Original ‘Clown’ Drawing by Juno Youn, Toronto, Canada
Juno Youn (Toronto, Canada), ‘Clown’, Original Drawing on Paper mounted on Foamcore, in beautiful wood custom frame. Drawing measures 4 x 6 inches. Signed on the verso. Framed: 8.5 x 10 inches, $225.
Juno Youn, originally from South Korea, is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCADU) where he majored in drawing, painting and interdisciplinary arts. He is a visual artist in his own right.
Youn’s previous project, SPIN Gallery (Toronto), was in operation from 1999 to 2007.
In 2013, Juno Youn was named as one of Médiamosaïque’s “Diversity Top 20 Personalities of the Year” in Québec. And in 2018, Youn is co-chair of the ARTSIDA auction, an annual art auction fundraiser that supports Aids Community Care Montréal (ACCM). He was also featured in The Globe and Mail’s list of Canada’s Best Dressed 2018.
JUNO YOUN POSING IN YAYOI KUSAMA¹S A CELESTIAL LIGHT MIRRORED ROOM CALLED –
“THE SOULS OF MILLION LIGHT YEARS AWAY” AT THE BROAD MUSEUM IN LOS ANGELES.
Juno Youn began life in Seoul’s Gangnam neighborhood. At an early age he immigrated from Korea to Toronto to complete high school. He began his new life as an art student of OCAD University, studying drawing and painting as well as multidisciplinary arts.
In his senior year, he was selected by a U of T ’s faculty member to be the travel assistant to document circuses in Europe, so he left OCAD U to journey all across Europe for more than a year. His experiences from Paris to London and small towns of Italy and Germany and many more cities opened the eyes of this young artist. He also learned a lot about circuses, from the traditional to contemporary and avant-garde ones that do not involved animals. Youn quickly adopted his photographic skills to documenting facial expression of circus clowns and before and after their make-up transformation.
After returning from Europe and overcoming some personal issues, Youn returned to OCAD U to finish his degree. Youn started using his memories and experiences with the circus in his series called DEJA VU. He worked on this for some years and then began showing these works in Toronto. Globe and Mail art critic Gary Michael Dault wrote a big reviews on Youn several times, including an August 2003 piece on “Artist ran away to paint circus” and a December 2006 piece “A riotous return to the circus.”
Youn then began exploring beyond the circus to magic and dreams which are more surrealist. His art has been exhibited nationally and internationally including in the head office of Coca Cola Atalnta, TIAF (Toronto International Art Fair 2003, and 2013), ARTNIM 2003, Salon du Printemps 2003, Shanghai International Art Fair 2006, and many more private exhibitions in various cities. Youn ‘s art has been collected by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Cambridge Galleries, Mizuma Art Gallery Tokyo and many private collectors.
Meanwhile, Youn had opened a small art gallery named SPIN in the heart of the Queen Street West area of Toronto. The gallery grew; in 2003 SPIN Gallery moved into the massive 5000 sq-foot wood-beamed beautiful former Coca Cola factory of Toronto. The gallery promoted Canadian artists as well as some international artists who are also musicians – Daniel Lanois, Chris Stein, Long John Baldry, Michael Stipe and live performances by PEACHES to many more. The gallery became quickly a pop culture place, having events by nights and art gallery by day – then, an important survival skill for a new gallery. The gallery earned several awards as a premier Toronto gallery and was featured by various media such as Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, Bravo, Much Music, NOW, EYE, and X-TRA.
After the world financial crisis of 2007 forced the closure of the gallery, Youn decided to travel the world including Shanghai, Beijing, Paris, London and New York. After moving to Montreal in 2010, Youn founded an online gallery called Flying Rooster Contemporary Projects (Projets contemporains Flying Rooster). Then in May 2013, he opened Galerie Youn on boulevard St. Laurent in the heart of the Mile End area of Montreal.
Galerie Youn focuses on building bridges between local, national and international emerging to mid-career contemporary artists. The gallery exhibits several solo and group shows each year, as well as participating in international art fairs and gallery exhibitions. The gallery represents more than 20 artists from around the world, and it is publishing catalogues of these artists. In 2013, Juno Youn was named as one of Médiamosaïque’s “Diversity Top 20 Personalities of the Year” in Quebec.