Ran Hwang: Present Absence - Dual Realities at Work
2020 Public Lecture Series
Presented by Korean Cultural Center New York and AHL Foundation
Online Lecture by Richard Vine, Art in America Editor
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Ran Hwang, East Palace, 2011, 59inx118in
Dr. Richard Vine delves into the development and transformation of Ran Hwang’s work over the past two decades, which have developed a global profile and been exhibited in institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea. Ran Hwang came to the United States in 1997 to major in Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts and after graduation, began her professional career working in the textile industry. After witnessing the September 11th attacks, right at the scene of the disaster, she embarked upon a full-fledged exploration into the concept of life and death and began crafting compositions with the beads and buttons that had been ever present in her workshop. Life and death intersect in one bead, one button, one crystal;
works are hammered over and over in a semi-meditative state. She began to reflect on life and death, but, at the same time, her work incorporates a double reality that also glimpses into social issues through mental and physical labor. Like many artists since ancient times, Ran Hwang utilizes the Buddhist meditative techniques of endless repetitive work and asceticism and this spiritual reflection contrasts splendid results with duplicity.
Speaker: Dr. Richard Vine
Dr. Richard Vine is the Managing Editor of Art in America Magazine, one of the United States’ most prominent art review publications. Art in America has long been recognized for identifying and championing numerous famous artists at the early stages of their careers, such as Alexander Calder, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Indiana, and Robert Rauschenberg, leading to its wide subscription base in the art world. Dr. Vine received a PhD in Literature from the University of Chicago and began as an art critic with the Chicago Review. He has lectured at a number of universities, including the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the New School, and New York University, and published several books on art, including Odd Nerdrum: Paintings, Sketches, and Drawings (2001), and New China, New Art (2008). Dr. Vine has also organized exhibitions worldwide, in major cities such as Beijing, Delhi, and New York.
This online lecture is presented as a part of Korean Culture Day 2020 for October program
