Join us at our New York gallery for an artist talk with Kim Yun Shin, where the artist will be in dialogue with curator Christopher Y. Lew
Thursday, April 3, 5–6 PM. Reserve your place.
INSTALLATION
A Gossamer Gate to Me
All Who Enter Must Duck
Growing up in South Korea, the artist Do Ho Suh, 45, lived in a traditional "scholar's house" built by an elderly carpenter who had worked for the Korean royal family. It was a copy of a house called Yeon Kyung Dang, built in 1828 by King Sunjo, Mr. Suh said, "because the king wanted to experience what it would be like to live a civilian life." . "It was, ironically, considered the most beautiful civilian style from the period," he said. Mr. Suh, right, has been revisiting that house in his work for half a decade, building fragments of it - out of wire frames wrapped in a translucent polyester organza - that recall memories or dreams. His newest piece,
"Reflection," behind him at right, was modeled on the brick and wood gate to his bedroom. "It's a very common design," Mr. Suh said, "and they're always a bit small, so even though I was a child I had to duck. My interpretation is that the size was intentional, that because you had to duck it made you become
aware of your own body, almost like a meditation." Huge and shimmery, the installation is more than 21 feet high, with two gates that mirror each other, filling a two-story space at the Lehmann Maupin gallery in Manhattan. You can walk onto both floors, but not under or through the gates (details, lower right), which stretch overhead like a giant, lacy ghost.
Through Feb. 2 at Lehmann Maupin, 540 West 26th Street
212) 255-2923. Information:
lehmannmaupin.com.
-PENELOPE GREEN