DON Sunpil

DON Sunpil (b.1984) is an artist who dismantles the affection towards the object and background which are frequently appeared in the subculture. To the artist, represented by the figure, a so-called OTAKU culture is not simply for leisure or light amuse, but a fascinating social phenomenon and a clue to a shared aesthetic sense. DON brings out the subject like animation, which is asserted to be existing on the outside of Fine Art boundary, into a discourse within the art world then intersect each other. The artist not only maintains affection in one hand and strict aesthetic appreciation in the other for the cultural context, narrative, and the adoration towards the figures but also persistently explored the perfection and logical completeness of the figure, then unfolded them to the audience.

DON sees the figure as a mass-produced product created by individuals who share the same aesthetic orientation and looks into the aspects of society and culture, the basis of which these specific individuals and communities were created. Furthermore, it is assumed that the interface between figures and fine art is ‘useless except for the appreciation’, and appreciation of artworks is compared to ‘Deokjil’. Under such a dry gaze, figures are reproduced with the limitation of the original color of the feeling of a unique scale. Figures that are monochromatic, or resizing the original scale became an object only for the appreciation, but it becomes satisfactory objects just in themselves.

DON Sunpil held solo exhibitions at Little Art Sonje Center (Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark) in 2021, Art Sonje Center (Seoul, Korea) in 2020, ARARIO Museum in Space (Seoul, Korea) in 2019, TasteHouse (Seoul, Korea) in 2018, AVP (Seoul, Korea) in 2016. Participating in the group exhibitions were held at Daerim Museum (Seoul, Korea) in 2020, Danwon Art Museum (Ansan, Korea) in 2019, ARARIO Gallery Seoul I RYSE Hotel (Seoul, Korea), Grassi Museum (Leipzig, Germany) in 2018, The Print Room (London, UK) in 2017, Trading Post (Seoul, Korea) in 2016, SangSangMadang (Seoul, Korea) in 2015. DON participated in the Residency program at 14^th SeMA Nanji Residency (Seoul, Korea) in 2020, and published “Figure TEXT: Wonder Festival Report, Kitsutaiten” (2019), “Minmay Attack: Re-Re-Cast, AVP” (2016), and “Figure TEXT, Yourmind” (2016).