U Sunok, Art is already in your mind, 2011, Video, 5min 30sec. © Sungkok Art Museum
Sungkok Art Museum is presenting 《Art is already in your mind》, an exhibition offering a comprehensive overview of the artistic
practice of U Sunok (1958–2023), who pioneered a distinctive realm of
conceptual art within contemporary Korean art. The exhibition runs through
October 3.
As the first retrospective of U Sunok, who passed away in
2023, the exhibition brings together works spanning a diverse range of media,
including painting, drawing, installation, and video. From her early drawings
of the 1980s to major works completed shortly before her death, the exhibition
traces the visual language and artistic achievements that she developed
throughout her career.
U Sunok, microhome, 2004/2006, Mixed media, Dimensions variable. Installation view at Kukje Gallery © Sungkok Art Museum
After
studying at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, she developed a unique artistic
language at the intersection of art and life, delicately reflecting on the
relationship between the visible and the invisible, presence and absence.
U
Sunok proposed new ways of looking at life through everyday objects and spaces.
For her, art was not a completed outcome but an ongoing process continually
shaped through time and experience. This approach to art contributed to the
development of a new strand of conceptual art in contemporary Korean art,
leaving a significant legacy that invites us to reconsider the relationship
between art and life.
U Sunok, Warm Wall, 2003, Wood, panel, electric pad, aluminum, lighting paper, paint, light © Sungkok Art Museum
Today, her work invites us to encounter the objects and spaces of
everyday life, along with the time and memories accumulated within them,
through a renewed sensory perspective, quietly yet profoundly reminding us of
how art lives and breathes within our everyday existence.
This
exhibition retraces the trajectory of an artist’s lifelong inquiry and
practice, while shedding new light on the significance and artistic legacy she
left in contemporary Korean art. Through the exhibition, Sungkok Art Museum
also seeks to share with audiences the questions U Sunok’s work poses to us
today and the resonances it continues to evoke.
