Born in 1971 Seoul, South Korea, Joo’s family moved to Indianapolis in 1982 where Joo spent her youth. She studied painting at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN (BFA ’94) and Yale School of Art (MFA ‘96). She is the recipient of many awards and distinctions including grants from Pollock - Krasner, George Sugarman, Berkshire Taconic, Charlotte Street and Puffin Foundation. In the past 20 years, her work has been widely exhibited in over 20 one-person and 50 group exhibitions including the Frye Art Museum of Seattle, Wyoming Art Museum, Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles, Gallery Korea in New York and Seoul Art Center. She’s visited and lectured at many universities and museums including Fairfield University, Edinboro University, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, and most recently appointed as the 2016-17 MacMillan-Stewart Painting Chair at Maryland Institute College of Art. Joo lives and works in Connecticut where she also teaches drawing and painting at Southern CT State University. “Knots and Loose Ends” is Joo’s fifth solo exhibition at Andrew Bae Gallery; Joo has been represented by Andrew Bae Gallery since 2004.

 

Below is a brief description of “Knots and Loose Ends” by the artist:

 

Kurosawa’s film Dreams has a scene where a beautiful snow spirit drapes a fallen hiker with layer upon layer of shimmering fabric. Despite the warmth, these blankets of snow, fatigue and slumber, must be shaken off for the hiker to survive. The art historian Irving Lavin’s take on the metaphor for drapery in Baroque Art refers to another kind that separates the fictive from the real world, connecting the past with the present, like a curtain at a theater.  My recent paintings explore these different connotations of drapery as a still life subject. In one sense, it celebrates the simple beauty and the tradition of Korean brocades saved for special occasions, birthdays or New Year. Then the drapery transforms into mountains and oceans to suggest stories from the past eclipsing the present. In these paintings of wrapped, bundled, swathed landscapes of silken brocades, stories of family, folklore and history unravel.

 

(for a complete downloadable cv, visit: http://leeahjoo.com/onewebmedia/cv.pdf)

 

Awards and Honors

 

2016-17    MacMillan-Stewart Painting Chair, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD 2013                             A.R.T. Grant Recipient, Berkshire Taconic Foundation
2013         Puffin Foundation Grant Recipient
2008         Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism Grant Recipient

2006         Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant Recipient
2004         George Sugarman Foundation Grant Recipient
2001         Charlotte Street Fund Recipient
1996         Helen W. Winternitz Award, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT

 

Education

 

1996         MFA Painting, Yale School of Art, New Have, CT

1994         BFA Painting, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

1994         BA Art History, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

 

 

One Person Exhibitions

 

2017         “Knots and Loose Ends” Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago, IL “Sexybeast” Project Wall, H&R                           Block Artspace, KCAI, Kansas City, MO

2016         “Wrapped” Christopher Newport University, Newport, VA
2014         “Gatherings: New Paintings” Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago, IL
2012         “From Bricks to Gold: Last 15 Years” Schumacher Gallery, Middlebury, CT 2011 “Dokkebi and                   Other Tales” Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago, IL
2009         “Looking Out, Looking In” Edinboro University, Edinboro, PA

                 “Looking Out, Looking In” Eastern Tennessee University, Johnson City, TN 2008 “Leeah Joo”                     Hendrix University, Conway, AR

2007         “Circularity” Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005         “Vignettes: Paintings by Leeah Joo” DePauw University, Greencastle, IN

                 “Window Tales” Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago, IL
2003         “Recent Works” Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS

                 “Recent Works” Bethany College, Lindsborg, KS
2002         “Window Paintings” Dennis Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO

                 “Five Years in Kansas City” Embry Gallery, Barstow School, Kansas City, MO 2000 “Kansas                       Cityscapes” Michael Cross Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1999         “Observations from Portugal” Wichita State University, Wichita, KS

                 “Paintings from the Attic” Michael Cross Gallery, Kansas City, MO 1996 “Fountain Street                             Paintings” Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

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2016         “New Works”, Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago, IL “Embodied Narratives” Artspace, Willimantic,                     CT

2015         “Ley Lines: Intersecting Conversations” Univ. of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY “Weaving                   Time: Archive of Korean American Artists” AHL Foundation, New York,

2014         “In Retrospect” Gallery Korea – Korean Cultural Service of New York, New York, NY “Beneath                   Raw Skin” Artspace, Eastern CT State University, Willimantic, CT

2013-14    “Memories and Meditations” Metropolitan Capital, Chicago, IL “East and West” Atrium Gallery,                   New London, CT

2012         “Los Angeles Art Expo”, Los Angeles Convention Center, CA
2011         “Drawing Resurfaced” Purdue University Galleries, West Lafayette, IN

                 “Art Chicago” Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2010 “Figurative Distance” CCAT Gallery,                               Hartford, CT

                 “Where Lies Beauty” Mattatuck Museum of Art and History, Waterbury, CT

                 “Ripe” Keyhole Gallery and Leedy-Voulkos Gallery, Kansas City, MO 2009 “New Works”                             Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago, IL

2008         “Never Routine: the Course of Daily Lives of Women” Grace Institute, New York, NY 2007                           “Here and There: Immigrant Stories” New Bedford Art Center, New Bedford, MA 2006                                 “Contemporary Asian Art 2006”, Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek, MI
2005         Andrew Bae Gallery at Navy Pier Art Expo, Chicago, IL

2004         Truth or Fiction: Young Korean Overseas Artist Exhibition” - Hangaram Art Museum at Seoul                     Art Center, Seoul, S. Korea

                 Annual Invitational - Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA

                 Andrew Bae Gallery at Navy Pier Art Expo, Chicago, IL
2003         “Landscape Unlimited” - The Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL

                 Summer Group Exhibition, Dennis Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2002         “Perceptual Experience: A Decade of Contemporary American Figure Drawing”

                 – Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
                 “New Talent” - Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA “Gathering Influences” - H&R Block                       Artspace, Kansas City, MO

2001         “Small Packages” - Wood Street Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Chicago, IL “Kansas City Flat                     Files” - H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO

                 “Charlotte Street Fund Exhibition” - H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO 2000 “New Faculty”                   - H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO

                 Benefit Exhibition - Bellwether Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 1999 “Supermarket 1999” - Lamar                               University, Beaumont, TX 1998 “Realism 98” - Stage Gallery, Merrick, NY

                 “Women in Visual Arts” - Erector Gallery, New Haven, CT
                 “International Perspectives” - University of New Haven, West Haven, CT “6 Schools Faculty                       Exhibition” - Artspace, New Haven, CT

1997         “Halpert Biennial” - Appalachian State University, Boone, NC “Connecticut Women Artists” -                       University of Hartford, Hartford, CT

1996         “Painting Today” - Erector Gallery, New Haven, CT “New Talent” - Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA