Kimsooja
To Breathe: Bottari
June 1st–November 24th, 2013
Biennale Preview: May 29th–31st
Pre-opening of the Korean Pavilion: May 30th
Korean Pavilion
55th Venice Biennale
Curator: Seungduk Kim
Organizer: ARKO (Arts Council Korea)
The ARKO selection committee decided last August to commission Seungduk Kim to be the curator of the Korean Pavilion at the 55th International Art Exhibition—la Biennale di Venezia 2013.
“Traditionally, la Biennale di Venezia exhibits artists hosted by their countries of origin in national pavilions. Rather like in World Expos, I wanted the Korean Pavilion itself to be the focus: the pavilion hosts an environment designed by an artist. The architecture of the Korean Pavilion is metallic with glass windows, wide-open to the luminous laguna and surrounded by tall trees. I decided to invite Kimsooja, a Korean-born artist self-exiled to New York, and internationally acclaimed for her video works and installations, to transform the Korean Pavilion into a space of special experience for the visitors. A moment of light, colors, and in a black hole.”—Seungduk Kim
Kimsooja
Born in Korea (1957), lives in New York, Paris and Seoul
Kimsooja is an internationally acclaimed conceptual multi-media artist. Addressing issues of the displaced self and others, the artist’s work combines performance, video, photo and installation using sound, light and Korean bedcovers. Kimsooja investigates questions concerning the conditions of humanity, while engaging issues of aesthetics, culture, politics, and the environment. Kimsooja explores materiality/immateriality, mobility/immobility, by non-making and non-doing, which inverts the notion of the artist as the predominant actor. The artist’s journey evolves with the continuous unfolding of her concept of Bottari (bundle) and the notions of Needle and Mirror.
Solo exhibitions include MoMA PS1 (2001); Crystal Palace of Reina Sofia (2006); Hirshhorn Museum (2008); Miami Art Museum (2012); Perm Contemporary Art Museum, Russia (2012); Kunsthal 44 Møen (2012); Museum of Modern Art St. Etienne (2012); Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa & Theatro di La Fenice, Venice (2006); Baltic Center (2009); BOZAR Brussels (2008); Kunsthalle Bern (2002); Kunsthalle Vienna (2002); the National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea for the Yong Gwang Nuclear Power Plant (2010); Atelier Hermes Seoul (2009); and Feldkirch Church and Kunstmuseum Lichtenstein (2010).
Group shows include Artempo (2007) and In-Finitum (2009), Venice (1997-2000); Cities on the Move traveling show, and Traditions/Tensions (1996-1998).
Biennales include Venice (1999, 2005), Sao Paolo (1997), the Whitney Biennial (2002), Istanbul (1997), Lyon (2000), Gwangju (1995, 2012), Busan (2002), Sydney (1998), Valencia (2003), and most recently Thessaloniki (2010), Moscow (2009) and Poznan (2010).
Seungduk Kim
Born in Korea, lives in Paris. Seungduk Kim was a nomadic curator for years. In 2001 she joined Le Consortium, contemporary art center (Dijon, France), where she is co-director.
Recent large-scale projects and professional experiences include Doha Project (Qatar) / Public Art Consultant, Co-Direction with Le Consortium (since 2011); APAP 2007, 2nd edition of permanent public art projects in Anyang, Korea (2007); Valencia Biennale (Spain) / Co-Commissioner (2005); Samsung Foundation of Culture, Seoul / Consultative Curator, based in Venice and Paris (1993–2000); Musée national d’Art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris / Associate Curator in the Collection Department (1996–1998).
Exhibitions as curator or co-curator include Lynda Benglis (co-curator), touring retrospective exhibition (2009-2011); Yayoi Kusama: Mirrored Years (co-curator), Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands / Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia / City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand (2008-2010); Yayoi Kusama: Dots Obsession – Love Transformed into Dots (co-curator), Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2007-2008); Elastic Taboos: Within the Korean World of Contemporary Art, Kunsthalle Vienna (2007); Thoughts of a Fish in a Deep Sea (co-commissionner), Valencia Biennale, Spain (2005); Flower Power, for Lille 2004, European Cultural Capital City, Lille, France (2004).
For further information, please contact koreanpavilion2013 [at] gmail.com / Facebook: Korean Pavilion 2013
Organized by ARKO (Arts Council Korea)
Main sponsor NEXON
With the support of Samsung Foundation of Culture and Samsung Electronics
