Hyunkyung Ryu
dal 2/4/2009 al 22/4/2009
Segnalato da
2/4/2009
Hyunkyung Ryu
Tenri Cultural Institute, New York
Lonely City. The artist allows the evidence of her hand to appear on her paintings she is more like the post-minimal enterprise which supersedes this model. Her goal is her message and content.
Ryu was born and grew up in Gyeong-ju, South Korea the famous ancient Shilla Dynasty
capital. As a child she played at museums and ancient tombs while imagining that she
was a Queen wearing the gold and silver jewelry and treasures that surrounded her.
This is the experience that informs her silver and gold paintings.
Ever since Ryu moved to New York these metallic tones have taken on a completely
different meaning. Instead of warm reminiscences from her childhood, these finishes
represent the loneliness of the city, and the alienation from anything familiar, a
natural byproduct of the acculturation process.
Like the minimalists Ryu maintains their simple elegant formats, however, because
she allows the evidence of her hand to appear on her paintings she is more like the
post-minimal enterprise which supersedes this model. Consequently, whereas
Minimalism was profoundly self-reflexive and focused on gesture, texture, and
surface presentation, Ryu’s goal is her message and content.
Ryu’s works are the result of tracing with acrylics and the subsidization of the
medium. The traces that are left on the canvas act as a work space and this also
portrays humanity which is the subject of the artist’s works. These traces can also
be seen as an outgrowth of her actions and the life she represents.
Ryu earned her bachelor’s and master degrees in fine art from Ewha Woman’s
University in Seoul, South Korea. She is a lecturer at Dongguk University and
Sorabol College in South Korea. While she took part in a group exhibition at the
Korea Gallery in January 2008, this is her first solo exhibition in New York.
opening reception on Friday April 3rd, from 6-8 pm.
Tenri Cultural Institute
43A West 13th Street - New York