YeLa An was born in Seoul, South Korea, on March 14, 1987. She is currently based in Vienna, Austria, where she completed a course in Post-Conceptual Art Practices with Univ.-Prof. Dr. Phil Marina Gržinić at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna on January 17, 2017. 

She was the recipient of the START scholarship from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (BMKÖS) and the ArtStart scholarship from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. In addition, she received the second prize in the open call for young photographers from the Photon Centre for Contemporary Photography in Ljubljana in 2021. Her artworks were selected for the permanent collection of the Kupferstichkabinett at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, the Cultural Department of Vienna (MA7), and the BMKÖS.

Educational Background

2017 Magister degree in Post-Conceptual Art Practice with Univ.-Prof. Dr. Phil Marina Gržinić at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria


Scholarships and Funding

2024 Project funding, The Cultural Department of Vienna (MA7), Austria

2022/23 START scholarship photography 2022, The Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (BMKÖS)

2022 Short term grants abroad, The Academy of Fine Art Vienna, Austria

2022 Project funding, The Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (BMKÖS)

2021 2nd prize, Different Worlds 2021, Exhibition of the 9th Open Call for Young Photographers, Photon – Centre for Contemporary Photography, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2021 Project funding, The Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (BMKÖS)

2021 Young artist funding (Jungkünstler*innenförderung), Bildrecht, Austria

2020 Working scholarship (Arbeitsstipendium), The Cultural Department of Vienna (MA7), Austria

2018/19 Artstart scholarship, The Academy of Fine Art Vienna, Austria

2016 Project funding, The Academy of Fine Art Vienna, Austria


Public Collections

2024 The Cultural Department of Vienna (MA7), Austria

2022 The Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (BMKÖS)

2018 Kupferstichkabinett, The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria


Artist Residency Programs

2022 Artist in Residence in St. Virgil, Salzburg, Austria

2021 thealit - Frauen.Kultur.Labor, Bremen, Germany


Publications

“A Married Woman’s Subjectivity in Lee Chang-dong’s Film Secret Sunshine.” In Re-Activating Critical Thinking in the Midst of Necropolitical Realities: For Radical Change, edited by Marina Gržinić and Jovita Pristovšek, 177–194. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2022.

“Parazit, patriarhalna pripoved: ponavljanje stereotipov ženskega vedenja” [Parasite, a Patriarchal Narrative: Repeating Stereotypes of Female Behaviour]. Translated by Jovita Pristovšek, redaction of translation by Marina Gržinić, Tjaša Kancler, and Jovita Pristovšek. In “Rasni kapitalizem, intersekcionalnost spolnosti, bojev in mejnih teles” [Racial Capitalism, Intersectionality of Sexuality, Struggles and Bodies as Borders], edited by Tjaša Kancler and Marina Gržinić.Časopis za kritiko znanosti48, no. 281 (2020): 173–190.