The exhibition project “UNBOXING PROJECT,” curated by Hyunjoo Byeon and art advisor Minjin Chae, has launched its first international tour at Various Small Fires (VSF) in Los Angeles, featuring works by 28 Korean artists.

Started in 2022, “UNBOXING PROJECT” was Inspired by the enduring impact of small-sized artworks, which often evoke empathy rather than mere admiration unlike large-scale or spectacular works. Providing participating artists with a specially crafted framework, such as small canvases and plinths within a portable box, the project commissions them to create new works resonating with the theme of each project. These artworks are then unveiled and exhibited.

The current project, hosted at VSF in Los Angeles, is titled “UNBOXING PROJECT 3.2: Maquette.” In general, maquettes are thought of as models that are the first experiments of an artist’s ideas in sculpture. However, this exhibition is symbolically and paradoxically titled maquettes to emphasize their meaning as small works that fully reflect the artist’s sense of sculptural form and scale rather than maquettes as a preparatory stage.

The participating artists span a wide range of generations, including first-generation Korean sculptor Kim Yun Shin, and include established, mid-career, and emerging artists. Several works in the exhibition are deeply rooted in personal and collective memory around their Korean identity. Choong Sup Lim, having moved from Jincheon, Korea to New York, projects his “in-between” identity by utilizing the sparrow in his work.

The exhibition is on view through December 15, 2024. The project will later move to Berlin, Germany, in March of next year.
 
Participating Artists : Sla Cha, Jaiyoung Cho, Goen Choi, Haneyl Choi, Soyoung Chung, Sunpil Don, Gimhongsok, Gwon Osang, Kyungwoo Han, Sang A Han, Jungyoon Hyen, Jiieh G Hur, Byoungho Kim, Hansaem Kim, Inbai Kim, Kim Yun Shin, Ahnnlee Lee, Hyunsoo Lee, Eunu Lee, Eun Yeoung Lee, Wonwoo Lee, Choong Sup Lim, Isaac Moon, Jong Oh, Donghoon Rhee, Meekyoung Shin, Jung Uk Yang, Yeesookyung

References

• VSF, THE UNBOXING PROJECT
• 언박싱 프로젝트 (UNBOXING PROJECT)
• 한국경제 김윤신 권오상…LA로 간 한국 작가 28명 ‘초미니’ 조각 언박싱!, 2024.11.06

Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.