korean Artists in New York, Gallery Korea of the
Korean Cultural Center New York (former Korean Cultural Service New York), New York, USA
2000 Abstraction, School of Visual Arts Westside Gallery, New York, USA
ART FAIRS
2023 Abu Dhabi Art, Leila Heller Gallery, UAE
KIAF 2023 (Korean International Art Fair), Seoul, South Korea
LA Art Show 2023, Los Angeles, USA
Art Busan 2023, Busan, South Korea
2022 Art Miami 2022, Miami, USA
KIAF 2022 (Korean International Art Fair), Seoul, Korea
Diaf 2022(Daegu International Art Fair), Daegu, Korea
2021 The Amory Show, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Jeju Art Design Festa 2021, Jeju, Korea
KIAF 2021 (Korean International Art Fair), Seoul, Korea
2020 Abu Dhabi Art, Leila Heller Gallery, UAE
2019 Art Dubai, Leila Heller Gallery, UAE
2018 Art Central Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Lady Dior As Seen By, Art Basel, Hong Kong
2017 LA Art Show 2017, LA, USA
2016 Context Art Miami 2016, Miami, USA
KIAF 2016 (Korean International Art Fair), Seoul, Korea
2015 Context Art Miami 2015, Miami, USA
Art Busan 2015, Busan, 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, Leila Heller Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
The Armory Show, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2013 Abu Dhabi Art, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Abu Dhabi
Korea International Art Fair (Vip Lounge), AAW Beijing, Korea
2012 Art Southampton 2012, Leila Heller Gallery, NY, USA
Houston Fine Art Fair, Galerie Kashya Hildebrand, TX, USA
2008 Korean International Art Fair(KIAF), 2x13 Gallery, COEX, Seoul, Korea
Asian Contemporary Art Fair(ACAF), Special Exhibition, Pier 92, New York, USA GRANTS, AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2024 AHL-Founder S.N Kim Grant, AHL Foundation, New York, USA
2021 FB Air Program, Facebook, New York, USA
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, USA
2006 AAI-Artist Alliance, Lower East Side-Rotating & Long Term Studio Program, New York, USA
2005 Full Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center Residency Program, Vermont, USA
2004 Gold Prize, The 1st Contemporary Visual Arts Competition, AHL Foundation, New York, USA
1995 Gold Prize, Korean Watercolor Association, Seoul, Korea
COLLECTION
2021 Deji art museum, Nanjing, China
FB Air Program, Facebook, New York, USA
Sofitel Ambassador Seoul Hotel & Serviced Residences, Seoul, Korea
2020 The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
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 Peninsula Hotel, Paris
King County Library in Issaquah, Washington, USA
Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, USA
2012 Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Robert J. Hurst, Chairman of the Executive Committee at Whitney Museum, New York, USA
2011 Ritz Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong
Roger Federer, World Tennis Champion, Switzerland
2010 New York Plaza Hotel, New York, USA
2009 National Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Bank, Seoul, Korea
2005 Hammond museum, New York, USA
ART EVENTS
2016 AHL Foundation 13th Annual Benefit Gala, New York, USA
2015 AHL Foundation 12th Annual Benefit Gala, New York, USA
2014 AHL Foundation 11th Annual Benefit Gala, New York, USA
MASS MoCA 15th Anniversary Benefit, New York, USA
Annual Watermill Summer Benefit Auction, The Watermill Center, New York, USA
2012 The Fifth Annual Queens Art Express, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, New York, USA
2011 AHL Foundation Annual Auction, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, USA
2010 AHL Foundation, Gala Auction, Arario Gallery, New York, USA
LECTURES
2022 Artist Talk, The Baker Museum, Artis-Naples, Florida, USA
2019 Artist Talk, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA
2015 Artist Talk(in conjunction with the group show -‘Diverse Work: Director’s Choice1997-2015),
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, USA
2014 Special Lecture, University of Texas-Pan America, Texas, USA
Guest Artist Lecture, Fine Arts Seminar V (BFA Fine Arts class), Pratt Institute, New York, USA
Artist Lecture, School of Visual Arts, New York, USA
2012 Artist speech, Past Granter, AHL Foundation, New York, USA
Artist Panel, ATOA-artist talk on Art:“Art as Ritual", Westwood Gallery, New York, USA
2010 Special Lecture, College of Education in Kongju National University, Kongju, Korea
2006 Guest Lecture, Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA
2005 Guest Lecture, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, USA
2024 Transcendent Nature, Ode To Art Gallery, Singapore
The Bright Beginning, Gallery Bakyoung, Seoul, South Korea
Breathwave, AHL Foundation, New York, USA
2023 Hope Springs Ethernal, Asian Art Works, Busan, South Korea
All That Cascades, Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Plum blossoms, the vanishing beauty, Inseo-ri Park, Gwangyang-si, South Korea
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
2017 Joseon Korea: Court Treasures and City Life, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore
Ran Hwang: Sacred Space, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2016 Visual Symphony, Asian Art Works, Busan, Korea
