Cheol Yu Kim: Curated by Nikki S. Lee

CHEOL YU KIM 09.04.2003-10.11.2003

Curated by Nikki S. Lee

THIS EXHIBITION WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY COMPASS EQUITY

FORWARD

We are honored to present this exhibition generously curated by Nikki S Lee Ms. Lee has chosen Cheol Yu Kim. a young artist from her native Korea who has recently graduated from Brooklyn College. Ms. Lee's apprec1at1on of Mr. Kim's ink drawings demonstrates how the Foundat1on¡s d1scret1onary selection process allows. naturally but sometimes quite unpredictably, broad expression of a curator's views.

Mr. Kim represents a unique double-first He is currently the f rst artist-in residence at the gallery's on-site studio. completing works for his first solo exh1bit1on 1n New York prior to his return to Korea. With Ms Lee. we celebrate his graduation and wish him a future of fulfillment and success.

CURATOR'S STATEMENT N1kk1 S Lee

When I was approached to recommend an artist for the CUE Art Foundation. the biggest concern was indeed 1n selecting the ar tist. To do so. I had to consider my tastes and 1ncl1nat1ons - which works I favored. what kind of works are deemed "good" works - and following that. to establish three criteria to find the work that met my standards. I've always employed such a personal and obJect1ve approach 1n Judging all things. I will briefly expound on these criteria First. I like works that "cannot be done without this artist .. This can be aligned closely to "destiny" or "1nev1tably" rather than to "ong1nal1ty" of the work. Second.

I like works that "incite my mind." This type of work (1) 1s continuously thought­ provok1ng. (2) makes me feel the excitement of a new discovery and (3) creates a desperation from this discovery that exceeded my own knowledge. which at the same moment forces me to overcome and understand beyond what I knew Third. I like works that are "exceptional 1n visual communicability " What this means 1s that through a method. the artist's thoughts are successfully communicated as a technique. But not using any technique could also be a technique itself. Often. one does not know his or her own technique Technique that s automatic or even inherent 1s absolute That is why technique can be either very hard or very easy Art that collectively meets these three criteria gives me 1nspirat1on And 1n searching for art. I found Cheol Yu Kim's work.

Artist Cheol Yu Kim grew up in an unusual setting, a 16-household village by the Korean DMZ set amidst mountains. the ocean and military soldiers. His works are filled with the images he saw as a child - parachutes. balloons. and soldiers- and also of undersea and outer space. The concept of time in his images 1s s1m1lar to the time construct of the ancient Egyptians. Indians. and other natives. Due to his isolated and unique environment. the inner world of dream. fantasy and mythology is meshed with true. everyday events. blurring the boundaries and losing meaning. time does not move at a constant speed but meanders between reality and dream.

Therefore. his images drift w1th1n a weightless state as they move between the constructs of time and space In art. the Newtonian system of order lost all meaning long ago. Images 1n Chagall's paintings fly around. and the humanists have dissected their subJects by

cutt1rig thelT' down to elemental pieces Kim's images are also beyond the oned mers1onal arrangemert of grav ty and t IT'e Rather, they are arrarged w tri1n space and develop vo,ume by 1abb1ng and fold '1q with:'1 the space. Each image resernb es a plastic r1odel part. or a wall relief frolT' a'1c ert t mes. and t s as 1f these pieces are ., t'1e pre-sculptura1 stage of arranger1ent before they are made into one structure. or conversely, a smcrnbered frolT' tre single structure a'1d tnen arranged into pieces Time wanders, gravity 1s scattered. and space ovE:>r aps the past presert and future His ot"'ler images use trie arrangernert of sriaoow d'ld 119!-it K m has captured the sriadowy 1rra90c; created by c;h1riing d light througr p Jst1c. models suspended above paper This 1s also shown 1r another paper-based work of his. A light 1s shone thougr the cutout area of the paper. c.reat ng a sradow and f 111'19 the v..icuous spa�e with I fe Tris transformation of the empty c;pace as an "ert1ty" 1c; an effectlVE.• presentat1or of the concept of space n easterr phi osophy

