Eui Jeong Yoo completed his PhD in ceramics in 2014 following an MFA and BFA at Hong-Ik University, Seoul, Korea. Awards include Silver Prize at Icheon Ceramics Festival and Grand Prize at Seoul Contemporary Ceramic Art Contest. His work sits in collections including the National Museum of Decorative Arts, Norway and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea Department of Conservation and Art Bank. He has exhibited widely in Asia, including the 2013 Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale and the 2015 Cheongju International Craft Biennale and has had several solo shows, notably the Handok Museum and CJAS, Cheongju, both in Korea. He lives and works in Seoul, Korea and is represented by Gallery Koo.
Eui Jeong Yoo is interested in the infiltration of commercial brands into Korea since the late 1980s. His work is known for mixing and matching popular commercial objects. Using the Latin word ‘factum’ which means ‘fact’, he reflects upon the social phenomenon that occurred in Korea at that time, which is an undeniable ‘fact’. With the hosting of the 1988 Olympic Games, Korean society changed. Travelling to other countries became easier and the import and export of goods became more active as the market for reciprocal trade was opened. The 1990s saw the blossoming of luxury Western brands in Korea. The Louis Vuitton bag with its distinctive logo is referred to as the ‘five minute bag’, as every five minutes one sees someone carrying a Louis Vuitton bag (real or fake) in Seoul. Yoo enjoys observing such social effects brought on by capitalism and materialism. Yoo is also exceptionally skilled in combining a number of different ceramics techniques.
