Lehmann Maupin Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of sculptures and works on paper by artist Do Ho Suh. This will be Suh’s fourth solo show at the gallery.
The fractured nature of narratives, memories and storytelling, catalysts both subjective and weighted in tradition permeate Suh’s oeuvre and invite viewers to consider their physical and psychological selves within the context of the work. In a thoughtful investigation of identity through large-scale sculptural installations and more intimate works on paper, Suh continues to activate subtle dialogues around space, human relationships, and displacement. Developing the structure of spatial identity, the artist now attempts with Cause & Effect to render destiny metaphorically.
Cause & Effect evokes a vicious tornado. This vast ceiling installation is a composition of densely hung strands that anchor thousands of figures clad in dynamic gradations of intensely warm colors stacked atop one another. Suh’s focus shifts away from identity defined through spatial exploration to questioning that very identity and its origin. Cause & Effect is a physical realization of existence, suggesting strength in the presence of numerous individuals, as it begins to swirl and sprawl out into adjacent galleries. The work is an attempt to decipher the boundaries between a single identity and a larger group, and how the two conditions coexist. Cause & Effect metaphorically places the individual within an intricate web of destiny and fate branching from a belief that every being is spawned from the lives he or she may have lived previously. The vertical context of the figures becomes a collection of past influences, and again, begins to define the inherent powers and energies that characterize an individual. Drawings of various scales and a selection of other works will also be part of this exhibition in Chelsea.
Do Ho Suh was born in 1962 in Seoul, Korea. He earned his BFA and MFA in Oriental Painting from Seoul National University (1987); BFA Painting, Rhode Island School of Design (1994); and MFA Sculpture, Yale University (1997). Selected public and private collections include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; Whitney Museum of America Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and Brooklyn Museum of Art all in New York; and Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Selected solo exhibitions include The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA and Hermes, Tokyo, Japan (both 2005); ArtSonje Center, Seoul, Korea and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City (both 2003); Serpentine Gallery, London and Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA (both 2002); Whitney Museum of American Art at Phillip Morris, New York (2001). Suh represented Korea in the 49th Venice Biennale. He is the recipient of numerous awards and currently his work may be seen in RED HOT: Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston; All the More Real, The Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York; and Downtown Expansion, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA. Peppermint Candy: Contemporary Korean Art, an upcoming exhibition at Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires opens in May of next year.