Sung Neung-kyung becomes fourth Korean artist to join Lehmann Maupin

Lehmann Maupin has added Korean artist Sung Neung-kyung, a pioneer of avant-garde art in South Korea in the 1970s, to the list of artists it represents and will support Sung’s artistic career. Sung has become the fourth Korean artist to be represented by the American gallery.

“His canonical works have not only sparked urgent conversations about politics, identity and the body, but also continue to expand our understanding of contemporary art making. I look forward to placing him in dialogue with the rest of our program, and introducing audiences in Europe and the Americas to his work,” said Emma Son, senior director of Lehmann Maupin.

The 80-year-old artist has played a key role in expanding the genre of hybrid performance in a global context throughout his decades-long career. Self-exaggeration, excessive noise, and disorder are often key elements of his performances, highlighting the disconnect between the chaotic creative process and the polished final product. By disturbing and denaturalizing the white cube space, Sung’s oeuvre often operates in the realm of institutional critique, according to the gallery.

Sung was one of the leading experimental artists in the country during the politically turbulent 1970s and 1980s, becoming a core member of the Korean artist group “Space and Time” that pioneered avant-garde art.

His art will be shown at the Guggenheim Museum’s exhibition in September titled “Only the Young: Experimental Art in South Korea, 1960s-70s” that will be jointly organized with the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. The group show of Korea’s experimental art will travel to Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in early 2024.

Other Korean artists Lehmann Maupin represent are Lee Bul, Suh Do-ho and Suh Se-ok.