B r e a t h i n g

 

In recent years the art world has under gone tremendous changes involving expanded varieties of multimedia form. Diverse categories, such as modernism, avant-gardism, post-structuralism, and multiculturalism have given way to an unprecedented atmosphere of cultural globalization. Emerging artists from eastern and western hemispheres are evolving both within and beyond their indigenous cultures. Given the presence of cultural globalization, artists have begun to question such terms as aesthetic originality, formal purity and spiritual content. These cultural traditions are no longer considered absolute, but show evidence of engaging in flexibility and interactive projects. As a result, significant new concepts now reach between the center and the periphery, between the ideas of circulation and purification.

 While New York is still considered the center of the international art world, artists from all around the world gather and communicate directly with one another. The strong diversity in the New York art world reveals a confidence and vibrant multicultural society. Culture exists in a way like oxygen in that the air we breathe never stops in one place, but always circulates. Artists get a new energy by breathing within this cultural environment. They are willing to absorb new ideas and interact on different levels. Many of those who come from outside the United States struggle to keep their identity in their works, while at the same time acculturating influences from around them. As a result, there are interactions within this extraordinary hybrid of international artists involved in the role that contemporary art plays in society today.

 The exhibition, “Breathing” highlights different aspects of art in New York. The twelve artists included here all come from different cultural backgrounds, different multicultural experiences, and different nations. These include France, Japan, China, Argentina, Korea, and the United States. The featured works by the various artists seek to launch a vibrant cross- cultural dialogue. This exhibition is focused on the intimate quality of each artist’s work, including their philosophical concepts. The selected works constitute a demonstrable engagement with East Asian aesthetics and philosophies. Each invited artist has been asked to present work that carries the kind of openness necessary for this kind of awareness and cross-cultural pollination

 

Soojung Hyun Ph.D (Guest Curator of the Sylvia Wald & Po Kim Art Gallery)

Alain Kirili, Byoung Ok Min, Choong Sup Lim, KyungWoo Han, MiKyung Kim, Po Kim, Rakuko Naito, Raquel Rabinovich, Robert C. Morgan, Ruth Hardinger, Shen Chen, SungHo Choi