Since the early 1990s, Koo Jeong A has made works that are seemingly casual and commonplace, yet at the same time remarkably precise, deliberate, and considered. Her reflections on the senses and the body incorporate objects, still and moving images, audio elements, and aromas. Many of her works are conceived within site-specific environments that question the limits of fact and fiction, the imaginary and actuality of our world. Koo considers the connection of energies between a place and people, relying on chance to drive her encounters.
Read MoreIn realising her spaces and images, she draws from a wide spectrum of concerns which she developed over the years. Ranging from human cognition, to the philosophy of Taoism, from the science of Qi, to the interaction of natural elements such as earth, fire, metal, water, and wood. In her environments, nothing is merely ordinary; on the contrary, any material or phenomena–be it a mound of charcoal, a shaft of iron, or a glare of sunlight–is endowed with dignity and reverence and incites the surprise of a discovery. To venture near Koo’s work is to travel unreservedly through a cosmos of unassuming large and small forms, mysterious dwarfed spaces, and perilous landscapes of memories.
Koo Jeong A was born in 1967 in Seoul, Korea. She has been named ‘2016 Artist of the Year’ by the Korean Cultural Centre UK, celebrated with a solo exhibition in London in October 2016. Recent solo exhibitions and commissions of her work include: ajeongkoo, Art Sonje Center, Seoul (2017); Enigma of Beginnings, Yuz Project Room at Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2016); Koo Jeong A x Wheelscape: Evertro, Everton Park, Liverpool (2015); Annual Journey, Pilar Corrias, London (2015); Oussser, Fondazione La Raia, Novi Ligure (2014); Koo Jeong A: 16:07, Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf (2012); OTRO, Centre international d’art et du paysageIle de Vassivière, Vassivière (2011); E opened his eyes he is now walking, CCA KITAKYUSHU Project Gallery, Kitakyushu (2011); Constellation Congress, DIA Art Foundation, Dia:Beacon, Beacon, The Dan Flavin Art Insitute, Bridgehampton (2010); Koo Jeong A, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (2008); Flash Cube at Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul (2007).
Significant group exhibitions include: Take Me (I’m Yours), Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2017); 32nd Bienal de São Paulo – Incerteza Viva [Live Uncertainty], São Paulo (2016); Art Night, curated by ICA, London (2016); Take me (I’m Yours), Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Charlottenborg (2016); Discordant Harmony, Hiroshima Museum, Hiroshima (2015); recto/verso, Foundation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2015); Take me (I’m yours), Monnaie de Paris, Paris (2015); The World in 2015, UCCA, Beijing (2015); Repetition and Difference, Jewish Museum, New York (2015); Burning Down the House – 10th Gwangju Biennale, curated by Jessica Morgan, Gwangju (2014); Inhabiting the World – the 6th Busan Biennale, Busan (2014); Real DMZ Project 2014, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do & Artsonje Center, Seoul (2014); A stroll through a fun palace, Swiss Pavilion at 14th Architecture Biennale, Venice (2014); Real DMZ Project 2013: Borderline, Border area near DMZ, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea (2013); En suspension, FRAC – Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France (2013); In Situ, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Japan (2013); Media Landscape – Zone East, Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool (2010); Your Bright Future, LACMA, Los Angeles (2009); 53rd International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Venice (2009); Il tempo del postino, Manchester International Festival, Manchester (2007); The Moscow Biennale, Moscow (2005); On Reason and Emotion, 14th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney (2004); Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated), Guggenheim Museum, New York (2004); 50th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Venice (2003); Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama (2001); Manifesta 3, Ljubljana (2000); Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju (1997); Do it, curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Independent Curators Incorporated, New York (1997); Manifesta 1, Rotterdam (1996); 46th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Venice (1995).
Koo Jeong A lives and works everywhere.
Text courtesy Pilar Corrias.