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To my own surprise, I did not know that prior to World War II the color pink was once associated with masculinity. Upon reading and viewing Yoon’s photographs from her Pink and Blue project I wonder even more how much we have failed to question ourselves on so many things we have come to accept so readily.
A conceptual artist that works in a variety of media, Michael Joo has been making artworks that blur the boundaries between art and science, nature and technology, and history and perception for more than 20 years. The subject of two current solo shows—“Transparency Engine” at SCAD Hong Kong and “Drift” at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut—Joo recently took time out of his demanding schedule to discuss these enigmatic exhibitions with ArtAsiaPacific’s New York desk editor Paul Laster.
Piecing together discarded shards of porcelain, and marking joins and bare edges with lines of gold leaf, Korean artist Yeesookyung creates new shapes, often softly curved and anthropomorphic, occasionally jagged and alien. Her ceramic practice, which started with the “Translated Vases” series in 2006, has proved therapeutic for the artist, and the resulting works are profoundly, undeniably beautiful.
The third edition of Frieze New York, which returns to its gigantic white tent on Randall’s Island Park from May 9 through May 12, features a remarkable 18 exhibitors from Asia, including a smart mix of established and emerging galleries from Japan, Korea, China, India, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey.
Gyun Hur is most known for her compositions of shredded silk flowers, meticulously arranged to mimic the patterns on her mother’s wedding blanket. In recent years, the Korean-born, Atlanta-based artist has moved away from this distinct motif, employing a new palate and turning the flowers—believed in Korea to drive out bad luck—into colorful mounds with objects, such as broken pottery, stone and plants, buried within each. The narrative quality of her installations extends into performance as well. While on residency at Artadia in Dumbo, New York, Hur staged a one day event, in which she and her father set up an optical store modeled after the actual store of the her childhood and invited audiences to peruse and interact with dozens of vintage glasses frames. Hur sat down with ArtAsiaPacific to discuss memories, process and the importance of family.
