Jaeyong Kim

Jae Yong Kim is an artist born in Seoul, Korea but grew up in many different parts of the world including Kuwait and different parts of the US while getting a college and master’s degree.

In his artworks, Kim uses surrogates in trying to express himself such as snails and donuts.

Kim uses snails as surrogates in expressing his constant searching for a home. His early experience of moving from different countries to countries made him explore his identity and the meaning of a home. Snails in particular carry their homes on their backs so they serve as the perfect stand-ins. Kim also uses snails particularly because snail is always moving forward but also carry their “homes” on their backs. For Kim, home is not a physical thing in a definite place. It is something that he can carry around with him while he’s travelling to different places. While moving to different places, Kim was always carrying a baggage and carrying a home and going somewhere to a certain direction, but did not know exactly where. In order to talk about people through art, it was natural for him to use snails to focus on expressing facial expressions, emotions, movement, and directions. That’s why the snails don’t have details, they have more of a cartoonlike character. Also there are over exaggerated expression on the snails that he saw and examined on the faces of people he saw on the streets.

The expression of donuts came to Kim during a time of deep self-doubt in 2008. He started questioning and redefining everything that he thought would bring him happiness. Kim thought of fame, money and power that often times lead to false happiness and success. Donuts were one of the few things that brought him joy. The simplicity of its shape and the expression of taste gives us a moment to indulge in childlike happiness. And it was here in this simple donut that he found the perfect vehicle for his message. Also, referencing to the Garden of Eden, he substituted the “apple” with donuts which he considers as something that bring us a great joy in life. He wanted to use an item that symbolize money and ambition and all the things you want in your life, but they won’t necessarily bring happiness in life. Every donut is unique because everything is hand painted. A donut is like a canvas to kim and he expresses his feelings at that time onto the donut.

Born in 1973, Seoul, South Korea

Lives and works in Seoul and New York

Currently Working as an Assistant professor of the Department of Ceramics, Seoul National University of Science & Technology, Seoul

EDUCATIONS

1998 BFA, Ceramics & Sculpture, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, West Hartford, U.S.

2001 MFA, Ceramics, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, U.S.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2021

DONUT FEAR, Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok, Thailand
SHOOT!, Shinsegae gallery, Daegu, Korea

2020

DONUT FEAR, Hakgojae Gallery, Seoul

2019

I Love Donuts, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai
Donut Ever Forget Me, Boise Art Museum, Boise

2018

We Love Donuts, L'Avenue, Shanghai

2017

I Love Donut, Gallery by the Harbour, Harbour City, Hong Kong

2016

Highlighted Solo Art Shows – Jae Yong Kim, Huantai Museum, Zibo, China
Pop Goes the Donut, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York
Can’t Stop Thinking About…. Donuts, Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, Saginaw

2015

Can't Stop Thinking About..., The Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City

2014

Donut Rush, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York
I Love Donuts, Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton

2013

Donut Fields, Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, New York

2012

Lust for Donuts, Blank Space, New York

2004

Snailing, New Century Artists Gallery, New York

2003

New Work, Visual Research Gallery, New Haven

1999

Momo On Wall, Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery, Manchester Community College, Manchester
Recent Work, Wood Memorial Library & Museum, South Windsor

1998

Just Momo, The Gallery, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022

FLOWER, CHOI&CHOI Gallery, Seoul

2019

Afterglow, Noblesse Collection, Seoul
Off Menu: Contemporary Art About Food, Bedford Gallery, Lesher Center for
the Arts, Walnut Creek
Visual Delights, Gwangju Museum of Arts, Gwangju
Céramiques Gourmandes, Fondation d’Entreprise Bernardaud, Limoges
Conversations: Contemporary Asian Art, Hermitage Museum & Gardens, Norfolk
Fire and Water, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York
Don’t Call it a Comeback, Atelier Aki, Seoul

2018

Autumnal Exhibition, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York

2017

New Book, Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, New York
A Cup of Sugar, Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts, Binghamton
Summer Wrap Up, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York
Luminance, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York

2016

Summer Salon, Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts, Binghamton
New Memories in Holiday, Artside Gallery, Seoul
GVSU and SEOULTECH Art & Design Faculty Exhibition, Art Gallery, Grand
Valley State University, Allendale
Made in America, Museum of Art & History, Lancaster
Mixing Medias, MANA Contemporary, Jersey City

2015

Donut Craze, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia
Asian Contemporary Ceramic, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou
Beyond the Morning Calm, Lillstreet Gallery, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago
Re: Kontemporary – Fermented Souls, Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, New York
Glazed & Diffused, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams
Spring Exhibition, Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts, Binghamton
Immersion: Becoming You, Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, New York
Sweet as One, Chengdu International Finance Square (IFS), Chengdu

2014

Double Mirror: Korean-American Artists, American University Museum, Washington, D.C.
Salon 3, Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts, Binghamton

2013

Ode to Summer, Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, New York
East & West Clay Works, Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton
Yegam Art Market, Yegam Art Space, Queens

2012

Brand New 5, Eugene Gallery, Seoul
Department of Art and Design Faculty Exhibition, George Segal Gallery,
Montclair State University, Montclair

2011

BLANK SPACE, Blank Space, New York
13th Tokyo-New York, Nippon Gallery, New York

2010

Goldfarb Retrospective, Donald and Linda Silpe Gallery, Hartford Art School, West Hartford
Let There Be White, Meltem Birey Gallery, Philadelphia

2009

The Day After Tomorrow: Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, Sweetwater
Center for the Arts, Sewickley
LEAP Award Finalists Exhibition, Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh

2008

East & West Clay Works, Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, Tochigi
Size is Relative, Donald and Linda Silpe Gallery, Hartford Art School, West Hartford

2007

Dreams in Clay, George Segal Gallery, Montclair State University, Montclair

2006

East & West Clay Works, Korean Craft Promotion Foundation Gallery, Seoul
Living in Between Time, Elga Wimmer PCC, New York

2005

Yearning, Elga Wimmer PCC, New York
Eight Korean Artists, FGS Gallery, FGS Korean Community Center, Englewood
Slide Slam, Real Art Ways, Hartford

2004

East & West Clay Works – New York: Fire Works, Space World Gallery, Long Island City
Alums, Philip Alan Gallery, New York

2003

Face to Face, The Stage Gallery, Merrick
Generations: Impending Lineage, Art and Industry Gallery, San Diego
Young Talent, Washington Art Association Gallery, Washington Depot

2001

Group Show, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham
Master Selections Show, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills
Menagerie: Animal Imagery in Contemporary Ceramics, Covivant Gallery, University of South Florida, Tampa
Menagerie at NCECA, Gaston College Art Galleries, Dallas
Michigan Annual XXIX, Anton Art Center, Mount Clemens

2000

Celebrate Clay, Lawrence Street Gallery, Pontiac
Now + Then, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, U.S. Craft Forms, Wayne Art Center, Wayne
Facing East, Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem
Circumstantial, ArtSpace Hartford, Hartford

1999