Wave-i is a Korean art agency and curation company committed to introducing new generations of young art appreciators in Asia to unique forms of contemporary art internationally. With a particular focus on the artists and artworks that made NYC’s East Village Scene of the 1980s so special, Wave-i has planned and hosted a number of cutting-edge exhibitions across Asia including East Village New York: Vulnerable and Extreme (Seoul Museum of Art), ELEMENTS of STYLE: New York City Street Culture in the 1980s (Seoul Sup Art Center), And The Beat Goes On: Urban Art from East Village NY to SW China (MayPark Gallery, Chengdu PRC), And the Beat Goes On: Shanghai Station (One East Gallery, Shanghai PRC). By revisiting the independent spirit of the East Village art movement, Wave-i hopes to foster innovative thinking in younger artists throughout Asia, and in the process, champion more creative and inclusive avenues for expression throughout the world. Since 2021, Wave-i has been actively engaged in NFT development to expand the global reach of their artists.
TongYull Chae
Chae Tongyull is an artist, entrepreneur, and the founder of Seoul-based art agency Wave-i. Born in Korea, Chae moved to the United States to begin his art career in the early 1980s, where he quickly gained a reputation as a nomadic neo-expressionist artist in New York City’s East Village scene, the center of the art world. After standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the greats, he eventually gained recognition in both the U.S. and his home country of Korea, and through his various interactions, was able to establish a network of working artists and art figures of the time. Since 2010, he has leveraged his connections between artists, curators, collectors, and institutions to promote cross cultural artistic exchanges between the U.S. and Korea as well as host blockbuster exhibitions. In 2018, he held the New York East Village Art Exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art and the New York Graffiti Exhibition at the Seoul Soup Art Center, and later planned and organized exhibitions in Shanghai, Chengdu, and Seoul from 2020 to 2022, building up an international reputation as a curator. As a constantly curious individual, Chae has been focused on exploring the world of NFT development since 2021 and has worked with leading blockchain and global IT companies, attracting new investments to his latest endeavor: OrangeHare.
Tackhwan Kim
Tackhwan Kim is Business Strategy Advisor of Wave-i .
He was head of Web3 and NFT projects at Korea's leading ICT. He was CBO (Chief Business Officer) at CYPHRLY, INC. (A Dunamu corporation) and Head of Partnerships at WAV, INC. (A Naver corporation). He was also in charge of business development at LINE, INC.
And Eddie Kang Studio's NFT Advisory.
Rory Mencin
Rory Mencin is Global Arts Director of OrangeHare.
He is an art critic, curator and co-founder of Idea Production Factory, an arts agency based in Chengdu, China. Since 2018, he has planned over 12 exhibitions across China and organized over 7 public engagement projects spanning several venues. With a focus on Chinese art post Reform and Opening Up (late 1970s onward), Rory is committed to making more contributions to the international promotion of Asian artists abroad, and advocates for the inclusion of more Chinese artists into the international art cannon. In partnership with Wave-i in Korea, Rory served as chief curator for “And the Beat Goes On” at May Park Gallery in Chengdu (2020) and OneEast Gallery in Shanghai (2021). In total, the exhibition features over 96 works of art by 35 artists, including 68 original pieces from New York City’s East Village Scene and 24 works by artists mostly local to Chengdu and Shanghai. In addition to curation, he has also contributed several essays and long-form articles to publications such as “Neocha” in Shanghai, the “World of Chinese” in Beijing, and served as chief editor of three 3 books on art and curation, including the most recent ethnographic graffiti style guide titled “Written on the Walls” by French-born-China-based artist Paul Dezio, slated to be published in late 2023.
Eunkyoung Yu
Yu Eunkyoung is the head of Wave-i content team. With an undergraduate in media and art history and a master’s degree in video art, Eunkyoung has built her career at the intersection of various academic and artistic disciplines including urban regeneration, literature, art education, and exhibition management. As the current head of Wave-i’s operations in NFTs, Eunkyoung excels in applying her multi-disciplinary approach toward the future of digital art and is actively involved in applying cutting-edge techniques related to art restoration toward AI animation. In addition, Eunkyoung also serves as the communications liaisons manager in charge of all cooperative development related to OrangeHare, including contracts between companies, artists, outreach, and more.
Mingi Park
Park Mingi is the chief creative designer for Wave-i. As an animator, she is responsible for all web design and logo development for Wave-i and OrangeHare. When not designing on her computer, she can be found hard at work in her studio painting.
♦ Instagram: @shsu_zs
Myungji Choi
Choi Myungji is Global Arts Manager and Designer of OrangeHare. Myungji has a master's degree in Visual Communication Design from Seoul National University and a bachelor's degree from Kyungpook National University. Concerning her major, she has designed the brand of space and the graphic works of displays and publishing. She has several exhibition experiences including planning, managing, and displaying in Seoul Design Festiva at Coex, Daegu Design Festival at Exco, Robert Frank Books and Films 1947-2018 at LUMOS Art SPACE and etc. Also, she has experience in user research design projects, corporation branding design projects, and urban regeneration projects. Recently, As an art manager of Wave-i content team, Myungji discovers new artists(artworks), communicates, and also makes visual images in Wave-i and
OrangeHare.
Crosscert Inc
Launched in March 1999, Crosscert Inc. is Korea's first global certification agency and for over two decades has served as the only certification agency in Korea capable of directly issuing internationally recognized certificates. Based on their 20-year partnership with Verisign, the world's largest certification agency, Crosscert Inc. has established its reputation and has recently partnered with both TuringSign and AIBrain to bring artificial intelligence into the next-generation of IT business, which includes blockchain and NFT technology. Currently, Crosscert Inc is working closely and strategically with Wave-i to build OrangeHare into an internationally recognized, cutting edge NFT platform.
Global Collaborative Art Director
US Art director Carlo McCormick
Carlo McCormick is an art critic and curator based in New York. He has written numerous books on contemporary art and artists, and in 2005-2006, was selected as the Grand Prize Winner of the International Art Critics Association (AICA USA). In particular, he is recognized as the most prestigious expert in criticizing and curating East Village Art in New York. He began writing critiques on East Village art from the late 1970s, when the East Village art scene was still in its infancy, and played a big role in elevating graffiti and other forms of art prevalent in the East Village art scene toward a more global audience. As a curator, Carlo has successfully led world-class graffiti and street art exhibitions such as “The Downtown Show” and “Magic City.” In Korea, he participated as a co-curator for the 2018-2019 Seoul Forest Art Center’s “Street of Rebellion New York” exhibition held by Wave-iInc.
PR and Community Collaboration
Justlabs
Justlabs is a web3 IT startup. We uphold the value of 'decentralization' and are creating projects that utilize blockchain and NFT technology to bring this philosophy to reality. Currently, we are running two web3 projects.
