Taeyoul Ryu

Taeyoul Ryu is a furniture designer with a BFA in Sculpture from the Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea and an MFA in Woodworking and Furniture Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. He has worked extensively in the Wendell Castle Studio in Scottsville, N.Y., and has exhibited throughout Korea and the northeastern United States.

The artist, known for his fanciful pieces, observes, "I believe that furniture is one of humankind's best friends because furniture, which is very close to humans, gives contact, convenience, and beauty in human life. I strongly believe that the delight of use should be a priority rather than functionality and beauty." [1]

Ryu’s work has been featured in at least ten exhibitions at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, including six iterations of Art in Craft Media, a bi-annual juried exhibition at the center, funded by the Sylvia L. Rosen Endowment for Fine Arts in the Craft Media since 1988.

In 2022, Ryu was named Langley Kenzie Prize winner and had an exhibition of his work, Royalty, featured at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Ryu’s series Royalty takes the monarch’s crown and pairs it down to its most essential form. Large lamps that stand like single stemmed tulips tower over six feet tall, like pieces in a giant chess game or faceless kings and queens. An elegant chair repeats the motif suggesting a throne. Works from this series were made after 2020, at least partially in response to the global pandemic. The artist wanted people to feel the dignity that a royal metaphor might provide.

For more information on Taeyoul Ryu, visit his website.

[1] Taeyoul Ryu, artist's statement.