28 May 2013

Suh Jeong Min during the 55th Venice Biennale

During the 55th Venice Biennale, Suh Jeong Min creates a work that is monumental in scale; an assembly of individually rolled Korean Hanji paper. Entitled Memories of Freedom Cries, Suh looks at his home Korea with a critique of the political dichotomy and split of a nation between North and South. 'As brothers and sisters, we are nothing more but strangers'.
Suh Jeong-min's work begins from the place where painting ceases to exist. The artist uses paper from the Mulberry tree, that is typically Korean and traditional, secured onto a wooden panel – a relief work which simultaneously pursues an idiosyncratic aesthetic that combines cultural references with unusual formal techniques. The elegant and somewhat imposing work is neither painting nor sculpture, yet has properties of both – it is alive, flowing as if in water or by wind. The artist's hope of a country that shares the same soul is a theme that many artists in Korea believe in – a wish for a freedom of expression and that of an aesthetic unification.
Suh's work is not a representation of a single landscape or object but manifestation of nature at the root of landscape, form, or grain of nature: an aesthetic methodology common to the ancient view of nature and logic of the East. Ancient thought about nature involves issues beyond logic and rationality, and is open to diverse interpretation. Suh turns to religion to inspire his work, and quotes Laozi to explain his philosophy:
'Man models himself after Earth. Earth models itself after Heaven. Heaven models itself after Tao. And Tao models itself after Nature.'


About Suh Jeong Min
Suh Jeong Min (* 1962 Jeonnam, Korea) attended the School of Arts at Kyonggi University in Seoul. Solo exhibitions include Inje Art Museum, Gwangju (2000), Jinnam Culture and arts Center, Yeosu (2006), KEPCO Plaza Art Museum (2010) Sa Art Center, Seoul (2010), the National Paper Museum, Seoul ( 2011).

Suh Jeong Min is exclusively represented by JanKossen Contemporary, Basel Switzerland.


About Personal Structures, a collateral event during the 55th la Biennale di Venezia
Personal Structures is a project aiming at introducing in writing, pictures and in exhibitions, a number of international artists whom we believe, for all their individuality, to have much in common concerning their intentions.
www.globalartaffairs.org


About JanKossen Contemporary Basel

JanKossen was established in 2006 as an art consultancy, advising private and corporate collectors on predominantly Chinese contemporary art, as well as art stemming from the Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Since 2009, the gallery is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. The gallery space is located opposite Basel Messe (ART BASEL). The curatorial program is thematic focused, to increase the awareness and the appreciation of artists who have a strong cultural background, which in turn influences their artistic expression.  Artists merge their traditions with the contemporary; challenging pre-conceptions of their cultural backgrounds. Questions on social change, political upheavals, sexuality and aesthetics are explored using various mediums.
www.jankossen.com