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These Korean-American artists stand at the crossroads,
both between Korea and the U.S., and the past
and the future. Just as the first Koreans had
individual, personal, and social reasons to come
to the U.S. to work on sugar plantations in Hawaii,
these artists also came to New York for many reasons.
Among these reasons was the milieu of considerable
artistic freedom and dignity which encouraged
them to stay on. Yet, New York is a contested
art world in which the intensity of diversity
and competition parallels with these artists'
uniqueness and originality.
The Korean cultural memory dwells in these Korean-American
artists: for example, in Po Kim's utopian, imaginary
world; in Nam June Paik's preference for a Buddha
statue; in Byungki Kim's image of a wild goose
as symbol of yearning for home; and in Yong Jin
Han's preference for stone for its sturdiness
and stillness. The "Koreanness" returns
whenever they face aesthetic or political concerns.
While "Koreanness" or "Korean-Americanness"
is not a fixed entity, it seems to affect the
artists' choice of subject and content in one
way or another. As Ms. Wolhee Choe wrote in her
essay for the exhibition catalogue, these twenty
artists "have challenged the Korean aesthetic
traditions, first by leaving Korea and then by
making art in new ways."
A catalogue is published for the exhibition.
A limited number of free catalogues will be available
to guests at the opening reception on Friday,
October 31, 2003, 6 - 8 pm. The rest of catalogues
will be sent to libraries and museums in the U.S.
and Korea.
Gallery Korea is open from 10 am to 7 pm Monday
through Friday, and from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday.
For more information, please contact curator Eunhee
Yang by phone at 212-759-9550 or via email at
eyang@koreanculture.org
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