The Samsung Foundation of Culture selected Hyojoo Jang and Eunsae Lee as the resident artists for 2025 at Cité Internationale des Arts.

Since 1996, the Samsung Foundation of Culture’s Cité Internationale des Arts program has supported talented Korean artists by offering long-term studio leases, providing them with opportunities to reside and work in Paris. To date, a total of 25 artists have been in residence, including Cho Yongshin, Yun Aiyoung, Geum Joong-ki, Han Sungpil, RohwaJeong, Sojung Jun, Min Oh, Ji Hye Yeom, Minsook Kang, and Jeehee Park.

This year, 103 artists and researchers from various fields, known for their talent and diverse approaches, applied for the residency. The selection process involved two rounds of evaluations based on criteria such as the potential for expanding their artistic practice through overseas experience, concrete project plans during their residency, and their strategy for building networks with local institutions and artists in Paris.

Hyojoo Jang (b. 1988) explores the gap between reality and virtuality—a central issue of the digital age—by visualizing an intangible sense of "tactility" through the medium of traditional sculpture, using unconventional materials.

For the proposed project, Jang plans to investigate the unique textures of local spaces in Paris, such as botanical gardens, libraries, and museums, while contemplating physical limitations and exploring new materiality. This detailed plan and the artist's strong creative drive were deemed highly compatible with the objectives of the program.

Eunsae Lee (b. 1987) brings forth new possibilities in contemporary painting by transforming minor emotions and events from daily life into artworks through her distinctive perspective. Lee has visualized moments of rejecting "the obvious" through painting and sculpture.

Her recent series, inspired by Korean folktales, is expected to evolve both thematically and materially as she conducts research on the history and spaces of foreign cultures and collaborates with various professionals during her residency.

Hyojoo Jang and Eunsae Lee, selected for the Cité internationale des arts, will reside and work in Paris from April to early October 2025, and from mid-October 2025 to March 2026, respectively. The Samsung Foundation of Culture will provide the selected artists with airfare, living expenses, and activity support funds. Additionally, in the first half of 2025, the foundation plans to renovate parts of the studio to create a more comfortable environment for the artists to focus on their work.

References

• 삼성문화재단 보도자료 (Samsung Foundation of Culture Press Release)

Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.