DON Sunpil

DON Sunpil (b. 1984) draws on subjects and settings that frequently appear in subcultures —along with the fascination surrounding them—as central themes in his artistic practice. He brings the characteristics of subcultures, which are often said to originate outside the boundary of fine art, into the discursive context of the mainstream art world. Treating elements regarded as marginal or non-mainstream as meaningful social phenomena and as clues to a shared aesthetic sensibility, he explores the mutual infiltration and intersection of dominant institutional systems and alternative modes of expression. DON examines the nature of “degraded reproduction,” often found in the tokusatsu (特撮, special effects) genre and figure-collecting culture, in relation to the identity of contemporary visual imagery. Due to technical limitations and economic constraints, these three-dimensional figures are often recreated in crude forms far removed from the original anime images. Paradoxically, such imperfect reproductions are appreciated and collected in their own right, giving rise to a distinctive cultural substratum. The hybrid beings, incomplete forms, and composite images found in the artist’s work invite reflection on the ways in which contemporary images are produced, consumed, replicated, and circulated.

 

DON Sunpil was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1983. He received his BFA in Printmaking at Hongik University and MFA in Fine Arts at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul, Korea. He held solo exhibitions at Perigee Gallery (Seoul, Korea, 2025), Kukje Electronic Center (Seoul, Korea, 2024), ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL (Seoul, Korea, 2023), YPC Space (Seoul, Korea, 2022), Little Art Sonje Center (Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark, 2021), Art Sonje Center (Seoul, Korea, 2020), ARARIO MUSEUM in SPACE (Seoul, Korea, 2019), TasteHouse (Seoul, Korea, 2018), and Audio Visual Pavilion (Seoul, Korea, 2016). He also participated in the group exhibitions of Leeum Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea, 2024), SeMA Buk-Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea, 2022), Daerim Museum (Seoul, Korea, 2020), Danwon Art Museum (Ansan, Korea, 2019), ARARIO GALLERY RYSE HOTEL (Seoul, Korea, 2018), Grassi Museum (Leipzig, Germany, 2018), The Print Room (London, UK, 2017), Trading Post (Seoul, Korea, 2016), SangSangMadang (Seoul, Korea, 2015), and more. He worked as a resident artist at the SFAC Seoul Art Space Geumcheon in 2021, and the SeMA Nanji Residency in 2020. He has published Figure TEXT: Wonder Festival Report, Kitsutaiten (2019), Minmay Attack: Re-Re-Cast (2016), and Figure TEXT (2016). DON won the prize of 1^st Seoul Arts Awards’ in visual art. He received the Grand Prize at the 15th Space International Print Biennale in 2009, garnering significant attention. In 2023, he won the Excellence Award in the Visual Art category at the inaugural Seoul Arts Awards. In 2024, he was selected to participate in Leeum's Art Spectrum 2024: Dream Screen. His works are included in the collections of institutions such as the Seoul Museum of Art and the ARARIO MUSEUM.