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In-Between Places: Korean American Artists in the Bay Area

Not on view
9/13/2017 - 12/10/2017
Organizing institution: Mills College Art Museum

In-Between Places: Korean American Artists in the Bay Area features new work by Jung Ran Bae; Sohyung Choi; Kay Kang; Miran Lee; Youngjune Lew; Nicholas Oh; Younhee Paik; and Minji Sohn. The artists featured in In-Between Places reveal the reality and complexities of being a Korean American artist in the Bay Area—a location that has served as a gateway for Korean culture and a bridge between Korea and the West.

Since the beginning of the Korean diaspora, many Korean Americans have described their cultural identity as occupying an 'in-between place'. Existing bi-culturally, on a median of “otherness” within a Korean and Western purview, Korean American artists often lack the affirmation of owning and belonging to a singular cultural vernacular. This intersection of identities impacts how the work of Korean American artists is critically and popularly received. In Korea, Korean American art is often dismissed as American and in the United States, marginalized as specifically Korean. In-Between Places acknowledges the infinitely evolving and nuanced ways Korean Americans interpret and express history, culture, and art. Reflecting on the relationship of Korean American artists to artmaking in the Bay Area, the exhibition offers fresh considerations on the intricacies of cultural identity.

New works commissioned for this exhibition embrace both traditional Korean and contemporary western approaches to art making. Painting, drawing, ceramics and bojagi (traditional Korean cloth wrapping) are represented alongside video, performance, and an art installation that incorporates beosun (traditional Korean socks). In-Between Places claims space for Korean Americans within the landscape of contemporary art and reflects the distinctive contribution of Korean Americans to artistic production in the Bay Area.

Organized by the Mills College Art Museum, In-Between Places is curated by independent curator Linda Inson Choy (a specialist in contemporary Korean art) and consulting curator Hyonjeong Kim Han, Associate Curator of Korean Art at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. The exhibition is accompanied by an academic catalogue that includes a contextual essay on Korean American artists in the Bay Area by Mills College Professor Mary-Ann Milford, Ph.D., a conversation between the curators, and interviews with the participating artists.

In-Between Places: Korean American Artists in the Bay Area is supported through the generosity of the Korean Foundation and the Carpenter Foundation.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Saturday, September, 16, 2017
Opening Reception | In-Between Places: Korean American Artists in the Bay Area
6:00–8:00PM, Art Museum
Join MCAM and the curators and artists to celebrate the opening of this important exhibition. The reception will feature a live performance and demonstrations from exhibiting artists.

Saturday, September, 23, 2017
New Traditions: Korean Cultural Week Launches at MCAM
2:00–6:00PM, Art Museum
MCAM and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco present a day of family friendly Korean arts workshops lead by exhibiting artists Miran Lee and Kay Kang. Workshops will be followed by a performance with internationally renowned haegeum musician Soo-yeon Lyuh in collaboration with critically acclaimed musicians William Winant (percussionist), Fred Frith (instrumentalist), and Joan Jeanrenaud (cellist and founding member of Kronos Quartet) performing a free improvisation of John Cage’s FOUR6.

Saturday, October 21, 2017
Dwelling In-Between: Korean Americans in the Bay Area
2:00-5:00PM, David Brower Center in Berkeley
Korean American visual artists, writers, and scholars share their praxis and reflections on the Korean diaspora about the transnational connections of Korean American cultural production. Featuring presentations by In-Between Places curator Linda Inson Choy, Jung Ran Bae (artist), Laura Kang (UC Irvine), Myung Mi Kim (poet), Rosemarie Nahm (Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation); and Minji Sohn (artist).

Wednesday, October 25, 2017
First Person Plural | Movie Screening and Director's Talk
6:30–8:30 PM, Mills College Danforth Lecture Hall
In 1966, Deann Borshay Liem was adopted by an American family and was sent from Korea to her new home. Growing up in California, the memory of her birth family was nearly obliterated until recurring dreams lead Deann to discover the truth: her Korean mother was very much alive. Bravely uniting her biological and adoptive families, Deann's heartfelt journey makes First Person Plural a poignant essay on family, loss, and the reconciling of two identities.

Saturday, November 4, 2017
Korean American Home Movie Day
1:00–3:00PM, Mills College Danforth Lecture Hall
Home Movie Day provides the opportunity for individuals and families to see and share their own home movies with an audience of their community, and to see their neighbors’ in turn. Participating families present their own narratives and experiences in their own voices and with their own unique lens.


Exhibition Images (13)

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