CEO of Kukje Gallery, Lee Hyun Sook; Kukje Gallery and The Restaurant

Korean Forerunner for International Art Exchange

Located opposite the National Folk Museum of Korea at Sagan-dong, Seoul, the Kukje Gallery features Jonathan Borofsky’s female statue installed on its rooftop; it looks like it’s walking up to the sky. Likewise it’s vigorous shape, the Kukje Gallery is famous for its own unique display, its restaurant with a cozy atmosphere and its policy to introduce the world’s best artists to the audience.
Since it opened in 1982, the Kukje Gallery has been at the forefront in representing the most current and significant tendencies in Korean and international contemporary art. The gallery has established itself as a leading venue for showing works by artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Francis, Jim Dine, Frank Stella, Robert Mangold, Anthony Caro, Cy Twombly, Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Ed Ruscha, Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, Anish Kapoor, Bill Viola, Jeff Wall, Julian Opie, etc. Lee, Hyun-Sook, CEO of the Kukje Gallery, had made a thirty square meter gallery grow one of the top galleries in Asia in only 20 years time, so that the New York Times selected it as the best galleries in Asia. Based on a decade-long experience as a collector, she opened the gallery in Insa-dong, Seoul, in 1982, and now the gallery has grown into a major gallery representing the nation’a galleries. In 2006, the Galleries Associations of Korea, a federation of domestic galleries, elected Lee as its 14th chairman. For almost 3 years since then, she has been very active, conducting the Korea International Art Fair (KIAF), which represents the nation’ art fairs. Recognizing the importance of promoting Korean artists abroad, the Kukje Gallery participates annually in major international art fairs such as ARCO, Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach and The Armory Show. Since 1998, the Kukje Gallery is one of the few Korean galleries who have met the strict criteria for the Basel Art Fair. To introduce and promote Korean artists to the international art audience, the Kukje Gallery first showed their works alongside more recognizable works of high caliber by international artists.  In doing so, Korean artists such as Yeondoo Jung, Hein-kuhn Oh, Rhee Ki Bong, Cho Duck Hyun, Bohnchang Koo, Choi Jae Eun, GIMHONGSOK, Kim Hong Joo, Meekyoung Shin, Hong Seung-Hye and others received much attention from the global art world.  In 2007, the Kukje Gallery held Louise Bourgeois’solo show at it’ new hall, space2, for the first exhibition of the new space. The exhibition was the artist’ third solo exhibition held at the Kukje Gallery; first in 2002 and then in 2005. The artist’ major abstract sculptures ranging from her earlier works produced in the 1940s to her recent works produced in 2006 were highly reputed. In addition, the gallery invited 16 foreign artists to its another exhibition commemorating its 25th anniversary: Willem de Kooning, Donald Judd, Gerhard Richter, Damien Hirst, Bill Viola, Eva Hesse, Anish Kapoor, Sol LeWitt, etc. All of them had once or more been introduced by the Kukje Gallery over the last 20 years. Some 30 paintings, sculptures, videos, or installations were exhibited under the title “eduction of the World Contemporary Virtuoso Artists.” An insurance company valued the works as high as 100 billion won in total. At the entrance of the gallery was installed Calder’s large mobile ‘Ordinary’ valued $23 million.  CEO Lee, Hyun-Sook’s eldest daughter is responsible for exposing Korean artists to various corners of the world, including New York. Tina Kim (Kim Tae-hee), operates the Tina Kim Fine Art Gallery in New York. She had run a gallery on 57th Street in Manhattan for 5 years, and, in 2007, the gallery moved to Chelsea. Yeondoo Jung’s solo show was it’s inaugural exhibition. Since then, the gallery has held exhibitions for such world-class virtuosos as Ghada Amer, Reza Farkhondeh, de Kooning, Mitchell, Richter, Alexander Calder, George Nakashima and so on. Tina Kim says her mother, who has grown her gallery into a most reputable one, is her best role model. Lee, Hyun-Sook’s second daughter, Kim Soo-hee, who majored in art history at the Chicago Art Institute, has been an apprentice under her mother. Lee’s only son, Kim Chang-hwan, is his mother’s meritorious retainer, who has turned ‘The Restaurant’ beside the Kukje Gallery into one of the most famous destinations in the city.
The gallery promotes Korean artists to non-commercial venues, using its solid network of museum curators and critics worldwide. Many Korean artists who have shown with the gallery have gone on to participate in international biennials and major art museum exhibitions. By introduce many of critically acclaimed international artists as well as support promising emerging Korean artists, the Kukje Gallery will continue to play an important role in developing the domestic and global art market.
www.kukje.org

Cho Duck Hyun’s solo show “re-collect,” 30th May-5th July, 2008, Space 1; Bill Viola, Ocean Without a Shore, 2008, video on plasma display mounted on wall, perfomer Weba Garretson.

