Kwang Young Chun: Aggregations

August 24, 2019 to June 15, 2020

Kwang Young Chun combines hundreds of paper-wrapped parcels to create sculptural compositions that look like crystal formations, asteroids, or the surface of the moon. Drawing on his training in abstract painting and memories of childhood, when Korean apothecaries sold medicine in little bundles, he wraps each parcel in old book pages and likens them to cells, or units of information, seeing analogies to chemistry and the human condition. One work from the JSMA (acquired in 2018 from UO alumnus Sundaram Tagore) was featured, along with others from a special exhibition organized by the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Korean Ceramic Culture: Legacy of Earth and Fire

January 10, 2021 to May 8, 2022

Focusing on fifteen centuries of Korea’s celebrated ceramic tradition, the works in this exhibition ranged from sixth-century earthenware vessels to luminous Goryeo-dynasty (9181392) celadons, and from rustically decorated Joseon-period (1392-1910) porcelains through contemporary works that reinterpret the past and forge new creative directions. These ceramics were juxtaposed with Korean paintings, textiles, photographs, and time-based art that provide aesthetic and cultural context. The exhibition was co-organized by Anne Rose Kitagawa and 2019-20 JSMA/Korea Foundation Global Challengers Museum Intern Bokyoung Hong, a specialist in early East Asian ceramics, who spent six months researching the JSMA’s Korean collection and planning this exhibition before returning home early, due to the pandemic.