Romon Kimin Yang aka Rostarr is a multi-disciplinary artist, painter, calligrapher and filmmaker living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Born in South Korea in 1971, Rostarr moved to Washington DC when he was a child. He studied experimental graphic design and printmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and graduated in 1993.
Early in his career he managed to produce work in both art and graphic design spheres, blurring the lines between the two. Rostarr has built a extensive oeuvre of abstract polymorphic paintings, totemic iconographic characters and mostly black and white calligraphic drawings. Always creating in a spontaneous manner, he is continually striving to find freedom within style, medium and form, and building upon the iconographic visual language he terms “Graphysics”, a word that exemplifies the geometric dynamism characteristic in his work. Since 1999 Rostarr has also been a core influential member of the group Barnstormers, a collective of approximately forty artists.
In 2000, he was named one of I.D. magazine’s “I.D. 40 under 30”, and recognized as an honoree at the 2004 A.I.C.P show held at the MOMA for his contribution to a celebrated Nike campaign. In February 2010, his forty minute motion painting film titled Kill The Ego was shown at the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
His artwork has been reviewed in Artforum, Modern Painters, The New York Times, The Village Voice, and Libération among other publications. Rostarr has had solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Paris, Milan, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Puerto Rico, to name a few, and has participated in group shows on both a national and international level, also extensively as part of the esteemed Beautiful Losers show which has toured museums and contemporary art centers worldwide. His first book “Graphysics” was published in 2001 by Alife.
Year | Name of the exhibition | Museum/Gallery | Solo/Group |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Turbo Arena | Anonymous Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico | solo |
2013 | Saber & Rostarr | Opera Gallery, Soho, New York, with artist Saber | group |
2013 | Calligraffiti | Leila Heller Gallery, Chelsea, New York | group |
2013 | Abu Dhabi Art Fair | Leila Heller Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE | group |
2013 | Library | Hidden Champion Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | group |
2012 | Ikonoclysm | Gallery Common, Tokyo, Japan | solo |
2012 | DYZ: Experimental Art Surfshop | Dyezu Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | group |
2012 | City Of Fire | curated by Arrested Motion, Stephen Webster, Los Angeles, CA | group |
2012 | Quarante Par Trente | Galerie L.J., Paris, France | group |
2012 | F*CK ART | Museum of Sex, New York, NY | group |
2012 | Casa De Empeño | Anonymous Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico | group |
2012 | Making Faces | Opera Gallery NYC, New York, NY | group |
2012 | Pieces of Heaven | The Art of Elysium, Los Angeles, CA | group |
2011 | Hors Pistes Tokyo | Centre Georges Pompidou selections, Uplink Factory, Tokyo, Japan | group |
2011 | Abstractions | Opera Gallery NYC, New York, NY | group |
2011 | Flash | Anonymous Gallery, New York, NY | group |
2011 | Stars and Stripes Forever | Agnes b. Gallery, New York, NY | group |
2011 | Art Machine | The Hole, New York, NY | group |
2010 | Hors Pistes | Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France | group |
2010 | The New Grand Tour | Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York, NY | group |
2010 | Les Territoires de l’Art Modeste | Musée International des Arts Modestes, Sète, France | group |
2010 | Street/Studio 2.0 | Irvine Contemporary, Washington, D.C. | group |
2010 | The Draw Show | Museo de la Cuidad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico | group |
2010 | Rojo Nova | Museu Da Imagem E Do Som, Sao Paulo, Brasil | group |
2010 | Second Nature | Fondation Vasarely, Aix En Provence, France | group |
2010 | Circuito Off 2010 | Venice International Short Film Festival, Venice, Italy | group |
2010 | Joyride: Bicyle Film Festival | Anonymous Gallery, New York, NY | group |
2010 | Barnstormers | Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY | group |
2010 | Scope Art Fair | Anonymous Gallery, Art Basel, Miami | group |
2009 | Oculus Velocitas | Il Trifoglio Nero, Genova, Italy | solo |
2009 | Subculture Capital | Anonymous Gallery, New York, N.Y. | group |
2009 | Scope Art Fair | Anonymous Gallery, Art Basel, Miami | group |
2009 | Hadiith: Contemporary Conversation | Cuadro Fine Arts, Dubai, U.A.E. | group |
