The solo exhibition 《REALITY + IMAGE: Revisiting the Works of the 2010s》 by master of Korean contemporary art Kim Kang Yong will be held from September 30 to October 22 at Gallery Chang New York, located on 55th Street in Manhattan.
This exhibition centers on major paintings created during the early to mid-2010s, when the artist was based in New York. Kim Kang Yong’s paintings explore the boundary between materiality and image through the use of distinctly Korean materials such as sand and fragments of brick. From a distance, the works resemble photographs, but as viewers approach, the density of texture and material presence becomes vividly apparent.
His practice is built on a dual structure of “reality” and “illusion,” “material” and “image.” During his years in New York, Kim actively engaged with the international art scene, achieving an artistic synthesis that combined contemporary universality with his own distinctive formal language. This exhibition is especially meaningful in that it revisits the representative works from that period in New York once again in 2025.
Kim Kang Yong was born in 1950 in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, and graduated from Hongik University College of Fine Arts. For decades, he has worked primarily in painting, presenting his work at major museums and galleries in Korea and abroad. Through his sand-based paintings in particular, he has established a unique visual language and is recognized as one of the leading figures in Korean contemporary art.
Gallery Chang has for several years consistently examined Kim Kang Yong’s artistic world from a philosophical perspective. This solo exhibition continues that curatorial trajectory while also being expected to reaffirm the presence of Korean contemporary art within the New York art scene. Curator Jinnie Kang commented, “The 2010s marked the peak of Kim Kang Yong’s artistic maturity. By reintroducing the works from this period in New York, where they were first created, we hoped to once again present the depth and possibilities of Korean contemporary art on the global stage.”
The exhibition is held at Gallery Chang on 55th Street in Manhattan. The opening reception took place on Friday, October 3, and was a great success, attended by many figures from the art world and collectors. Meanwhile, at Gallery Chang Seoul, located in the Oakwood Hotel at COEX in Seoul, a two-person exhibition titled Infinite Dialogue featuring Kim Kang Yong and American West Coast contemporary master Shane Guffogg is currently on view and will run through November 15. The Seoul exhibition focuses on Kim’s recent new works, offering a different perspective on his current artistic world from the 2010s masterpieces presented in the New York solo exhibition.
