Young Joon Kwak (b. 1984, Queens; lives and works in Los Angeles) received an MFA from University of Southern California (2014), an MA in Humanities from University of Chicago (2010), and a BFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2007). They are the founder of Mutant Salon and lead performer in the electronic-dance-noise band Xina Xurner. Solo exhibitions have been held at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (2024); ARKO Art Center, Seoul (2022); Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles (2021); Commonwealth and Council (2021, 2017); Union Gallery, Michigan State University, East Lansing (2021); Cerritos College Art Gallery (2020); Cloaca Projects, San Francisco (2019); Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Alberta (2018); and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (2018). Selected group exhibitions have been held at Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2023); Hauser & Wirth, New York (2021); Tufts University Art Galleries, Medford (2021); Deli Gallery, New York (2020); Antenna Space, Shanghai (2019); Gas, Los Angeles (2018); and Anonymous Gallery, Mexico City (2018). Kwak is a recipient of Trellis Art Fund grant (2024); Artadia Los Angeles Award (2024), California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists (2022), Korean Arts Foundation of America Award (2020), Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant (2018), Artist Community Engagement Grant (2016), and Art Matters Foundation Grant (2016).

Kwak’s work is in the collections of Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; Dallas Museum of Art; MSU Broad Art Museum, East Lansing; and Speed Art Museum, Louisville.