2009 | Kill The Ego | Anthology Film Archives, New Film Makers Festival, Fountain Art Fair, New York, N.Y. | group |
2009 | Manifest Hope: DC | Irvine Contemporary Art, Washington, D.C. | group |
2009 | Moving Images | Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa | group |
2008 | Wreckless Abandon | O.H.W.O.W., Miami, Florida | solo |
2008 | War Pen | Leonard Street Gallery, London, England | group |
2008 | Now Jump | Nam June Paik Art Center, Kyeongi, S. Korea | group |
2008 | The New Grand Tour pt II | 798 District, Beijing, China | group |
2008 | Kill The Ego: Festival Exit | Maison des Arts, Creteil, France | group |
2007 | Condition Black | Galleria Patricia Armocida, Milano, Italy | solo |
2007 | D.X.A | Surrender, Singapore | solo |
2007 | The New Grand Tour pt I | Brave Art, Hong Kong, China. With artists José Parlá | group |
2007 | Circa Art | Carlos Irizarry Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico | group |
2006 | Five Power | Refill Gallery, Sydney, Australia | solo |
2006 | Ugly Winners | Galerie Du Jour, Paris, France | group |
2006 | High Math | V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark | group |
2006 | Yankee Doodle Flea Market | Tokyo, Japan | group |
2005 | Neospectives | Kinsey-Desforges, Culver City, California | solo |
2005 | Serendip | White Box Gallery, Chelsea, NY | group |
2005 | Casita | Museo De Arte De Puerto Rico, San Juan | group |
2004 | Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art And Street Culture | Museum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland; La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain | group |
2004 | Kitty E.X.-30th Anniversary | Mori Musuem, Tokyo, Japan | group |
2004 | Pictography | Art Basel Miami, Miami, FLA | group |
2004 | Barnstormers Retrospective | Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston Salem, NC | group |
2004 | Unseen Messages: Barnstormers | Transport Gallery, Los Angeles, CA | group |
2003 | InconXistence | Dyezue Gallery, Nakameguro, Japan | solo |
2003 | What About New York? | Galerie Du Jour, Paris, France | group |
2003 | Sessions: The Bowl | Deitch Projects, Wooster St, NY | group |
2003 | Alife Store | Deitch Projects, Grand St, NY | group |
2003 | Final Modification II | Yamaha Gallery & Hakone Open Air Museum, Tokyo, Japan | group |
2003 | Barnstormers: Mind Hive Soundsystem | Lump Gallery, Raleigh, NC | group |
2003 | Move 9: Lead Poisoning | New Image Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA | group |
2002 | R.O.C.O.Q.O | Carlos Irrizary Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico | solo |
2002 | Boomerang | Agnés b gallery, New York, N.Y. | group |
2002 | Barnstormers | Museo De Arte, Puerto Rico, San Juan, P.R. | group |
2002 | Streetwise | Apart Gallery, London, U.K. | group |
2002 | Yuzen History Mix | Chiso Yuzen Gallery, Kyoto, Japan | group |
2002 | Candela Arts Festival | Galleria Carlos Irizarry, San Juan, P.R. | group |
2002 | Barn Painting Project 3 | Public work, Cameron, NC | group |
2002 | Working People | Public work, Binghamton, NY. With Barnstormers | group |
2002 | Final Modification I | Ex'Realm, Yamaha Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | group |
2002 | New American Painting | Galerie Cueto, Paris, France | group |
2001 | X to Z | Alife, New York, New York | solo |
2001 | Graphysics A.W.T.C | Houston Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | solo |
2001 | No Condition Is Permanent | Smackmellon Gallery, Dumbo, Brooklyn NY. | group |
2001 | Free Activation II | ALife, New York, NY | group |
2001 | Barnstormers | Society Des Arts Technologique, Montreal, Canada | group |
2000 | Icon-Odyssey | K-Bond, Los Angeles, California | solo |
2000 | Free Activation I | Beams Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | group |
2000 | Barnstormers | Fishtank Gallery, Brooklyn, NY | group |
2000 | Barn Painting Project 2 | Public work, Cameron, NC. | group |
1999 | Brandscapes | Houston Gallery, Seattle, Washington | solo |
1999 | Lifer | Rove Gallery, New York, NY | group |
1999 | Paradise 8 | curated by Kenny Schacter, Exit Art, New York, NY | group |
1999 | Barn Painting Project 1 | Public work, Cameron, NC. With Barnstormers | group |
1998 | Unknown Style Opponent | B.O.B., New York, New York | solo |
1998 | ORFI Presents: Rostarr & Jamil GS | curated by Donald Hearn, 407 Gallery, New York, NY | group |
1998 | Collude Intrude | Brooklyn Anchorage, NY. | group |
1998 | Young Guns II | Art Directors Club Gallery, New York, NY | group |
1996 | Young Guns I | Art Directors Club Gallery, New York, NY | group |
1995 | Custom Corpse | ACME Gallery, San Francisco, CA | group |