Meet Jun Yang

2021 Artist Series Bio

Wente Vineyards is deeply committed to the arts and supporting our local community through the Wente Foundation for Arts Education. Every year, Wente Vineyards selects a different local artist to design a unique label for our limited Artist Series. With every bottle sold, 5% of the purchase price is donated directly to The Wente Foundation to cover operating costs. This year, we chose an upcoming visionary, Jun Yang.

Jun Yang was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, a modern city with incredible skyscrapers just like San Francisco, the city he has called home for the past 12 years. San Francisco, with its rich cultural diversity, urban landscape, natural beauty, and socially inclusive culture, serves as an inspiration for Jun’s creations. Jun has shown his work in numerous national and international exhibitions beyond San Francisco, including Kunsthaus Graz, Austria, MOCA Taipei, Taiwan and Seoul, Korea. His work seeks to evoke strong emotions using space and colors that speak to viewers across cultures and continents in a way that transcends the need for common language. Each of Jun’s pieces is incomplete until the viewers contribute their own contexts to the artistic conversation.

Most recently, mixing neon colors has been a crucial element in Jun’s art pieces. For him, mixing colors not only references life experiences, but it also helps him navigate through day-to-day feelings and express the way he sees the world. Jun shared his creative process and inspiration for Wente Vineyards.

What inspired you for this year’s Artist Series collection?

My series of floral paintings are a symbol of a communitarian ethos. A flower cannot exist alone; it requires an entire ecosystem made up of male and female flowers, insects and birds, sun, water, and air to sustain it and even so, flowers don’t live forever either. Like all material things, a flower has its own lifecycle – emerging as a bud, bursting into full bloom, and then decaying at the end of its season and thereby, preparing the way for a future generation. I see flowers as a symbol of community and human life; how we can only flourish through mutual care and support.

What was your favorite part about creating it?

I like painting without over-thinking or worrying about the outcome. For me, exploring new techniques and materials allows me to unlock my creativity. I typically start with a fluid abstract style using inks and building up multiple layers and shapes to create a sense of movement within the piece. I also enjoy incorporating other media such as oil pastels, spray paint, and acrylic markers to add depth and texture to my work. I love this approach because it provides a sense of freedom to the artist. There is something liberating about allowing my hand to move freely across the canvas and letting the colors and shapes take on a life of their own.

Anything else you would like to share about yourself or your art and influences?

I’m extremely grateful to Wente Vineyards for giving me this amazing opportunity to showcase my art to a wider audience. This experience has been truly transformative for me, as it has helped me connect with potential patrons and collaborators – it has provided a platform to share my creative vision with the world. I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have been part of this collaboration. The team at Wente Vineyards has been incredibly supportive and I value their dedication to providing a platform for artists like me, to share our work with their guests and beyond.