Do Ho Suh
18 June - 17 September 2005
Do-Ho Suh in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Paratrooper II (installation view Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Morris Gallery), 2005. Photo: Will Brown | |
|  |
Opening Reception and Gallery Talk by the Artist
Friday, 17 June 2005
6:00–8:00 p.m.
Members-only Preview with the Artist
Friday, 17 June 2005
5:00 p.m.
From June 18 through September 17, 2005, The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) proudly presents the latest works of Do-Ho Suh. As an artist-in-residence at FWM, Suh worked with staff to develop a new process of knitting nylon monofilament to create Paratrooper II (2005), the second in a series of sculptures based on the theme of the paratrooper and the latest work by an artist-in-residence to be added to FWM's permanent museum collection. An opening reception and gallery walk-through by the artist will be held at FWM on Friday, June 17 at 6 p.m. with a members-only preview and tour preceding the event at 5 p.m.
For this exhibition, FWM is partnering with The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. From June 18 through August 21, 2005, the Morris Gallery, the Pennsylvania Academy's program devoted to contemporary art, will exhibit Suh's Paratrooper II, made in collaboration with FWM. The Morris Gallery also will host an opening reception on Friday, June 17 at 6 p.m.
| 
Do-Ho Suh, Paratrooper V (installation views FWM), 2005. Photo: Will Brown |
| |
Suspended from the Morris Gallery's high ceiling, Suh's paratrooper will take on new proportions when set against the interior of the Frank Furness-designed architecture and historical landmark. In FWM's galleries, Suh will present Paratrooper V (2005), another work in the paratrooper series, and the work Screen (2004), a site-based installation of stacked miniature figurines resembling those in one of Suh's most well-known works, Floor (1997-2000).
Throughout his career, Suh has explored issues of personal and cultural identity, displacement, individuality, and transience. Through repetition of individual forms, as evident in works such as Screen and Floor, the artist makes reference to the complex relationship of the individual to the collective as the seemingly anonymous mass of figures in Screen and Floor literally support the greater whole. The paratrooper series marks a continuation of Suh's interest in the increasingly transient nature of a global culture and in his personal reflections on the experiences of landing in a foreign culture.
Paratrooper II hangs from the gallery ceiling supported by a parachute formed of 200 semi-transparent figures, enveloping visitors in a fabric environment. The life-size human paratrooper, created by knitting colored resin-coated nylon monofilament, is attached to its parachute by strings of monofilament woven directly into the fabric of the paratrooper.
To realize Paratrooper II, FWM Project Coordinator Doina Adam assisted Suh in developing a new process of knitting monofilament that enabled the material to be stretched in various directions and molded to the specifications of the paratrooper. The polyester organza blouses composing the parachute were sewed by Abby Lutz, project construction technician, and Nami Yamamoto, printer/studio assistant.
Do-Ho Suh, Artist-in-Residence at FWM, working on Paratrooper II (2005). Photo: Aaron Igler | |
| |
About Do-Ho Suh
Do-Ho Suh was born in Seoul, Korea in 1962. He received a BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in sculpture from Yale University. He has had solo exhibitions at such venues as the Serpentine Gallery, London, Seattle Art Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris. He has also participated in group exhibitions at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the 49th Venice Biennale, among others. The artist's work is represented in a number of major museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Do-Ho Suh lives and works in New York City.
About The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has been home to America's artists for 200 years. The Academy collects and exhibits the work of distinguished American artists, and is renowned for training fine artists. Notable alumni include Rembrandt Peale, William Harnett, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Eakins, Cecilia Beaux, Henry Tanner, Maxfield Parrish, Robert Henri, John Sloan, Violet Oakley, John Marin, Arthur B. Carles, Charles Sheeler, Charles Demuth, Robert Gwathmey, Edna Andrade, Charles Searles, Jody Pinto, Bo Bartlett, Vincent Desiderio, Sarah McEneaney and filmmaker David Lynch.
The renovations to the Academy's contemporary Morris Gallery are made possible through the generous support of The William Penn Foundation.
Academy hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Academy is located at 118-128 N. Broad Street in Philadelphia, two blocks north of City Hall. Admission to the Morris Gallery is free. For additional information, visit www.pafa.org or call 215-972-7600.
The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is the only museum of its kind, offering internationally renowned artists the resources to create new work in experimental materials. Artists come from all media-including sculpture, installation, video, painting, ceramics, and architecture-and use FWM's facilities and technical expertise to create works of art that they could not create on their own. Research, construction, and fabrication occur on-site in studios that are open to the public, providing visitors with the opportunity to see works of art from conception to completion. FWM's permanent collections include not only complete works of art, but also material research, samples, prototypes, and photography and video of artists making and speaking about their work. Access to the creative process provides visitors with a point of entry into understanding challenging works of contemporary art. FWM offers an unparalleled experience to the most significant artists of our time, students, and the general public.
FWM Exhibitions and Programs Admission: $3 for Adults, Children under 12 and FWM Members for Free. Group tours available by appointment.
Hours: Mon.–Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat.–Sun., 12 noon to 4 p.m.
The programs of The Fabric Workshop and Museum are supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts; The Judith Rothschild Foundation; Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency; National Endowment for the Arts; Miller-Plummer Foundation; LLWW Foundation; U. S. Institute of Museum and Library Services; Nimoy Foundation; The Arcadia Foundation; Claneil Foundation; Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro; Independence Foundation; The Philadelphia Cultural Fund; E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation; Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation; The Henry Luce Foundation matching gifts program; The Barra Foundation; LEF Foundation; Louis N. Cassett Foundation; Quaker Chemical Foundation; and the Board of Directors and members of The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
For more information, please contact Jeffrey Bussman, Assistant to the Directors, at 215-561-8888 ext. 229
jeff@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org.
For general information, call 215-561-8888.
|