CEO of Chambers Fine Art, Christophe W. Mao; Chambers Fine Art Beijing.

The Greatest Chamber for Chinese Contemporary Art

Chambers Fine Art is named after the distinguished British architect, Sir William Chambers who, in addition to his architectural practice, was a leading exponent of Chinese principles in garden design in the late eighteenth century. Inspired by the example of Chambers, Christophe W. Mao, founder and director of the gallery since 2000, has organized a stimulating series of exhibitions that have introduced the work of some of artists such as Ai Weiwei, Cai Guo-Qiang, Chi Peng, Geng Jianyi, Guo Hongwei, Hong Hao, Hong Lei, Lu Shengzhong, Qiu Shihua, Qiu Zhijie, Shi Jinsong, Song Dong, Wang Jianwei, Wang Tiande, Wu Jian’an, Xiuzhen, Zhan Wang, Zhang Huan, and other artists who are active in China and abroad today. Born in Wuhan, China in 1963, Christophe W. Mao came to the United States in 1986. After graduating from Drexel University in 1993, he worked for several years as a financial analyst before deciding that his interests lay elsewhere. In 2000, he opened Chambers Fine Art in the Chelsea district of New York, focusing on classical Chinese furniture and contemporary Chinese art. Since 2003, however, recognizing that the contemporary side of his activities demanded his full attention, the gallery has concentrated on contemporary Chinese art. In 2005 Mr. Mao was one of the sponsors of the first ever Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale curated by Cai Guo Qiang.  The first exhibition in the New York gallery, “First Encounter” was devoted to the work of the outstanding paper-cut artist Lu Shengzhong who converted the gallery space into a vividly colored ‘temple’ that evoked another aspect of life in China than the contemporary urban culture explored by so many younger artists. Other solo exhibitions in the last eight years have been devoted to the work of Hong Hao, Wang Tiande, Wang Jianwei, Qiu Shihua, Rong Rong and inri, Hong Lei and Qiu Zhijie. The following gallery program has devoted to the work of established and young artists and thematic exhibitions organized by recognized scholars in the field such as Feng Boyi, Paul Laster, Yasufumi Nakamori, Gu Zhenqing, Yang Shin-Yi, Pi Li, Zheng Shengtian, Michael Zhang, Zhang Li, etc.  In 2006, Christophe W. Mao commissioned HHF Architects + Ai Weiwei to design a storage facility on his property in upstate New York. The building, named Artfarm, which originated in discussions between Mao and Ai Weiwei and was completed in June 2008, is conceived by HHF Architects as “An equal member of a whole group of sculptures which are spread out in the landscape.” Built on sloping land, three interconnected structures house storage space, offices and exhibition space. There is a marked contrast between the geometric severity of the steel exterior and the exposed surface of the heavy insulation that is such an unexpected feature of the interior. The effectiveness of the building results from a series of contrasts, between the rustic setting and the minimal form as well as between the rigid, light-reflecting exterior and the softly draped interior. Chambers Fine Art Beijing was opened in September 2007 and its building was designed by Ai Weiwei located in the Caochangdi district which is rapidly becoming one of the major centers of contemporary art in Beijing. The first exhibition in the new space, “Net: Reimagining Space, Time and Culture” was organized by Wu Hung. He has investigated the concept of a ‘net’ which transcends any given time of space, history and region, specificity and abstraction. Included in the exhibition are works by Ai Weiwei, Hong Hao, He Yunchang, Lu Shengzhong, Hong Lei, Qiu Zhujie, Rong Rong & inri, Shi Jinsong, Song Dong, Wang Jianwei, Wang Tiande, Wu Jian’an, Yin Xiuzhen,  Yu Hong, Zhan Wang, Zhang Peili, and Zheng Guogu.  Following this the exhibition “Tan Dun: Organic Music”  presented a new series of visual works derived from the internationally celebrated composer’s Organic Music series while later in the season there were solo exhibitions devoted to Qiu Zhijie, Hong Lei, Wu Jian’an amongst others. Many of the exhibitions at Chambers Fine Art are accompanied by catalogs frequently designed by the artists themselves. The catalog of Rong Rong’s “East Village (2003)” the first extensive survey of the short-lived but influential artist’s community that included Zhang Huan and Ma Liuming, was accompanied with the publication of a limited-edition portfolio of original photographs housed in an iron box with text by Wu Hung. Also the publication of “New Photo- Ten Years (2007),” a reprint of the seminal underground magazine published from 1996 to 1998 by Rong Rong and Liu Zheng was noteworthy.  To create a broader international appreciation of contemporary Chinese art, Chambers Fine Art will continue their work both in New York and Beijing with the established artists as well as with the emerging talents from China.
www.chambersfineart.com

Interior View of Artfarm, View of New York gallery.