Tre images 1n r s per drawings •ec;emble tri0 worrr tu'lnel of a b '1,k holE' In astronorry, there s a school of thouqrt which be·:eves t'1at wriat t1as bee., lost 1n trie t me-space cont1r..ium actual y 1s n the oppos te white ho e 1n arother time d1rnens1o'l Co1rc1denta or not trie flow of t IT'e 1r i<.1m's worKs a'ld this be 1ef c;harE' peculiar s1m1larit1es.

K rr '1as solemrly conce-ved his ..in1que ur verse but wt'ler this clashes with the real u'l1verse. the result 1s preposterous and stra.,ge resembl ng a humorous cartoon sh gesture Maybe that 1s why the images n his works seem I ke cartoon characters. Ink images with the r f ows and watery spreads 1nd1cate cont1ruous speed. the artist's solemn ty and rnaybe even '11s sweat beads constantly pouring from his forehec1d. causing one to smile It's like watching a grown-man 1n a cartoon sweat10g to build a spaceship Co'lstructed or deconstructed. volurr nous or collapsed. pac;t or f..itl.. rE' rea 1ty or fantasy. tang ble or a shadow mov ng or suspended seriously or 1n iest all these are completely 1'ltertw 1'ed to C''eate one garga'ltuar t'rwrgy and K1rYJ'c; wort< o..i: s us into a rea rr of the unk'lown and ncomp•ehe'ls1ble

ARTIST'S

STATEMENT

Cautious Flight into My World

How do we perceive our world? Many people perceive the world 1n words. Some perceive 1t mainly through contact or experience. some rely on sounds. while a few may use colors and shapes. Visual images have always fascinated me. They give me intense pleasure. I understand things through their visual arrangement and rearrange­ ment. When something 1s strange and overpowering. I can manipulate and play with its imagery so that it becomes less terrifying and even familiar.

I grew up 1n a small rural village that was embraced by layers of mountains. The mountains also embraced the div1d1ng line of South and North Korea. No one 1n the village talked about the line: 1t was Just a thorny part of our simple lives. Things were definitely slower and simpler there. The distinction between reality and imagination was vague and blurred. Adults talked about monsters 1n a deep forest and UFO's 1n the n1gh.t sky: kids spent hours discussing such things as a land mine that blew up two children. and a spy plane that had crashed near my village The mountains provided the village with numerous flying obJects Therefore, seeds. leaves. insects. birds, balloons, planes. helicopters or UFO's. anything that flies 1n the air has attracted me since early childhood. I remember spending hours following thousands of colorful balloons in the sky that came from the North and contained pol1t1cal leaflets I spent hours trying to catch insects, birds balloons. and boxes coming from planes. anything that flew. These images overpowered me 1n my dreams. If I could fly. would I be able to fight against those images? I was often aware that I was dreaming. usually about see-through flying dishes attacking my village.

Other times I simply dreamt about flying. Because I knew I did not have wings. I had to use my arms when I flew. Because I knew I could not fly. I had to go through a lot of exercise to learn Even 1n dreams I could not escape my reality: things were still defined and regulated by an overpowering world. I had to put extra effort into creat ng my own defn1t1on and my own law. using visual images.

My memories and experiences are intermingled with my imag1nat1on and dreams It 1s often unclear what 1s real and what 1s not. I find it hard to draw a line between the real and the 1mag1nary. and that line 1s where I start. My work arises from the boundaries of what 1s familiar and what 1s not. It helps me deal with life better. one step at a time.

