JUNG MYUNG TAEK
Jung Myung Taek introduced to Korean viewers the concept of Art Furniture that was formed in the United States in the 1950s. His works connect one culture with another, and combine tradition with novelty. He reinterprets the spirit inherent in the traditional Korean architecture and the overall characteristics of Korean art – which he categorizes into “purity of doing nothing,” “simplicity of concerning nothing,” and “beauty of forming nothing” – into contemporary art furniture. In his body of work, beyond practicality or physical senses, an aesthetics of naturalism and Korean spirit shares emotions with the viewers.
Jung finished undergraduate and graduate school at Hongik university majoring in woodworking and furniture design, and further studied furniture design at Rochester Institute of Technology, USA. At that time, he worked as a designer and producer of Wendell Castle Collection whose founder was called the father of Art Furniture. After returning from the United States, he was greatly inspired by openness and flexibility of traditional Korean architecture, and to this day he has been exploring the profound relationship between material and space as well as visual and practical function of furniture.
His works and philosophy have been recognized for crossing boundaries of eastern and western, traditional and contemporary thinking. In 2009, he was selected as a next-generation design leader by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Korea Institute of Design Promotion. His major domestic and international group exhibitions include the Design Museum of Milan Triennale in 2018, Design Art Busan in 2017, and Design Miami Basel in 2010. Currently working in Seoul and Daegu, he teaches students at Yeungnam University College of Design and Art while as a professional advisor for Design Seoul Clinic.
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