Korean Art Foundation of America (KAFA) Biennial Artist Award 2020: Young Joon Kwak

Statement by board member Ellie Lee: “This year the KAFA committee, comprised of Rita Gonzalez, Helen Molesworth and Jan Tumlir, confronted a very impressive pool of applicants. Each member of the jury selected a top five, and then after a great deal of mutual deliberation, agreed to nominate Young Joon Kwak for the grant. This artist’s strong community praxis, which revolves around members of the trans, gender non-conforming and POC communities, plays out in multiple forms and expressions, from material experimentation in sculpture and installation, photography and video, to the creation of performative collectives like the Mutant Salon. What impressed us most about Kwak’s work its mixture of political urgency and unfettered form, which seems destined for a bright future.” ⁣—Rita Gonzalez, Terri and Michael Smooke Curator and Department Head Contemporary Art, LACMA, Helen Molesworth, writer and curator, and Jan Tumlir, writer, educator, and curator. “

Learn more about the organization and award here: http://kafa.us/