Solo Exhibitions (Brief)

Since 2014, IM Youngzoo has held approximately 12 solo exhibitions in Seoul and New York as of 2025. Her notable solo exhibitions include 《There 巨氣》 (2014, Space Sun, Seoul), 《Gristle and Synovial Fluid》 (2018, DOOSAN Gallery, Seoul), 《AEDONG》 (2019, DOOSAN Gallery, New York, USA), 《Ghost White (#F8F8FF Opacity 75%) 幽靈白》 (2020, Gallery Chosun, Seoul), 《M》 (2021, Outsight, Seoul), 《LiDAR LiDAR Lead me to my grave》 (2023, Geumcheon Art Space, Seoul), and 《Mi-ryeon》 (2024, PERIGEE HALL & GALLERY, Seoul).

Group Exhibitions (Brief)

From 2015 to 2025, IM Youngzoo has participated in approximately 51 group exhibitions across Korea, the United States, Vietnam, Taiwan, Germany, and Indonesia. Her notable group exhibitions include 《Diplopia》 (2020, Arko Art Center, Seoul), 《Sunset Valley Village》 (2021, Art Sonje Center, Seoul), 《The Phenomenal Transition 》 (2021, Museum of Contemporary Art Busan, Busan), 《Vom Spielen》 (2023, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany), 《Let’s Dance Sufi!》 (2023, Oil Tank Culture Park, T4, Seoul), 《Maniera》 (2023, DOOSAN Gallery, Seoul), 《A Strangling Bird》 (2024, ONE AND J. Gallery, Seoul), and 《Worlds Beyond Extraordinary》 (2024, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan).

Additionally, she has showcased screenings at various institutions, including Korean Film Archive, Cinematheque KOFA (2016), The 14th Seoul International Experimental Film Festival (EXiS) (2017), 《CROSSROADS 2018》 (2018, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, USA), 《hOle》 (2019, Taipei Contemporary Art Center (TCAC), Taipei, Taiwan), 《Natural Born Odds》 (2023, Salihara Arts Center, Jakarta, Indonesia), and 《1st Screening Night》 (2024, Faction, Seoul).

Awards (Selected)

In 2024, IM Youngzoo was awarded the Frieze Chanel Award and the Amant New York Research Residency Program in Spring 2025.

Collections (Selected)

IM Youngzoo’s works are housed in the collections of major institutions, including Seoul Museum of Art (Korea), Busan Museum of Contemporary Art (Korea), Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art (Korea), Doosan Gallery (Korea).

Originality & Identity

IM Youngzoo explores the relationship between superstition, rationality, belief, and technology in Korean society. She focuses on the process by which certain beliefs are formed and how they function socially and historically, presenting a unique perspective in which religion and science coexist. Her early works, such as SUL SUL SUL Apt (2014), the ‘AEDONG’ (2015–2018) series, and Rock and Fairy (2016), analyzed the structures that shape belief, using Korean cultural elements such as geomancy, stone worship, and the Chotdaebawi Rock. Over time, she expanded her approach beyond merely refuting or satirizing superstitions, instead seeking to understand them within their social contexts and exploring how people interpret reality through belief systems.

As time passed, her exploration increasingly intertwined with advancements in science and technology. In her solo exhibition 《TheWestliesWindComesAndGoes》 (2016), she examined the parallels between weather forecasting and astrology. In Starry Starry (2017) and Aurora Reflection (2017), she experimented with audiovisual techniques to demonstrate how belief systems can be constructed through visual and auditory effects. Following the pandemic, she actively incorporated contemporary technologies such as VR and AI, integrating Eastern philosophy with scientific advancements to propose new concepts of time and space.

In her recent solo exhibition 《Mi-ryeon 未練》 (2024, Perigee Gallery), she explored themes of the afterlife and dimensional transitions. IM Youngzoo continues to examine the intersections and collisions between belief and technology, superstition and science, investigating how these forces operate within human cognition and social structures.

Style & Contents

IM Youngzoo collects narratives and images from legends, superstitions, pseudoscience, and pseudo-religion, translating them into visual forms through video, painting, installation, and publications. Initially, her work revolved around video pieces that blended documentary and fiction, but it has since expanded to include installations, VR, and AI-driven experiences. The ‘AEDONG’(2015–2018) series examined the consumption of religious imagery by repetitively zooming in and out on the Chotdaebawi Rock. In Princess Yoseok (2018), she merged traditional Korean folklore with internet ghost stories to illustrate how superstitions are recontextualized in contemporary culture.

Her exploration of audiovisual effects deepened over time as she examined the technological mechanisms that produce belief. Starry Starry and Aurora Reflection utilized repetition, looping, Morse code, and VHS noise to deconstruct the sensory structures of belief. Her solo exhibition 《AEDONG》(2019, Doosan Gallery New York) layered video, painting, and objects to create a multi-material representation of belief structures.

More recently, her work has expanded to incorporate VR and embodied experiences. In 《Mi-ryeon 未練》, she combined VR with a two-channel video and objects, allowing visitors to experience a virtual journey to their own burial sites. Her practice has evolved toward constructing multilayered sensory, spatial, and physical experiences that reveal the mechanisms behind the construction of belief.

Topography & Continuity

IM Youngzoo prompts audiences to sensorially experience the hidden dynamics that lie beneath the binary opposition of theology and technology, religion and science, encouraging them to reassess these structures on their own terms. A key aspect of her artistic approach is her in-depth study of specific belief systems in Korean society and her exploration of how they are consumed both collectively and individually. By closely examining these structures, she highlights the ways in which superstition and faith intersect with modern rationality.

She expands her practice by linking contemporary technologies such as VR and AI with Eastern philosophy and mythology, investigating how belief systems materialize through technological advancements, and conversely, how technology is shaped by belief and desire. Her artistic practice offers a fresh perspective on the binary between rationality and irrationality, revealing the fluid and often paradoxical nature of these constructs. Through her work, she challenges conventional modes of knowledge production, drawing connections between technological progress and enduring human instincts for faith and the unknown.