Ik-Joong Kang
b. 1960, Cheongju-si, Korea
Starving Artists' Restaurant Guide, 1996
Printed matter
Painted Buddha, 1991
Oil on canvas
Here's to You, 1989
Wood cut block print
Courtesy Robert Lee and Eleanor Yung

Ik-Joong Kang’s Starving Artists Restaurant Guide was born out of the Tuesday Lunch Club, where artists such as Arlan Huang and Bing Lee met regularly for meals and comradery. The guide practically offers lunch options while also acting as a physical marker of their practice. In addition to Starving Artist’s Restaurant Guide, featured here are two smaller, 3 inch-by-3 inch works: Here’s to You and Painted Buddha, which was a practice he began as an art student in New York City. Painted Buddha was exhibited at the AAAC in 1992 as part of Kang’s solo exhibition, Collection of Buddhas. This exhibition, curated by Robert Lee and Bing Lee, featured over 1,500 small paintings of the Buddha, such as the one shown here. The installation was scored by Buddhist monks chanting, which made the gallery feel like a contemporary Buddhist temple. This exhibition demonstrated the AAAC’s married interests in spirituality and contemporary art.