Atta Kim: The Museum Project

Yossi Milo Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of color photographs from The Museum Project by Atta Kim. The exhibition will open on June 29, and close on August 25, with a reception for the artist on Thursday, June 29, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. This will be the artist's first exhibition at the gallery and will run concurrently with a solo museum exhibition, Atta Kim: On-Air, at the International Center of Photography.

 

In The Museum Project, made between 1995 and 2002, Atta Kim inverts the public space of the museum and its system of display, placing the public, oftentimes naked, within the "private" space of glass display containers. Playing the role of excavator and curator, the artist stages and photographs tableaux involving sex, violence, political ideology, and religion, creating his own museum in the process.

 

The transparent box-shaped containers play a key role in this project, heightening the viewer's awareness of the relationship between observer and object and creating a space where living objects are enshrined. In some images, as in works from the "Field" series, multiple bodies are pressed together or hunched within the confines of a small box; in others, as in works from the "People" series, figures are presented carrying out commonplace activities within the box, such as sharing a meal or simply standing quietly. By isolating and displaying individuals, The Museum Project addresses issues of surveillance, alienation, vulnerability, and Eastern philosophy.

 

Atta Kim's work has been exhibited at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea; the 25th Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil; the Australian Center for Photography, Sydney; and Nikon Salon Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, among others. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark; the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; and the Art Museum of Kyongnam Province, China. The ICP exhibition (June 9-August 27, 2006) will be accompanied by a catalogue, including an interview with the artist by ICP Curator Christopher Phillips. Atta Kim was born in Korea in 1956 and currently lives and works in New York.