DELTA QUADRANT Paper cut. 117" x 161", 2001-2002

COMMITTEE Mixed media, 67" x 72", 1999-2002

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DELTA QUADRANT Ink and watercolor on paper. 28" x 40". 2003

DELTA QUADRANT Ink and watercolor on paper. 22" x 29", 2003

DELTA QUADRANT Ink and watercolor on paper. 28" x 40". 2003

DELTA QUADRANT Ink and watercolor on paper. 22" x 29", 2003

DELTA QUADRA NT Ink and watercolor on paper. 14" x 19.5", 2001

DRAWING FOR SCULPTURE Pencil on paper. 31" x 15", 2002

DRAWING FOR SCULPTURE Pencil on paper, 31" x 15", 2D02

DRAWING FOR SCULPTURE Pencil on paper. 31" x 15", 2002

THE SHIP Plastic, 10" x 7 ., x ?" 2002

ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY EDUCATION

2002 1995

M.F.A. Sculpture, Brooklyn College, CUNY. Brooklyn, NY B.F.A. Sculpture, Chung-Ang University, Seoul. Korea

EXHIBITIONS

2002 1995 1994

M.F.A. Thesis Exhib1t1on, Brooklyn War Memorial, Brooklyn, NY Group Exh1b1t1on, Cho-Hyung Gallery, Seoul, Korea B.F.A. Thesis Exhibition, Gong-Pyung Art Center, Seoul, Korea

AWARDS

2000

Charles Schwab Award

CURATOR'S BIOGRAPHY

N kki S. Lee 1s a photographer living and working 1n New York. She received a Master of Arts degree from New York University and a B.F.A from Chung-Ang College of Arts, University of Korea. Ms. Lee has had solo exh1bit1ons at the C eveland Museum of Art. The Institute of Contemporary Art. Boston. the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San F rancisco and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, as well as solo exhibitions at commercial galleries in New York, Barcelona. London and Tokyo. Her work has been included 1n numerous exh1bit1ons worldwide and is 1n the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The Bronx Museum of the Arts. amongst others.

CUE ART FOUNDATION MISSION STATEMENT CUE Art Foundation 1s a non-profit organization that provides deserving artists from around the country an opportun ty for solo exh1b1t1on. Located in New York's Chelsea gallery district. the Foundation's 2.000 sqft. ground floor exh1b1tion space affords these artists professional exposure comparable to that offered by neighboring commercial galleries. without the usual financial restraints CUE does not promote a particular school of art1st1c thought or practice: rather. the criteria for selection have been devised with the sole purpose in mind of exhibiting work by artists who have not had a solo exh1b1t1on 1n a commercial venue. or have received minimal exposure in New York 1n the last ten years.

At the core of CUE's mission is the determination to foster an agenda-free program

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gregory Amenoff Thomas G. Dev·ne Thomas K. Y Hsu Brian D Starer ADVISORY COUNCIL

Gregory Amenoff Vicky A. Clark W1ll1am Corbett Petah Coyne

of twelve exh1b1t1ng artists a year, each har1dp1cked by a single curator An on-site art1st­

James Drake

in-res1dence program offers selected artists studio space 1n which to produce or finish

Bruce Ferguson Sanford Hirsch

work for their exh1b1t1on at CUE. The responsibility to choose qualified 1ndiv1duals from the v•sual arts and beyond

Dana Hoey

to act as exh1b1t1on curators rests with CUE's Advisory Council. an honorary group of artists and leading figures from the arts educat,on. applied arts. art history. and literary commun1t1es. The curators. 1n turn, will play a role throughout the exhib1t1on process. helping the artist catalogue his or her work for exh1b1t1on. and partic1pat1ng 1n gallery lectures and programs.

Educational initiatives in the form of public programs and artists' dialogues will take advantage of the diverse community that part1c1pates 1n CUE's gallery and studio programming. Foundation internships and stipends will help prepare the next generation of artists and art educators by providing practical working knowledge of the art making and exhib1t1on process

A L ARTWORK < CHEOL Y

K "1

CATALOG DES GNED BY SPECK PRINTED IN CANADA

BROOK YN NY

GALLERY DIRECTOR

Jeremy Adams