Together Alone
THE AHL FOUNDATION 2017 CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ART AWARDS WINNERS EXHIBITION
Venue: Muriel Guepin Gallery
83 ORCHARD STREET NEW YORK, NY 10002
Nov. 28 – Dec. 10, 2017
Gallery Hour: Tuesday- Sunday ( 1:00 – 6:00 PM)
Opening Reception: Tuesday, Nov. 28, 6:00-8:00 PM
Artists: Tai Hwa Goh, Xavier Cha, Joo Yeon Woo
Curated by Soojung Hyun
The AHL Foundation is pleased to present a group exhibition of works of The AHL Foundation 2017 Contemporary Visual Art Awards winners. The three award winners, Tai Hwa Goh, Xavier Cha, Joo Yeon Woo, were selected by jurors, Sharon Matt Atkins, vice director of exhibitions and collections management at Brooklyn Museum and Michelle Yun, senior curator of modern and contemporary art at the Asia Society Museum.
The awards were not selected on the basis of a particular theme but on the trustworthy strength of the artists’ works and the potential capability of the artists to succeed. Each of the winners addresses a diverse range of subjects and mediums, ranging from video-based performances to site-specific installations to prints derived from unique paper embossing techniques. While their works are freely expressed beyond the boundaries of a single genre, the subject matter could be interpreted as responses to Korean identity in relation to their underlying awareness of being in a new place.
This exhibition, titled Together Alone, suggests an ontological theme as to how human beings obtain awareness of their identity while functioning as artists within communities composed of diverse individuals. At the same time, it represents ambivalence as the artists pull opposites together into a single dynamic force.
While the subject and object may appear on opposite sides, they are inextricably linked together. It is through the awareness of these complimentary differences that they open up the possibility of reconciliation. Despite their connection to biology, psychology, and sociology, the three artists are primarily focused on art. This suggests that they want their works to be understood through the focused experience of their viewers.
Tai Hwa Goh
Tai Hwa Goh is the winner of the Gold Award. She creates delicately layered installations from printed and cut paper. Her biomorphic paper installations blur the distinction between printmaking and sculpture. At first glance, the perfect symmetry of the forms evokes readymade paper goods but upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the artist has meticulously colored, cut and formed each component. These organic, site-specific works seem to overtake their designated environments, raising issues relating to the delicate balance between nature and civilization.
Xavier Cha
Xavier Cha is the winner of the Silver Award. Her videos and interactive performances utilize the Internet to blur the distinction between audience and participant while also commenting on how individuals are increasingly becoming defined by virtual interactions online. In Surveil, the artist invited volunteers to collaborate, using the Internet, to develop a choreographed performance based on their web activity. In Feedback, professional actors were assigned to act out a range of emotions that corresponded to the broad range of perspectives shared on social media platforms.
Joo Yeon Woo
Joo Yeon Woo is the winner of the Bronze Award. Her engagement with the Korean diaspora, and in particular the Gyopo, eloquently illuminates the concerns and anxieties faced by immigrant groups. Her subtle, monochromatic portraits of individuals from the Gyopo community reflect the feelings of invisibility felt by many minority groups. Likewise, her photographic documentation of official documents asserting the legal status of this group highlights the politicization of identity and inclusion.
This exhibition is funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
