July 9 - 31, 2004

Andrew Bae Gallery - located in Chicago’s River North gallery district and focused on a new generation of contemporary Asian artists - presents Keysook Geum: Sculpt a Pose, its first solo showing of this artist’s work.

On view July 9 – 31, 2004, the exhibition comprises a selection of Geum’s dramatic sculptures of elegantly posed wire and cloth forms, which embody the fusion of ageless Asian aesthetics and philosophy with contemporary flair.

Keysook Geum lives and works in Seoul, Korea – a dynamic city both steeped in tradition and on the cutting edge of contemporary art and technology – and this vantage point richly informs her work. On view July 9 – 31, 2004, the exhibition comprises a selection of Geum’s dramatic sculptures of elegantly posed wire and cloth forms, which embody the fusion of ageless Asian aesthetics and philosophy with contemporary flair. Keysook Geum lives and works in Seoul, Korea – a dynamic city both steeped in tradition and on the cutting edge of contemporary art and technology – and this vantage point richly informs her work.

The artist’s “web” dress forms comment on the ubiquitous, yet ephemeral, world wide web – both the technology and our increasingly global, interwoven, contemporary culture. While embracing the new, the artist remains firmly rooted, incorporating traditional Korean materials and subtle allusions to ceremony and ritual into her meticulously pieced sculptures. Geum’s recycling of materials in her work – whether they be silk remnants from formal dressmaker’s shops or discarded commercial wires – also speaks to her continual reflection on today’s world and her reworking of its diverse odd and ends into elaborate art.

Keysook Geum has a history as a costume designer for large-scale dance and theater productions, and her fine art pieces are imbued with her delight in movement, energy and gesture. They also carry a certain graceful dignity in their carefully considered poses, and the artist likens them to the Buddhist lotus flower, a recurrent symbol and inspiration.