Sunok Chun
Artist Statement
I am interested in boxes -- both in the way. they contain things and the way they set things free. Freedom of open spaces for me it means the embrace of space as an area that is philosophically full and empty simultaneously.
In Antoine de Saint - Exupery’s The little Prince, a pilot tries to draw a sheep for the Little prince, who in turn rejects the first three attempts as he is not happy with the sheep’s appearance. Finally, the pilot draws a box, explaining that the sheep is inside. “That is exactly the way I wanted it!” said the Little Prince. “Do you think that this sheep will have a great deal of grass?” Then he stepped into the box world of the sheep, and through the windows in the box, he looked at the outside world.
Like the Little Prince, I too need a box that will contain a “sheep”. A box that will shelter my dreams and ideas.
I think of my art works as metaphoric boxes in which I keep a glimpse of realty as I see it. I am interested in the relationship between the enclosed space and the space beyond its boundaries. So my work is often comprised of antithetic elements that describe that relationship, such as geometry and the free gesture. My paintings set up a dialogue between rational straight lines and atmospheric areas of color with floating, gestural markings.
Hazy Day
2016, oil on canvas, 50X40cm
Moon Light
2017, oil on canvas, 50X40cm
Boundless
2015, oil on canvas, 139X114cm
Side by Side
2014, oil, oil on canvas, 91X81cm
Like It Is
2016, oil on canvas, 101X81cm
Synthetic Thinking
2013, oil on canvas, 162X112cm
Chatter
2013, oil on canvas, 162X112cm
Deep Inside Ocean
2002, oil on canvas, 190X147cm
Untitled
2005, oil on canvas, 190X147cm
Artist Biography
American, Born in South Korea
1997 MFA , Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
1991 BFA, Sung Shin Women’s University, Seoul Korea
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2017 NU Hotel Brooklyn Welancora Gallery
2017 Freedom, Welancora Galelly, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Extrication, Theo Ganz Studio Beacon, New York
2012 Convergence, Theo Ganz Studio Beacon, New York
2007 Kunstmesse Salazburg Galerie Bohner ,Austria
1997 Second floor Gallery, Pratt Institute Brooklyn,New York
1995 Tutor Center Brooklyn, New York
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 Oneness K & P Gallery, New York, New York
2015 The Wind will Carry us Theo Ganz Studio, Beacon, New York.
2015 persistent Song Theo Ganz Studio, Beacon, New York.
2011 EverGreene The Artist & Their Art Old School Mott Street, New York.
2009 Hello Living and Brooklyn Contemporary Art Brooklyn, New York
2009 Sonderschau,Korea Art Today Galerie Bohner, Germany
2007 Kunstmesse Salazburg Galerie Bohner ,Austria
2006 Elegy in Variable Key, Theo Ganz Studio, Brooklyn, NY.
2003 BAM Group Show ( SONYA) Brooklyn, New York
2001 Subject Matters Asian American Women Artists Alliance The Phoenix Gallery, NY, NY
2000 Loopy , Gallery Korea, New York, New York
2000 Confluence of Cultures,The Rubell & Norman Schafler Gallery Brooklyn, NY
1999 Confluence of Cultures, Pratt Manhattan Gallery New York, New York
1999 The Beginning Painting and Sculpture Lodi Memorial Library, Lodi, New Jersey
1998 Williamsburg Bridges Tibet” Williamsburg Art & Historical Center,Brooklyn, New York
1997 1997’s Night of 1.000 Drawings, Artist Space, New York, New York
1997 Cornucopia Woong Chun Gallery, Seoul Korea
1997 Shoe Project Steuben West Gallery Brooklyn, New York
1996 Nagoya Parcd 7 Nagoya, Japan
1996 BWAC Pier Show IV Brooklyn, New York
1996 Ear Show Pratt Library ShowcaseBrooklyn, New York
1995 An Exhibition of Small Works New Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
1993 Boung A Ga Sum Ba Tang Gallery, Seoul Korea
1992 Boung A Ga Sum, Se Hoa Gallery, Seoul Korea
1991 Boung A Ga Sum Ba Tang Gallery, Seoul Korea
1990 New Art Show, Kyong Inn Gallery, Seoul Korea
1990 Escape of Ism The Third Gallery, Seoul Korea
Awards
1999 Seventh Annual Award From Chung Hun Art & Culture Org. Seoul, Korea
1997 Certificate of Excellence in Studio Art Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York