Chun Kwang Young was born in 1944 in Hongchun, Korea. He received his BFA from Hong-Ik University, Seoul in 1968 and his MFA from Philadelphia College of Art in 1971. Owing to his studies in the West, Chun was deeply influenced by American and European abstract expressionism, the early stages of his career saw the artist working with paintings until his shift to Korean mulberry paper in 1995.
With a career spanning almost 50 years, Chun has shown his works extensively around the world in galleries and museums. He has exhibited at Mori Arts Center Gallery, Tokyo; The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Connecticut; Columbus Museum, Georgia; The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon; Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh. The artist has received numerous awards and was named artist of the year by The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul in 2001. In 2009, he was awarded the Presidential prize in the 41st Korean Culture and Art Prize by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Korea.
His works can also be found in the collections of Victoria & Albert Museum, UK, The Seoul National University Museum of Art, Seoul, Museum Kunstwerk, Germany, Woodrow Wilson International Center, Washington D.C; Malta National Museum, Malta and Busan Metropolitan Art Museum, Busan. In 2016 the artist's work will be featured in a solo exhibition at Woo Yang Museum, Gyeongju, Korea. The artist currently lives and works in South Korea.