WHAT: Virtual tour of Korean collection at the Art Institute of Chicago

WHEN: Release: August 31, 2021 at 6:00 p.m.

WHERE: Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. website (washingtondc.korean-culture.org) and social media (@Koreaculturedc); Art Institute of Chicago website (artic.edu), Facebook (@artic), and Instagram/Twitter (@artinstitutechi)

The Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. (KCCDC) proudly announces the fifth edition of Korean Art in the U.S., presenting a new curator-led virtual tour of traditional and contemporary works in the Korean collection at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), set to release online on August 31, 2021.

The AIC’s collection of Korean art spans more than 2,000 years of artistic production and includes exquisite celadon ceramics, striking ink paintings, and contemporary works that carry the artistic heritage of Korea’s past into the present day. The museum has been acquiring Korean art by gift and purchase since 1900 and has acquired about 250 objects to date.

Led by the AIC’s Yeonsoo Chee, Associate Curator of Korean Art, Hendrik Folkerts, the Dittmer Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Robyn Ferrell, Associate Curator Modern and Contemporary Art, the virtual tour will highlight exquisite examples of Korean traditional art as well as modern and contemporary art from the museum’s permanent collection. The collection of Korean art at the Art Institute of Chicago covers more than two thousand years of artistic production, dating from the Three Kingdoms period (c. 57 BC–AD 676). The collection is particularly strong in ceramics, especially exquisite examples of celadon from the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), Buddhist paintings from the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) and contemporary ceramics. The Art Institute also holds works by noted modern and contemporary Korean artists such as Nam June Paik and the Dansaekhwa artists.

During a time of limited travel and in-person programs, the Korean Art in the U.S. series of virtual tours provides the public an unprecedented level of access to the richness and diversity of Korean traditional and contemporary art in American museums, including rarely seen collections not currently on display.

Presented by the KCCDC in collaboration with the AIC, this virtual tour video will release for public viewing on August 31 at 6:00 p.m.

All images are credit and copyright to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Vase (Maebyeong)

Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), late 12th century

Celadon-glazed stoneware with underglaze inlaid decoration of black and white clays

Joyous Banquet of Guo Ziyi

Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), 19th century

Ink and color on silk, mounted on wooden frame

Nam June Paik

(American, born Korea, 1932–2006)

Family of Robot: Baby, 1986

Single-channel video sculpture: thirteen television monitors and aluminum armature; color, silent. Number nine of nine unique sculptures in series.

133.3 × 96.2 × 20.32 cm (52 1/2 × 37 7/8 × 8 in.)

Ha Chong-Hyun (Korean, born 1935)

Conjunction 81-79, 1981

Oil on hemp cloth, 194 × 260 cm (76 × 102 in.)

About Yeonsoo Chee, Associate Curator of Korean Art

Yeonsoo Chee joined the Art Institute of Chicago as the first curator of Korean art in 2020. In her role at the Art Institute, she is working to grow the Korean art collection, as well as develop a broad network with other institutions, communities, and individuals who support the museum’s goal of representing the expanse of art across the Asian continent. Previously she spent over nine years as a curatorial leader of the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, Southern California’s only museum dedicated to Asian art. There, she contributed to growing both the collection of and programming featuring Korean art. In 2017 Chee was recruited by the Korean government to be the Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Publicity at the National Palace Museum of Korea. Among her publications is an important survey of Korean collections at USC PAM, Selections from the Korean Art Collection at USC Pacific Asia Museum, and she is a frequent contributor to the Orientation magazine. She holds a BA and MA in Art History from the California State University Long Beach.

About Hendrik Folkerts, Dittmer Curator Modern and Contemporary Art

Hendrik Folkerts joined the Art Institute of Chicago in 2017 as the Dittmer Curator of Modern and Contemporary to envision a new program of exhibitions and commissioned projects, performances, and acquisitions that consider contemporary art and the work of living artists in the broader context of the encyclopedic museum as a site of art and knowledge production. Folkerts previously held positions of global scope and impact as curator of documenta 14, Kassel and Athens (2014-present), as Curator of Performance, Film & Discursive Programs at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2010-2015), and as Coordinator of the Curatorial Program at De Appel arts center, Amsterdam (2009-2011). Folkerts has written, lectured, and published with distinction on the international field of contemporary art for more than a decade. He holds a BA and MA in Art History from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

About Robyn Ferrell, Associate Curator Modern and Contemporary Art

Since joining the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013, Associate Curator Robyn Farrell has made distinguished contributions to the Modern and Contemporary Art collection and exhibition program, including her forthcoming exhibition with Barbara Kruger, THINKING OF YOU. I MEAN ME. I MEAN YOU., in September 2021 (co-curated with James Rondeau). Farrell has contributed to numerous publications and artist monographs, and has spoken widely on time-based media art at the College Art Association Annual Conference, the University of Chicago, the Graham Foundation, New York University, Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), and the Herbert Foundation, among others. Farrell is a visiting lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, moderator for the Screen to Screen series at the Gene Siskel Film Center, and is currently serving as co-editor of the forthcoming first issue of the museum’s digital journal, The Art Institute Review (with Delinda Collier). Previously, she was Curatorial Assistant (2013-2016) and Assistant Curator (2017-2020) in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Institute, and served on the curatorial teams for Kara Walker: Rise Up Ye Mighty Race (2013), Amar Kanwar: The Lightning Testimonies (2013), Bridget Riley (2014), Kemang Wa Lehulere: In All My Wildest Dreams (2016), Zhang Peili: Record. Repeat (2017), Andy Warhol--From A to B and Back Again (2019), and organized projects with Mariko Mori (2015), Andrea Fraser (2016), Rodney McMillian (2017), Naeem Mohaiemen (co-organized with Hendrik Folkerts; 2019), and the Chicago presentation of Gregg Bordowitz: I Wanna Be Well (co-organized with Solveig Nelson in 2019).