Julia Kwon

Julia Kwon
Born1987 Edit this on Wikidata
Arlington County Edit this on Wikidata
Alma mater
OccupationArtist Edit this on Wikidata
Styletextile arts Edit this on Wikidata
Websitehttp://www.juliakwon.com/ Edit this on Wikidata

Julia Kwon (1987–present) is a Korean-American artist best known for her bojagi-inspired artwork. Her work has been featured at the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper Hewitt Museum and Smithsonian American Art Museum.[1][2][3][4]

Kwon was born in 1987 in Arlington, Virginia.[3][5] She attended Georgetown University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2012, where she majored in studio art with a focus on painting.[6][5][7] She went on to earn her Master in Fine Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University.[5][8] She is best known for her large textile installation works that draws inspiration from Korean bojagi.[8][9][2][10] Kwon's work addresses several issues, some include the objectification of Asian female bodies, anti-Asian violence, and abortion rights.[2][11] She works as a lecturer at the Department of Art at the University of Maryland.[12] Kwon is also affiliated with the American University as an adjunct professor lecturer.[13]

Kwon's piece "Like Any Other" was on display in 2017 at the IA&A Hillyer art center in Washington D.C.[5][14] From June 14 to August 4, 2019, Kwon's solo exhibition "More Than a Body" was on display at the Target Gallery in the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Washington D.C.[15][16][17] In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kwon sewed a series of cloth face masks for her "Unapologetically Asian" mask series to not only raise awareness around mask wearing but also to the anti-Asian violence in the United States.[8][2][18][19] One of Kwon's masks was acquired by the Cooper Hewitt Museum and is featured in the exhibit "Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics".[8][1]

Kwon was a 2021 Summer Artist in Residence at The Factory On Willow in Manchester, New Hampshire.[9] Kwon's piece "Dissent" was featured at The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland's first in-person exhibit since the COVID-19 shutdown with fellow University of Maryland faculty in November 2021.[11] From November 5, 2021, to January 16, 2022, Kwon's work was featured at the San Francisco Center for the Book's exhibit "Finding Common Ground: Sowing the Seeds of Community & Collaboration", along with other members of the Korean American Artists Collective.[20]

In early 2022, Kwon was featured in the exhibit "In Spite of Modernism: Contemporary Art, Abstract Legacies, and Identity" at the Arlington Arts Center along with Paolo Arao, Asa Jackson, Esteban Ramón Pérez.[21][10] From March 25 to April 30, 2022, Kwon's work for her "Never Mere Ornament" exhibition was displayed in the nonprofit VisArts' 355 Pod Space Gallery in Rockville, Maryland.[22] In May 2022, Kwon's work was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum for their exhibit "This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World".[4]

  1. ^ a b "Personal Protective Equipment | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum". www.cooperhewitt.org. 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  2. ^ a b c d Savig, Mary (5 February 2021). "Making the Most: In the Studio with Julia Kwon". www.smithsonianmag.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  3. ^ a b "Julia Kwon | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  4. ^ a b ""This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World" Examines the State of Contemporary Craft in America Today | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  5. ^ a b c d "Julia Kwon - IA&A at Hillyer". 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  6. ^ Borowiec, Mary (2012-04-26). "Nostalgia sets in for senior art majors at Spagnuolo". The Georgetown Voice. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  7. ^ "Julia Kwon | OCEAN MUD, CERAMIC CHANGE, & THE CONNECTED MIND". Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  8. ^ a b c d Brown, Susan (7 September 2021). "Textile Tuesday: Julia Kwon's Unapologetically Asian Face Mask". textilesocietyofamerica.org. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  9. ^ a b "Julia Kwon Artists in Residence". The Factory on Willow. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  10. ^ a b Jenkins, Mark (11 March 2022). "In the galleries: Connecting modern abstraction with personal identity". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  11. ^ a b Weiss, Jessica (3 November 2021). "Art Department Faculty Display Work at UMD Art Gallery". arhu.umd.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  12. ^ "Julia Kwon". art.umd.edu. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  13. ^ "Adjunct Professorial Lect". American University. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  14. ^ "Art in Context: Korea – International Arts & Artists". www.artsandartists.org. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  15. ^ "Julia Kwon: More Than A Body Exhibition Catalog" (PDF). torpedofactory.org. May 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Julia Kwon: More Than A Body | Torpedo Factory Art Center". Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  17. ^ "2019 Solo Exhibition: Julia Kwon". Alexandria Living Magazine. 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  18. ^ "First Friday Dupont: Virtually featuring Julia Kwon". Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  19. ^ "Exhibit looks at face coverings from around the world as both protective and ornamental devices - Albuquerque Journal". www.abqjournal.com. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  20. ^ "Finding Common Ground: Sowing the Seeds of Community & Collaboration | San Francisco Center for the Book". sfcb.org. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  21. ^ "In Spite of Modernism: Contemporary Art, Abstract Legacies, and Identity". Arlington Arts Center. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  22. ^ "Julia Kwon: Never Mere Ornament". VisArts. Retrieved 2022-11-17.