Joo Yeon Judy Yang’s practice navigates the intersection of East Asian visual traditions and Western experience. Her work—characterized by coded landscapes and meticulously layered architectural renderings—examines the political consequences of media manipulation through the lens of religious narratives and social catastrophes.
The core of her work exists as a dialogue between four primary series:
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The Mistreatment of Life (2008–Present): Born from the artist’s firsthand experience of the 2008 Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak, this series questions the economy of food and health, critiquing our society's systemic ignorance and mistreatment of vulnerability.
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The One nation Banknote series (2009), The Fight Club series (2010), and Eve series (2008–Present): These supportive series recompose the idealized iconography of international currency and media imagery to reveal the underlying narratives of global crisis.
Formally, Yang’s work is rigorous and labor-intensive, harmonizing the verticality and textured expanses of traditional Asian scroll painting with the dense, etched lines of Western printmaking. Her compositions demand a "forensic" investigation—a slow, careful review akin to studying evidence. Through this hybrid aesthetic, she explores shifting moralities within a highly detailed, sensitive visual space.
Ultimately, Yang’s work references the "crawling" news ticker—the persistent stream of data she interprets as the bearer of truth amidst the distracting, manipulated spectacle of "breaking" news images.
Bio
Joo Yeon Judy Yang (b.) 1982, Seoul, South Korea, attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago for her BFA on Painting and Drawing, Maryland Institute College of Art for her Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, studied Printmaking focus on an etching at the Art Student League of New York for three years, and Pratt Institute for her MFA on Painting. She has exhibited her works in the United States. Her most recent exhibitions includes "Hidden in Plain Sight", OH ART FOUNDATION, Chicago, Illinois (2019), "Tiny Acts Topple Empires", The Woskob Family Gallery, State College, Pennsylvania (2018), "Unsettled, The Korean Cultural Center New York, New York (2016), "UNDERLINE:RECENT WORKS BY JUDY YANG", and WHITEBOX Art Space, New York City (2015), "A Politics of Drawing: Proposal for a Method of Transformation" Barbara Walters Gallery, Bronxville, New York (2014), and Skidmore Contemporary Art Gallery, Santa Monica, California (2014). Yang has been the recipient of the Full Fellowship, the Vermont Studio Center (2013) and the Endangered Art and Photograph, 1st prize in the Fine Art, Miami, Florida (2013). Joo Yeon Judy Yang is based in Long Island City, New York.
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EDUCATION
2012 Master of Fine Arts, Painting. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York.
2006 Post-Baccalaureate. Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland.
2005 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting and Drawing. School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Hidden in Plain Sight, OH ART Foundation. Chicago, Illinois.
2015 UNDERLINE: RECENT WORKS BY JUDY YANG, WhiteBox, New York, New York.
2012 The Pratt Studios Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 Tiny Acts Topple Empires, The Woskob Family Gallery, State College, Pennsylvania.
2016 Unsettled, The Korean Cultural Center New York, New York.
Artists Co-Op III, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, Jamaica, New York.
2015 Luminous Coordinates, Hutchins Gallery, Brookville, New York.
Illegal Souvernirs, Field Projects, New York, New York.
2014 A Politics of Drawing: Proposal for a Method of Transformation, Barbara Walters Gallery, Bronxville, New York.
Skidmore Contemporary Art Gallery, Santa Monica, California.
Bridging the Gap, QCC Art Gallery, Bayside, New York.
2013 The Select Fair, Torus Collective. South Beach , Miami, Florida.
The New Contemporary Vienna International Art Fair, Shirin Gallery. Messe Wien, Vienna.
Curate NYC Top 150, Rush Arts Gallery, New York, New York.
Intern Project Exhibition, Freight+Volume Gallery, New York, New York.
2012 Bridging the Gap, Flushing Town Hall, Flushing, New York.
2011 CurateNYC 2011, Rush Arts Gallery, New York, New York.
Contemporary Female Mythologies, Primo Piano LivinGallery for Contemporary Art, Lecce, Italy.
2009 Anima Mundi, Primo Piano LivinGallery for Contemporary Art, Lecce, Italy.
2008 Lift Off!, Plant Zero, Richmond Virginia.
GRANTS, AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2016 Mass MoCA Assets for Artists Residency. Artist in Residence. North Adams, Massachusetts.
The Vermont Studio Center. Artist in Residence. Johnson, Vermont.
Mass MoCA Assets for Artists Residency. Artist in Residence., North Adams, Massachusetts.
2013 The ENDANGERED Art and Photography. First Prize in the Fine Art, Miami, Florida.
The Vermont Studio Center. Artist in Residency Full Fellowship, Johnson, Vermont.
Pratt Institute. The Circle Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Brooklyn, New York.
2010 Pratt Institute. First Year Scholarship, Brooklyn, New York.
2005 Maryland Art Institute College of Art. Merit Scholarship, Baltimore, Maryland.
© All images copyright JooYeon Judy Yang