Zone of Nowhere is the first Australian solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed, South Korean-born and New York based multidisciplinary artist Kimsooja.
For more than 30 years, Kimsooja has centred her work around sensitive cultural and political issues and in particular those surrounding migration and displacement. Through installation, performance, sculpture, video and photography, she investigates the human condition and the environment we live in.
She invites us to question our existence, the world, and the major challenges we face. Having grown up with Buddhism, Zen, Confucianism, Christianity, and the age-old role of the artist as shaman, she creates critical artworks that transcend everyday reality, bringing together the physical and the metaphysical through repetitive actions and meditative practices.
For more than 30 years, Kimsooja has centred her work around sensitive cultural and political issues and in particular those surrounding migration and displacement. Through installation, performance, sculpture, video and photography, she investigates the human condition and the environment we live in.
She invites us to question our existence, the world, and the major challenges we face. Having grown up with Buddhism, Zen, Confucianism, Christianity, and the age-old role of the artist as shaman, she creates critical artworks that transcend everyday reality, bringing together the physical and the metaphysical through repetitive actions and meditative practices.
The exhibition features a variety of artworks, including To Breathe – Zone of Nowhere (2018) an awe-inspiring installation of 30 large translucent flags created for PICA’s central gallery space. The work expresses a wish for coexistence, for a utopian society in which individuals unite in celebration of their distinctions and common humanity. It originates from the video To Breathe – The Flags (2012), commissioned for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
Presented in association with Perth Festival
Kimsooja
Born in 1957 in Daegu, South Korea, Kimsooja lives and works in New York.
Her work has been widely exhibited internationally, and it has been included five times in the Venice Biennale (1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, and in 2013 when Kimsooja represented Korea) and presented at the Documenta 14 at Fridericianum in Kassel.
Other Biennales where Kimsooja’s work has been presented are the 5th Istanbul Biennale (1997); São Paulo (1998); Sydney (1998); Asia-Pacific Triennale (1999); Yokohama Triennial (2005); Whitney (2002); Gwangju (1995, 2001, 2012); and Busan (2002, 2014). She was honoured with the Ho-Am Prize (2015) and recently with the Asia Society Arts Award in Hong Kong (2017), and The Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) in New York (2017).
