Venice Biennale Project 2019
Soo Youn Kim
6. 1. 2019 - 6. 29. 2019
Soo Youn Kim
6. 1. 2019 - 6. 29. 2019
Gwanghwamun 2017-5, embroidery, mixed media on canvas, 76x55cm, 2018
Ray Gallery is pleased to present Contemplation of Shocking Reality, Soo Youn Kim’s solo exhibition, as the second part of our Venice Biennale Project 2019, a series of exhibitions that coincides with the Biennale di Venezia.
In Contemplation of Shocking Reality, Soo Youn Kim presents her recent textile works produced from 2017 to 2018, incorporating traditional techniques such as embroidery, as well as other technological approach she invented. Since exhibiting her 2011 works Tsunami and Silence documenting the gruesome aftermath of the natural and nuclear disaster, her works have been focused on encapsulating contemporaneous global events that have tremendous affects on contemporary human condition. Kim describes her thoughts on her studio practice “is derived from the personal experience of painful shock rather than of beauty and harmony.” Kim further describes the dominant theme in her work is the exposure of the damaged and neglected nature or the unlawful state of society.
The main event in Contemplation of Shocking Reality is captured in Kim’s Gwanghwamun series which reflects on the fiery democratic spirits of South Korean protesters of 2017 during the period of weekly “candle light protest” requesting the newly elected congress to oust the corrupt then South Korean president, Park Geun Hye. Created after the incident, Kim has witnessed the entire narratives— from corruptions and scandals to protests and impeachment as well as imprisonment of the corrupt former leader and the newly elected democratic leader.
Other notable events includes Grenfell Tower fire in London, Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and globally affecting climate change and rising sea level. Kim recognizes the painful aspects in each event in this new body of works and attempts to sublimate the painful shock.
Soo Youn Kim participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Korea, Italy, Japan, Mongolia, China, etc. Kim is currently the president of Jinhwa F&T and a Lecturer of Textile Art and Fashion Design at Hongik University, Seoul, Korea.