2015 Beginning of the Bright, UNESCO Paris Headquarters, Paris
Ran Hwang: Untethered, MASS MoCA, Massachusetts, USA
Game of Artifice, International Museum of Art and Science (IMAS), Cardenas Gallery,Texas, USA
2014 Becoming Again, Aloft at Hermès(former Third Floor-Hermès), Singapore
Ran Hwang: The Snowfall of Spiders, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Intervals, Asian Art Works, Beijing, China
2012 Ran Hwang: Transition, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2010 Illusion & Reality, Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2009 Dreaming of Joy, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2007 Present Absence, Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2006 Haas Gallery, Bloomsburg University, PA, USA
2005 Open Studio, Vermont Studio Art Center, Jonson Vermont, USA
2004 Hutchins Gallery, Long Island University, New York, USA
2002 Hudson River Gallery, New York, USA
Yeemock Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2001 Hudson River Gallery, New York, USA
2000 Artsnal Gallery, Paris, France
1999 Hudson River Gallery, New York, USA
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2024 Ascend to the Eternity : A Requiem, Anniversary Museum, Chavit some, Seoul, Korea
2019 Zen Grace, Easel Gallery, Shenzhen, China
2016 Re:visioning HANJI, Korean Cultural Service, New York, USA
2015 Reincarnation, Asian Art Works, Busan, South Korea
2005 Refresh! (Curated by Lilly Wei), 2x13 Gallery, New York, USA
When Art Encounters Fashion, Space Shin Choi, New York, USA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 The Great Heritage: Exploring Korean Cultural Heritage Through Art, Savina Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Singing from the Dark Times, Spazio Punch, La Beinnale de Venezia, Venezia, Italy
2023 Ran Hwang & Artists from New York, Asian Art Works, Busan, South Korea
Romantic Reflexes, Gallery Simon, Seoul, South Korea
Christian Dior : Lady Dior Celebration, Dior Seoungsu, Seoul, South Korea
2022 Immersive, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, USA
OMNI VERSE, Museum SAN, Wonju, South Korea
Christian Dior : Designer of Dreams, Museum of Contemporary Art(MOT), Tokyo, Japan
2021 No Strings, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, United Kingdom
2020 Pinned, Stitched, and Glitzed: Challenging the Gender Stereotype, Art Appel Gallery, Athens, Greece
2019 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
Conversations: Contemporary Asian Art, Hermitage Museum & Gardens, Virginia, USA
KOREAN CONTEMPORARY PAINTINGS & DECORATIVE TRADITIONAL ARTS, Kang Collection Korean Art, Asia Week NY, New York, 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, USA
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
The Art of Matter- New Arts of Asia, Opera Gallery, Monaco
2017 Infinite Blue, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Light & Shadows - A Curated Exhibition Of Korean Artists, Opera Gallery Beirut, Lebanon
Trans Allegoria, Mykonos Biennale, Mykonos, Greece
Material Girls, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
2016 Art & Life, Art Space Ben, Seoul, Korea
Material Girls, Contemporary Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Pinned Stitched and Glitzed, Asian Art Works, Beijing, China
Poeticizing Nature, The Surrey, New York, USA
Viewing The Past Thru Modern Eyes, Kang Collection, New York, USA
Lady Dior As Seen By(World Tour exhibition), House of Dior, Seoul, Korea
Material Girls, Doris McCarthy Gallery, Ontario, Canada
Water, KANEKO, Nebraska, USA
2015 Regeneration, Opera Gallery Paris, Paris, France
Art & Life, Art Space Ben, Seoul, Korea
Pinned Stitched and Glitzed, Anya and Andrew Shiva Art Gallery, New York, USA
Summer Show, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Accidental Encounter, Buk Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Diverse Works: Director’s Choice, 1997-2015, Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
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, USA
Mix & Match, Artspace Ben, Seoul, Korea
Annual Watermill Summer Benefit Auction, The Watermill Center, Water Mill, New York
Shades of Time: The Archives of Korean-American Artists, Queens Museum of Art, New York, USA
The Fabergè Big Egg Hunt, Fabergè, New York, USA
2013 Paths to Peace, Guild Hall Gallery at Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll
Garden, North Salem, New York, USA
Secret Obsession, Asian Art Works, Busan, Korea
Living Room, Asian Art Works, Busan, Korea
Summer Selects: Ran Hwang, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Freedom: Just another word for…,Kidspace at Mass Moca, Massachusetts, USA
Transparencies: Contemporary Art and A History of Glass, Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, USA
2012 Media Variegations, Asian Art Works, 798 Beijing, China
L'Asie en Vogue, Pagoda Paris Gallery, Paris, France
Peekskill Project V, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, New York, USA
CYNTHIA-REEVES Projects: Conference of Birds, Mana Contemporary, New Jersey, USA
2011 Aha Moment!, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
Sofia Paper Art Fest 2011, Amateras Foundation, Sofia, Bulgaria
