Poster image of 《Écriture
with the Body: Contemporary Korean Women’s Art》 ©Korean
Cultural Center Washington, D.CThe Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C.
(KCCDC) presents 《Écriture with the Body: Contemporary
Korean Women’s Art》 on view through November 12. This
exhibition is a multi-venue touring exhibition featuring works by 18 Korean and
Korean American women artists who use writing, language, and text-based
practices as powerful means of expressing subjectivity and resisting entrenched
gender and racial inequalities.
Rooted in traditions historically shaped by
patriarchy but often challenged by women—such as calligraphy (서예, seoye), classical poetry (한시, hansi) and
literati painting (문인화, muninhwa)—this exhibition
reclaims these artistic forms through an embodied feminist lens.
Here, writing is not merely a tool of
communication but a visceral assertion of presence, memory, and identity. By
inscribing bodily expressions into text, the artists create transformative
experiences for audiences. Their works question and transcend formal
conventions, offering new perspectives and forging empowering narratives that
reclaim space within a historically patriarchal artistic lineage.
This collaboratively organized exhibition
spans three venues and features four interrelated subthemes. At the KCCDC the
focus is on artists who pay homage to the legacy of visionary Korean American
artist and filmmaker Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951-1982), expanding on themes
central to her practice. Works by Kim Oksun, Ahn Okhyun, Yoon Jeongmee, and
Jaye Rhee present a collaborative digital performance that re-reads and
re-imagines Cha’s posthumous book Dictée.
Their practices reimagine
"écriture" (the French word for writing) as fragmented, hybrid, and
open-ended—resisting assimilation while opening space for multiplicity,
uncertainty, and radical subjectivity. 《Écriture with
the Body》 gathers these diverse artistic practices into
a collective exploration of how writing and the body intersect as tools of
empowerment.
In addition, the exhibition is co-organized
by the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (500 17th St. NW, Washington,
D.C. 20006) and IA&A at Hillyer (9 Hillyer Court NW, Washington, D.C.
20008). At these venues, visitors can not only view the works of five artists
presented by KCCDC but also enjoy a diverse selection of artworks by thirteen
additional artists.
