June 3-June 30, 2011
AHL New York/Foundation, Inc.
51 Bergen Street 2nd Fl.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
516-983-3935
ahlfoundation@mac.com
Artist
Hyong Nam Ahn
AHL Foundation is pleased to announce “Allegory of Music”, a solo exhibition by Hyong Nam Ahn . This is the first Open Studio Project to promote Korean- American Artists.
Hyong Nam Ahn is well known for his distinctive and illuminating sculptures and paintings. He has developed his works with diverse materials like aluminum, metal board, neon, and fluorescent tubes since he has began making in the late 1970s. His works are composed of three-dimensional figure which are informal, and rhythmical shapes painted with Abstract Expressionists’ gestural brush stroke. His works show liberal images, flexible lines like the flowing sound of music. His works don’t share common boundary between sculptures and painting. The works are beyond the concept and style of traditional sculpture, as well as some of his works would be estimated as the domain of Installation art. The combination of energetic lines and bright color creates a cheerful atmosphere which is emitted by spontaneous correlations between materials and artist’s inner energy.
Hyong Nam Ahn is a person who is filled with pure love in his soul and body. He has a critical point about the rapid spread of civilized life, industrialization, mass production and wants to pursue humanist values in his art. He said, “Most of my recent works are based on subliminal objects inspired by natural occurrences such as moonlight and migrating birds. This natural source inspires my core.” He emphasizes on maintaining an equal balance between spiritual and material realities. What is the role of Art at the center of the civilized and material culture? Artists transform from the nihilistic tendencies to the sublimed art works which are like a caution sign and healing message for helping people.
Ahn has lived and worked in the United States since 1973. He holds an MFA(1980) in Sculpture with Kinetics and a BFA in Painting & Experimental Art (1978) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has worked in the fields of sculpture, installation, and public art installation. He earned Illinois Project Completion Grant (1982), Scholastic National Drawing Contest, First Prize Award (1974). Ahn has received numerous commissions for public sculptures from notable institutions and corporations such as McDonald Corporation in Kirkland, WA; The Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Art & Culture, Baltimore, MD; and McCormick Place Donnelly Hall World Convention Center, Chicago. Also he has shown in many solo and group exhibitions in Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Tweed Museum in MN, Jamaica Cultural Center in New York, etc.
