The conceptual artist Kwak Duck-Jun has died, Gallery Hyundai has announced.
Born in Kyoto to Korean parents in 1937, Kwak developed a multidisciplinary practice that gained recognition in Korea and Japan, as well as in the wider international art scene. In the 1960s, he created abstract paintings using traditional Japanese dyeing methods, before shifting to a more conceptual art practice in the 1970s.
Through painting, installation, performance, video, photography and printmaking, Kwak sought to challenge the fixity of normative concepts and provide his perspective on history and society as a Zainichi Korean – a Korean residing in Japan. His work often used humour and irony to demonstrate the absurdities of the world. He is best known for his Weight-scale series (1970), installations of variously sized rocks on broken scales, and President and Kwak series (1974–2008), that combine half his face with those of American presidents.
