Seung Yul Oh | memmem
31.10.14 - 06.12.14
31 October – 6 December 2014
Starkwhite is pleased to present Seung Yul Oh’s exhibition memmem from 1 – 29 November 2014.
Following on from Oh’s recent large-scale survey show MOAMOA at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the City Gallery Wellington, memmem shows Oh again working seamlessly across media, this time combining a suite of minimalist paintings with a cluster of pastel-hued acorn sculptures. The two bodies of work operate as independent yet harmonious lines, recomposing the gallery into a space for what he describes as “moments of balance and counterpoint between art object and audience, between individuals and groups, and between different cultures.” With memmem, Oh creates an active, participatory space, allowing viewers to achieve a sense of empathy with the work, with each other and the worlds they move through.
At the opening of memmem on Friday 31 October, the directors of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Cam McCracken, and the City Gallery Wellington, Elizabeth Caldwell, will launch their new publication MOAMOA, which has been produced with the generous support of the Jan Warburton Charitable Trust and the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
Born in Seoul, Korea in 1981, Seung Yul Oh moved to New Zealand 15 years ago and completed an MFA at Auckland University’s Elam School of Fine Arts. He now divides his time between Auckland and Seoul.
Recent exhibitions include: SOOM, Edmiston North Sculpture Terrace at the Auckland Art Gallery, 2014 (forthcoming);MOAMOA, Dunedin Public Art Gallery and City Gallery Wellington 2013/2014, curated by Aaron Kreisler and Aaron Lister; Periphery, Encounters, Art Basel Hong Kong, curated by Yuko Hasegawa (2013); Huggong, Starkwhite 2012; sologroup, GGOOL, Seoul (2011); Social Animals, Space 15th Seoul, curated by Kyung Min Lee (2011); Constellation, 4A Centre for Contemporary Art, Sydney, curated by Aaron Seeto (2011); Bok (with Jeff Nusz) Physics Room, Christchurch (2011); Seung Yul Oh, Artspace project, Melbourne Art Fair (2010), curated by Emma Bugden; Bogle Bogle, TheNewDowse (2010), with curator Claire Renault; Oddooki, Sculpture Court, Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand, curated by Charlotte Huddleston (2008/2009); Telecom Prospect 2007: New Art New Zealand, City Gallery Wellington, curated by Heather Galbraith; Break: Construct, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, curated by Rhana Devenport (2007); Bearing, Te Tuhi The Mark, with curator Emma Bugden (2007); 5 4 3 2 1, Auckland Artists Projects, Auckland Art Gallery, curated by Ngahiraka Mason (2006); CHEW CHEW Tongue, Starkwhite (2006); Snake oil, Recent Acquisitions from the Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery (2005) curated by Robert Leonard; Artspace New Artists exhibition, Compelled (2005), curated by Rhana Devenport.
In 2010 Oh was invited by Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa to take up a residency at the artist-run space GGOOL in Seoul and he was the recipient of the 2011 Harriet Friedlander New York Residency Award administered by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.
Please contact the gallery for further information and images.