Apr 27–Aug 12, 2018

Suki Seokyeong Kang: Black Mat Oriole

Black Mat Oriole, 2016-2017, 8 min 46 sec, 3 channel video with sound. Courtesy of the artist.
About

This is the US museum debut of Seoul-based artist Suki Seokyeong Kang’s ambitious project Black Mat Oriole (2017). A culmination of five years of research and production by the artist, the exhibition is conceived as an installation that brings together sculpture, painting, and video to engage viewers with the power and politics of space. While Kang’s expanded painting practice is rooted in her research into classical Korean poetry, craft, and dance, her concerns are firmly articulated in the present. This body of work references the historical Korean solo dance “Chunaengmu,” which was performed for royalty and adhered to strict codes of court etiquette. With this in mind, Kang explores how a space can be divided into grids whether with regard to systems of power, cultural customs, or artistic lineage. These issues are also addressed through sculptures that reflect the weight and tangibility of objects and through “hwamunseok”—traditional Korean mats handwoven with reeds—that when brought together gesture to how bodies might move through a choreographed space.

The opening weekend of the exhibition will include a new “activation” directed by Kang in person and will feature Seoul-based choreographers Hyeongjun Cho and Hongseok Jang.

Suki Seokyeong Kang: Black Mat Oriole is curated by Alex Klein, Dorothy and Stephen R. Weber (CHE ’60) Curator and Kate Kraczon, Laporte Associate Curator.

A fully illustrated catalogue featuring essays by the curators and an interview between the artist and Maria Lind, Director of Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm and designed by Seoul-based design studio Sulki & Min is forthcoming.

Suki Seokyeong Kang (b. 1977, Seoul; lives and works Seoul) studied Oriental Painting at Ewha Womans University, and Painting at the Royal College of Art. She now lives and works in Seoul. Recent exhibitions include The Eighth Climate, Gwangju Biennale (2016); As the Moon Waxes and Wanes, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon (2016); Group Mobile, Villa Vassilief, Paris (2016); Foot and Moon, Audio Visual Pavilion, Seoul (2015) and Grandmother Tower, Old House, Seoul (2013).

Featured Works

Installation Views
Sat, Aug 11, 2018, 2PM–2:30PM
Black Mat Oriole: Final Activation
Books & Editions
Suki Seokyeong Kang: Black Mat Oriole book cover


Order your copy today from artbook.com!

Suki Seokyeong Kang: Black Mat Oriole is the first major publication of artist Suki Seokyeong Kang. Printed in both English and Korean, this publication includes essays by ICA curators Alex Klein and Kate Kraczon, as well as an insightful essay by scholar Yongwoo Lee that situates the artistic resonances and political valences of Kang’s work within both a contemporary and historical Korean context. These texts are amplified by the artist’s own voice through a conversation with Maria Lind, Director of the Tensta Konsthall, Sweden.

This fully-illustrated publication features 143 full color images of the artist’s ambitious and multilayered body of work, and documentation of the mesmerizing Activations by Choreographers Hyeongjun Cho and Hongseok Jang that occurred in the gallery during the run of the exhibition.

ISBN
9789492811547
Pages
240
Binding
Paperback
Publisher
Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania & Roma Publications
Year
2019
$35.00
ISBN 9789492811547
Publication Date
2019
Designer
Sulki & Min
Publisher
Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania & Roma Publications
Price
$35.00