A professional painter since graduating with a degree in painting from Kyungwon University in 1994, Hong has long been trying to narrow the gap between art and the public through his exhibitions. This has included Shrine, Insa Art Space, Seoul (2000), Flow: New Tendencies in Korean Narrative Painting (2001), an Arco Gallery invitational exhibition, Funkchestra: Opposing Translation (2005), an exhibition celebrating the 15th anniversary of normalized relations between Korea and China (2007), a Korean contemporary art tour in Central and Latin America called Peppermint Candy, a contemporary Korean art exhibition in Russia (2008), A Different Similarity: Towards the Sea (2009), which introduced Korean art to Russia and Germany, a Doosan Gallery New York artist-in-residence and solo exhibition (2010), Fashion into Art, a collaboration with fashion designers (2011), and an exhibition with the Gwangju Museum of Art in commemoration of its 20th anniversary (2012)