Chung Chi Yung Korea, b. 1972

Chung Chi Yung focuses on white fabric as an object that represents a temporal starting point that is simple and primitive, without any additives or dressings. The static colors arouse an impression of the sublime and the elaborate depiction of crumpled drapery creates strong elements of abstraction despite his realistic technique. Using his characteristic photorealistic style, he uses the subject of the fabric to explore a new mode of Realism that moves beyond mere realistic description to emphasizes picturesque traits. By representing almost colorless subjects and depicting only a practical reflection and portrayal of targets, his approach stimulates certain emotions and becomes an investigation into another meaning of an existence that presumably lays behind the fabric. Chung adopts fabric as a pictorial device with multiple layers of significance in order to display his own self and the many troubled faces of our society, thereby raising existential questions about the meaning of life.