Born in 1980, Son Dong-Hyun received his B.F.A. majoring in Oriental painting from Seoul National University in 2001. He has been widely gaining public recognition since his participation in the noted artist residency program, Ssamzie Space Studio, and his works have been exhibited worldwide in various institutions such as Aba Abazzia di San Grigorio in Venice, National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea, Beyond Art Space in Beijing, ZAiM in Japan, and many others.
Son grew up during a time when television sets were a standard fixture among homes in Korea. It was viewed as an otherworldly medium that held life within itself shaping the cultural mindset of his generation today. Many of the subjects found in Son's art are derived from popular cultural icons in television. The American Hero series and Ten Longevity Symbols (Lot 1508) are illustrative of how influential mass-media and popular culture play in his artistic practice. Using found imagery from search engines such as Google, Son takes iconic characters from 1980s, such as those from The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a Hollywood animation film and Bambi, a famous character from Disney animation, to emphasize the changes and phenomena occurring in contemporary Korean society. His work successfully achieves to call forth a sense of nostalgia and places emphasizes the role of Western culture has in the shaping of his culture, through a sharp lens while sustaining the lighthearted wit which makes this promising artist one to remember.