“Kim Yunshin: Letter from Argentina” Poster image. ©Lee Ungno Museum
Lee
Ungno Museum presents Kim Yunshin’s solo exhibition “Kim Yunshin: Letter from Argentina” from
June 25 to September 22.
Kim
Yunshin, a first-generation Korean woman sculptor, began interacting with Lee
Ungno after enrolling at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts’ Academy of
Painting and Sculpture in 1964. At the time, Lee had lived in Paris for five
years; launched his European career by signing an exclusive contract in 1962
with Galerie Paul Facchetti, the leader of the Informel school; and been
gaining greater artistic recognition through presentations of his work
throughout Europe, including in Austria and Switzerland.
Kim’s
first year in Paris was also the year in which Lee founded L’Académie de
Peinture Orientale de Paris inside Musée Cernuschi with sponsorship from
artists, critics, and philosophers, including Hans Hartung, Pierre Soulages,
Zao Wou Ki, and Chang Dai-chien.
This
year marks the 60th anniversary of Kim and Lee’s first encounter in Paris and
the 40th anniversary of Kim’s move to Argentina to focus on her art. The Lee
Ungno Museum presents approximately 50 paintings and sculptures that reflect
the friendship between these two Korean artists in Europe as well as the
artistic world that Kim created in Argentina, one of the countries located
farthest from Korea.
This
exhibition is especially significant for its inclusion of several artworks from
Kim Yunshin’s early days in Paris that have never been displayed in Korea as
well as the majority of her Argentina artworks. Also, this exhibition
chronologically explores the visual language that Kim created based on a
natural abstract foundation.
