Hyeree Ro was born in Seoul and raised in
Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and California, and currently works between New York
and Seoul. She received a BA in Law from Yonsei University, graduated from the
School of Visual Arts at Korea National University of Arts, and earned an MFA
in Sculpture from the Yale School of Art.
Installation
view of 《ARTSPECTRUM 2022》 © Leeum Museum of Art
《ARTSPECTRUM》 was launched in 2001 at Hoam Gallery as a biannual survey exhibition
of young and emerging South Korean artists. Since 2006, it has been held at the
Leeum Museum of Art, where the current processes for artist selection and
review were established. In 2014, Leeum began inviting outside curators and
critics as well as internal curators to recommend artists, in addition to a
separate professional jury to select one artist to receive a prize. These
processes embrace diversity, openness, and the artists’ creative will.
Over
the twenty-year history of 《ARTSPECTRUM》, Korea’s contemporary art scene
underwent dramatic changes. Moving image and installation works are prevalent
along with painting and sculpture. Performance and audience participation are
now familiar approaches. So many young artists from prestigious schools at home
and abroad are working actively across various mediums and genres, expanding
the domain of visual art, diversifying the exhibition audience, and cultivating
new identities as artist.
Hyeree
Ro, Falls, 2022 © Hyeree Ro
Hyeree
Christina Mary Ro has created works that weave and explore modern history and
the artist’s family history through the intersections of body movement,
language, and object. The new work Falls, presented in this
exhibition, is also produced in this context and will consist of installation,
video, and performance. Based on the artist’s experience of not going to
Niagara Falls during a road trip, Falls follows the
parallels and overlaps of individual’s life and three historical events: the 1997
Asian financial crisis, the September 11 attacks in 2001, and the inauguration
of Donald Trump as the U.S. president in 2017.
When viewed from eye level, the
structures of various tactile properties that make up the work are reminiscent
of real-life landscapes such as waterfall streams and security checkpoints.
When viewed from the top of the escalator at the entrance of the exhibition
space, different motifs of dots, lines, and planes resembling downward
coordinates of economic indicator graphs or guidance floor markings in the
airport are present. As part of the work, a performance engaging with the
objects will express personal narratives of immigration and migration.
