Opening reception: Thursday, February 27, 6–8 PM. Click to RSVP
Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present a two-part solo exhibition of work by pioneering Korean artist Kim Yun Shin, which will span the gallery’s London and New York locations. Surveying the artist’s oeuvre and including both paintings and sculptures from the 1990s to the present, the London component—which marks the artist's debut exhibition in the United Kingdom—will be on view at Lehmann Maupin’s temporary space at No.9 Cork Street from February 27–March 15
Growing up amidst the backdrop of Korea’s tumultuous history in the 20th century, Kim Yun Shin has established herself as a formative figure in the post-war South Korean art scene, overcoming societal norms to carve out a space for herself as a first-generation woman sculptor. Despite facing challenges in a male-dominated field, she ventured to Paris to pursue her artistic aspirations, taught at various universities, and co-founded the Korean Sculptress Association in 1974 to support emerging artists. Partly influenced by her nomadic early life, her work reflects a fearless exploration of diasporic cultures—from France, Mexico, and Brazil, to her adoptive home of Argentina, where she established Museo Kim Yun Shin, the first Korean immigrant art museum. Now, at 90 years of age, the artist resides in Seoul, South Korea, where she continues to produce work in her studio.
Her artistic practice, which encompasses sculpture and painting, is also deeply rooted in encounters with the natural world. Kim’s sculptural work engages with the fundamental qualities of materials and nature, navigating themes of confrontation, introspection, and coexistence. Using solid wood as her primary medium, she visualizes the intersection between nature, time, and history, reconsidering the very essence of human existence. Her early sculptures from the 1970s are deeply rooted in traditional Korean hanok architecture, which uses a distinctive technique that joins wooden blocks without nails. Her colorful paintings, meanwhile, are marked by distinctive surface fragmentation; across her compositions, large sections gradually divide into smaller shapes. The resulting artworks evoke a primordial energy, at once expansive and concise, concentrated and diffused. For Kim, painting offers the opportunity to explore sculptural concepts in a two-dimensional format.
Media Inquiries
Julie Niemi, Associate Director of Public Relations
julie@lehmannmaupin.com
McKenna Quatro Johnson, Communications and Research Associate
mckenna@lehmannmaupin.com