For 30 years the Korean Cultural Service of New York (KCSNY) has promoted the outstanding talents of emergent and internationally acclaimed Korean artists throughout New York. In commemoration of this anniversary KCSNY presents the exhibition Faces & Facts: Korean Contemporary Art in New York featuring more than 60 works by 54 Korean and Korean American artists at three different venues: the Queens Museum of Art, Sylvia Wald and Po Kim art Gallery and KCSNY’s own Gallery Korea.
The largest contemporary art exhibition the KCSNY has ever organized, not only in terms of the number of participating artists, but also the number of venues, Faces & Facts showcases a variety of interests, styles, and issues of the Korean art practiced in the New York area. Its three sections, “Abstraction Now”, “Into the Life” and “Media, Media” will be presented respectively at Gallery Korea of the KCSNY, the Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Art Gallery and the QMA. The exhibition is a special tribute to the achievements of many Korean artists who have enriched the KCSNY with their significant works and creativity. The artists in the show have been living in the New York area for up to forty five years, and are actively engaged in the local and international art scenes.
The Queens Museum of Art has been a pioneering promoter of Korean and Korean American contemporary artists for more than 20 years, and have exhibited the work of more than half of the artists in Faces & Facts, ranging from Byron Kim and Michael Joo in 1993’s “Across the Pacific,” to Ha Na Lee and Jaye Rhee in 2009’s Queens International 4. The QMA’s portion of the exhibition, “Media, Media,” consists exclusively of photography, print and video works by 10 artists that span generations. The early media art pioneer Nam June Paik, veteran Kimsooja, and mid-career sculptor Do Ho Suh, are among the dynamic talents selected for this section. “Media, Media” also features the latest works by Shin Il Kim and Jaye Rhee who have been showcased in QMA’s biannual Queens International, in 2004 and 2009 respectively.
Faces & Facts: Korean Contemporary Art in New York will be on view at Gallery Korea of the Korean Cultural Service NY (460 Park Ave., 6th Floor – 212-759-9550) And Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Art Gallery (417 Lafayette St. 4th Floor – 212-460-5525) through February 19, 2010.
