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Every year the Tate gallery in London selects an artist who receives an honorary award. Many of world’s media and art observers take note the winning artist. While it does not necessarily mean that the winner is the best artist of the year, a kind of this award may imply the artist has achieved significance among various other symbolic meanings. There is the assumption that the chosen artist will provide a new direction or predict a future trend in the art world. Also the award may give more specific meaning to other young artists eager to become noticed and more internationally well known. |
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“The effect of such an award conveys the impression of social influence and presumably gives encouragement to other artists.”
Ha Lee, Pretty Gadhafi, (From the series, Pretty Dictators), 2011. Mixed media, 40 x 30 in. Courtesy of the artist.
On The Verge : The Current Status of Korean Art in New York
Soojung Hyun
Every year the Tate gallery in London selects an artist who receives an honorary award. Many of world’s media and art observers take note the winning artist. While it does not necessarily mean that the winner is the best artist of the year, a kind of this award may imply the artist has achieved significance among various other symbolic meanings. There is the assumption that the chosen artist will provide a new direction or predict a future trend in the art world. Also the award may give more specific meaning to other young artists eager to become noticed and more internationally well known. The effect of such an award conveys the impression of social influence and presumably gives encouragement to other artists.
“AHL Foundation Visual Arts Competition Award Winners’ Exhibition,” established in 2004, introduces emerging Korean and Korean-American artists to the New York art world. The exhibition in 2011, “On the Verge,” curated by Hyewon Yi, presents the works of five Korean artists selected by three jurors: Linda Norden, curator; Benjamin Genocchio, editor-in-Chief at Art+Auction; and Thomas Arnold, director of Mary Boone Gallery.
The five Korean artists included in the competition this year are Ji Eun Kim, Eun Jung Hwang, Heejung Cho, Keosang Yoo, and Ha Lee. Their works represent a diverse range of subjects, including combat soldiers, domestic geography, subconscious dreams, and institutional aspects of our dwelling spaces, all of which offer a critical visual commentary on global contemporary cultures through a variety of media – animation, installation, collage and painting. The works evolve both within and beyond their indigenous cultures, explored in flexible and interactive concepts concerning the atmosphere of cultural globalization.
There has been increasing contemporary Korean artists who have developed their careers in New York, but the opportunity for exhibitions in museum or gallery venues remain limited. The AHL Foundation Visual Arts Competition Award exhibition could benefit by using some practical guidelines for gaining recognition in a competitive environment. Given that New York is the exemplary place where artists from around the world gather and communicate directly with one another in a richly diverse and vibrantly multicultural setting, the need for an alternative cultural space beyond the market prejudices of mainstream art remains important. The vision of “On the Verge” is, in fact, on the verge of entering into the New York art world.
