Lot Essay
Do Ho Suh is a one of the most internationally acclaimed artists from Korea. His unique perspective on contemporary arrangements of space and the unstable nature of its boundaries resides in his varied production, ranging from drawings, to installations, to sculptures, all of which confront questions of home, memory, individuality, and collectivity.
The relevance of Suh's work in contemporary art became apparent in 2001, when he represented his country at the Korean Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. Since then, Suh has participated in exhibitions at the LACMA (2009), Tate Modern in London (2011), or the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo (2015). Currently, his work is being displayed at the Whitney Museum in New York with a site-specific installation.
While Suh's installations invite spectators to consider the boundaries of architectonical spaces, his sculptures engage them toward a personal confrontation with the physical forms of metaphysical spaces. Karma is a sculpture of a walking man whose person is surmounted by a seemingly endless chain of alter-egos standing on top of each other, with each figure covering each other's eyes. The material accumulation of these men onto the man's shoulders renders karma no longer a metaphysical force of past or future actions of the individual, but rather a physical manifestation of a universal force that spectators can physically come into contact with. With this arrangement, Do Ho Suh broadens the real boundaries the individual and rendering him a universal symbol of humankind carrying its burdens, while assuredly walking towards the future.
The relevance of Suh's work in contemporary art became apparent in 2001, when he represented his country at the Korean Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. Since then, Suh has participated in exhibitions at the LACMA (2009), Tate Modern in London (2011), or the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo (2015). Currently, his work is being displayed at the Whitney Museum in New York with a site-specific installation.
While Suh's installations invite spectators to consider the boundaries of architectonical spaces, his sculptures engage them toward a personal confrontation with the physical forms of metaphysical spaces. Karma is a sculpture of a walking man whose person is surmounted by a seemingly endless chain of alter-egos standing on top of each other, with each figure covering each other's eyes. The material accumulation of these men onto the man's shoulders renders karma no longer a metaphysical force of past or future actions of the individual, but rather a physical manifestation of a universal force that spectators can physically come into contact with. With this arrangement, Do Ho Suh broadens the real boundaries the individual and rendering him a universal symbol of humankind carrying its burdens, while assuredly walking towards the future.