Mina Cheon . art . text . teach . review . cv
MICA KOREA 2007
Press Release
July 30, 2007
STUDENTS IN MICA’S GROUNDBREAKING STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM IN SOUTH KOREA BRINGS “EXHIBITION WHITE” TO MICA
Runs Monday, August 27–Thursday, September 6 in Brown Center,
with a Reception on Wednesday, August 29, 5–7 p.m.
W3= White Day, Wedding, Women…
Twelve Korean and American artists collaborated on a feminist art exhibition around the theme white. Large and small artworks were installed at several galleries (Gallery SSamzie, SSamzieGil courtyard and Gallery 175) in Seoul, Korea before traveling to MICA. The exhibition was already reviewed by the Associated Press of Korea and many pieces were collected by the SSAMZIE Museum, Paju, Korea. The exhibition at MICA is sponsored by SSAMZIE. Co., Ltd.
More than half of the artists were in Korea for the first time to work on this project and contribute to the exhibition with a unique foreigner’s perspective. The student artists participating in Exhibition White are Kari Altmann, Kim Bentley, Adeetje Bouma, Hannah Cochran, Viviana Cordova, Candace Fong, Jiah Im, Soohyun Kang, Nara Park, and Pete Razon. Two native Korean students who participated in the exhibition were Isak Chung and Yena Chang from the Korean National University of Arts.
White, often seen as neutral, blank, and empty, is also laden with cultural, social, and historical associations and significations. This group of artists, designers, and architects use the color and concept white as the lens through which to view Korean culture. In particular, they examined certain cultural phenomena that are symptomatic of the fantasy-driven capital industry of Korea, including White Day, the ideal “white wedding,” and the cosmetic desire for white skin, which is marked by light skin color protected by the artifice of sun-umbrellas, sunscreen, make-up, and other plastis. Bringing this exhibition to the United States, the exhibition also raise questions related to race, class, and the capital market in America as well.
This groundbreaking summer studies program set in Seoul, South Korea, one of Asia’s most dynamic cities, challenges students to create and exhibit artwork based on their experience of place and culture. Students are provided with the opportunity to experience Korea and to work on art projects at a professional and international level. The MICA South Korea program is an interdisciplinary studio arts and architecture program directed by co-directors Mina Cheon and Gabriel Kroiz with MICA’s curator-in-residence George Ciscle as visiting curator. The program is assisted by director assistant Eugene Ahn, graduate student of NYU Tisch School of Art. This year Eve Andrée Laramée joined as visiting artist of the program.
This is the fourth MICA Korea project since 2004. The Korean National University of Arts (KNUA) hosted the program for the second consecutive year. MICA Korea offers professional development in the arts, exhibition opportunity, and artist practicum as a residency program for young artists, designers, and architects, culminating in a cross-cultural, collaborative artistic project.
Mina Cheon, director, a professor at MICA, teaches foundation, interactive media, and cultural theory courses. She has exhibited media-based installations nationally and internationally including solo-exhibitions at the Lance Fung Gallery in New York and Insa Art Space in Seoul, Korea. She is also currently a doctoral candidate at the European Graduate School in philosophy of media and communications. She has an MFA from MICA 's Hoffberger School of Painting, an MFA in imaging and digital arts from University of Maryland, and a BFA from Ewha Woman's University in Seoul, South Korea.
Gabriel Kroiz, director, is the principal of Kroiz Architecture. He studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Maryland, School of Architecture. His practice has completed award-winning projects in the US and Asia, including the SSamzieGil Shopping Center and residences in Korea's Heyri Art Valley, Paju. In addition, Kroiz has taught at MICA, the University of Maryland, and Duksung University in Seoul. He is known for his pursuits in sustainable green architecture including his highly acclaimed recent project, GreenHAB.
George Ciscle, visiting curator 2005-7, curator-in-residence at MICA, has mounted groundbreaking exhibitions, created community arts programs, and taught courses in the fine arts and humanities for nearly 30 years. As founder of The Contemporary Museum in Baltimore , he has curated numerous shows since 1989. He acted as the director of the George Ciscle Gallery in Baltimore from 1985 through 1989 and director of the Contemporary Museum until 1996. His Exhibition Development Seminar at MICA offers a multi-semester, hands-on experience planning, curating, designing, and mounting a major exhibition.
Eve Andrée Laramée, visiting artist 2007, is the Chair of Interdisciplinary Sculpture at MICA. She has been exploring the mutable, triadic relationship between art, science and nature for over twenty years. Her work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, MassMOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York to name a few and she has received various awards from Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, Guggenheim Museum, Andy Warhol Foundation, and many others.
Eugene Ahn, director assistant 2006-7, is currently a master's candidate at New York University, Tisch School of Art, Interactive Telecommunication Program (ITP). She studied at Hong- ik University in Seoul , Korea and received BFA in Painting from MICA. Her work is in various media including physical computing, performance and interactive installation.
Artists’ Bios
Kari Altmann is a video major at MICA. Her work in media, sculpture, and installation examines the post-millennial condition of her generation.
Kim Bentley grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and received her bachelor of fine arts (B.F.A.) degree from the University of Delaware. She is currently pursuing her master of fine arts (M.F.A.) in graphic design at MICA. Bentley has a background in printmaking and graphic design exploring the themes of family, home, and identity.
Adeetje Bouma is an interdisciplinary sculpture major at MICA with a minor in literary studies. She is interested in silence, language, translation, and invented languages. Bouma works in various media including video, fiber, and performance.
Yena Chang works in the Fine Arts Department at Korean National University of Arts (KNUA). Her current work experiments with three-dimensional media as a contrast to her former two-dimensional work.
Isak Chung graduated from the University of Seoul, School of Architecture and is currently pursuing his master’s degree in architecture at Korean National University of Arts (KNUA). He has participated in numerous urban projects as a researcher and designer. Chung looks for a new methodology of urban planning and believes that the potential for his vision lies in Southeast Asian cities.
Hannah Cochran is a painting major at MICA. She has a background in theatre and dance and investigates human psychology with traditional techniques of figurative painting.
Viviana Cordova is from La Paz, Bolivia, lived in Virginia, and is now a graphic design graduate student at MICA. After earning a bachelor of fine arts (B.F.A.) degree from MICA, she was a producer at TELEMUNDO, an affiliate of NBC Networks. Cordova is interested in electronic typography and communication via graphic design.
Candace Fong is a general fine arts major with a background in graphic design at MICA. She has been interested in exploring the themes of culture and technology.
Jiah Im is an undergraduate illustration major at MICA. Im explores social issues dealing with children and the homeless through illustration and kinetic sculpture.
Soohyun Kang is a general fine arts major at MICA. Kang’s current work deals with the gestures of play between sensory and analytic emotions explored in a series of animations and video works.
Nara Park majors in general fine arts at MICA. She makes accumulative sculpture and installation paying attention to the commonplace objects of everyday. Park’s use of personal archives reflects her daily experience as a journal or an autobiography.
Pete Razon, born and raised in New Jersey, majors in interdisciplinary sculpture at MICA. His interests range from making formal wooden sculpture to installation space and pro-wrestling inspired performance art.