Y. David Chung (born 1959) is a German-born American contemporary artist, and educator, he is of Korean-descent. He serves as the director of the MFA program at Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, associated with the University of Michigan. The focus of his work is Korean identity and various types of diasporas.[1] Chung is known for paintings, drawings, printmaking, art installations, public art, and performances.[2][3]
Biography
Y. David Chung was born in 1959 in Bonn, Germany.[4][5] He is of Korean descent, his parents migrated after World War II.[1] His mother was from Kaesong, and his father was from a small town outside Pyŏngyang.[1]
After receiving his M.F.A., Chung has held faculty positions at George Mason University and in the Department of Art and Visual Technology and at Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at University of Michigan.[2] In 2013, he was a visiting professor at the department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University.
Artwork
In an article by Rick Lowe for Fresh Talk/Daring Gazes, he discusses Chung's piece Third Ward Jungle and writes that Chung's process in performance work addresses important aspects of integrating art in society.[7] Lowe also comments on the fact that while Chung is the primary performer in his pieces (referring to drawing performances), it is evident that the audience takes on a large role. In addition to his performance based works, Chung has also completed a number of public works.
In 1998, Chung created a large-scale mosaic in P.S. 24 in Brooklyn, New York depicting daily life of Sunset Park that was sponsored by the Board of Education.[8]
Chung has received a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship, the Washington Mayor's Art Award, a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund Artist at Giverny Fellowship, the Rosebud Best in Show Film and Video Award, the Artslink Collaborative Project Fellowship in Kazakhstan,[2] and the Best Documentary Film Award from the National Film Board of Canada.