Aung Win was born in 1949 in Kyauk Se township, Mandalay. He studied at the Mandalay State School of Fine Arts from 1965-1966 under the guidance of U Aye Kyaw, U Kan Nyunt and U Kyaw Lay who were famous for Myanmar Landscapes. U Win Pe, who was headmaster of the school at the time, hosted Aung Win at his home to study closely and to help him foster his talents.

 

He started showing his works in 1969 at the Monsoon Group Exhibition, and participated in nationwide exhibitions at the Yangon Envoy Hall and the Mandalay Municipal Hall. Since 1969, he has been regularly selected to participate in the group exhibitions at the American Center and the French Institute. He is also a member of the Wild Eye Group, which was established in 1974 and was known for organizing controversial modern exhibitions during the socialist era. His first solo exhibition was held at the Lokanat Gallery in 1973. His second solo exhibition, Music & Dance, and third solo exhibition, Samudaya Sacca, were held at Nawaday Tharlar Gallery in 2016 and 2018.

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He is well-known for painting his signature scenes of the Elephant Dance (Sin-Aka) since 1974 because of his unique style with motion and emotion. The distinctive scenes of the elephant dance cultural event originate from his birthplace, Kyauk Se. He halted painting commercial art for about 2 decades and focused more on mural paintings in monasteries and pagodas all over Myanmar. When he returned to the commercial art scene in 2012, he painted 3 uncut rolls of canvas (each 7'x33') to channel the mural art style onto canvases.

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He has been living at different meditation centers since 2015 doing meditation most of his time and making religious murals there. He just goes to Yangon sometimes bringing what he painted during his break to show at the gallery. His works can be seen in NawadayTharlar Gallery on Yaw Min Gyi Road, Yangon.