Finding Flow, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju Island, Korea
2010 B.I.E.N.N.A.L.E + ONE, Gwang-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, Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo, Uruguay
2008 Facial of Art, 20 Years Anniversary exhibition, Seoul Art Center Museum, Seoul, Korea
2007 Incarnation, Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden, New York, USA
Drawing the Line - Against Domestic Violence-Auction, The Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, USA
2005 Woman in Love, Tenri Gallery, New York
2004 Green Light: Twenty Young Korean Artists in New York, Gallery Korea of the
Korean Cultural Center New York (former Korean Cultural Service New York), New York, USA
2000 Abstraction, School of Visual Arts Westside Gallery, New York, USA
ART FAIRS
2023 Abu Dhabi Art, Leila Heller Gallery, UAE
KIAF 2023 (Korean International Art Fair), Seoul, South Korea
LA Art Show 2023, Los Angeles, USA
Art Busan 2023, Busan, South Korea
2022 Art Miami 2022, Miami, USA
KIAF 2022 (Korean International Art Fair), Seoul, Korea
Diaf 2022(Daegu International Art Fair), Daegu, Korea
2021 The Amory Show, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Jeju Art Design Festa 2021, Jeju, Korea
KIAF 2021 (Korean International Art Fair), Seoul, Korea
2020 Abu Dhabi Art, Leila Heller Gallery, UAE
2019 Art Dubai, Leila Heller Gallery, UAE
2018 Art Central Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Lady Dior As Seen By, Art Basel, Hong Kong
2017 LA Art Show 2017, LA, USA
2016 Context Art Miami 2016, Miami, USA
KIAF 2016 (Korean International Art Fair), Seoul, Korea
2015 Context Art Miami 2015, Miami, USA
Art Busan 2015, Busan, 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, Leila Heller Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
The Armory Show, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA
2013 Abu Dhabi Art, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Abu Dhabi
Korea International Art Fair (Vip Lounge), AAW Beijing, Korea
2012 Art Southampton 2012, Leila Heller Gallery, NY, USA
Houston Fine Art Fair, Galerie Kashya Hildebrand, TX, USA
2008 Korean International Art Fair(KIAF), 2x13 Gallery, COEX, Seoul, Korea
Asian Contemporary Art Fair(ACAF), Special Exhibition, Pier 92, New York, USA GRANTS, AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2024 AHL-Founder S.N Kim Grant, AHL Foundation, New York, USA
2021 FB Air Program, Facebook, New York, USA
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, USA
2006 AAI-Artist Alliance, Lower East Side-Rotating & Long Term Studio Program, New York, USA
2005 Full Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center Residency Program, Vermont, USA
2004 Gold Prize, The 1st Contemporary Visual Arts Competition, AHL Foundation, New York, USA
1995 Gold Prize, Korean Watercolor Association, Seoul, Korea
COLLECTION
2021 Deji art museum, Nanjing, China
FB Air Program, Facebook, New York, USA
Sofitel Ambassador Seoul Hotel & Serviced Residences, Seoul, Korea
2020 The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
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 Peninsula Hotel, Paris
King County Library in Issaquah, Washington, USA
Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, USA
2012 Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Robert J. Hurst, Chairman of the Executive Committee at Whitney Museum, New York, USA
2011 Ritz Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong
Roger Federer, World Tennis Champion, Switzerland
2010 New York Plaza Hotel, New York, USA
2009 National Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Bank, Seoul, Korea
2005 Hammond museum, New York, USA
ART EVENTS
2016 AHL Foundation 13th Annual Benefit Gala, New York, USA
2015 AHL Foundation 12th Annual Benefit Gala, New York, USA
2014 AHL Foundation 11th Annual Benefit Gala, New York, USA
MASS MoCA 15th Anniversary Benefit, New York, USA
Annual Watermill Summer Benefit Auction, The Watermill Center, New York, USA
2012 The Fifth Annual Queens Art Express, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, New York, USA
2011 AHL Foundation Annual Auction, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, USA
2010 AHL Foundation, Gala Auction, Arario Gallery, New York, USA
LECTURES
2022 Artist Talk, The Baker Museum, Artis-Naples, Florida, USA
2019 Artist Talk, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA
2015 Artist Talk(in conjunction with the group show -‘Diverse Work: Director’s Choice1997-2015),
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, USA
2014 Special Lecture, University of Texas-Pan America, Texas, USA
Guest Artist Lecture, Fine Arts Seminar V (BFA Fine Arts class), Pratt Institute, New York, USA
Artist Lecture, School of Visual Arts, New York, USA
2012 Artist speech, Past Granter, AHL Foundation, New York, USA
Artist Panel, ATOA-artist talk on Art:“Art as Ritual", Westwood Gallery, New York, USA
2010 Special Lecture, College of Education in Kongju National University, Kongju, Korea
2006 Guest Lecture, Queens Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA
2005 Guest Lecture, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, USA
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