Visiting Artist Program Features International Sculptor and Video Artist

Korean sculptor and video artist Keun-Byung Yook is the next guest in the Department of Art Visiting Artist Program at Utah State University. He will be on campus Feb. 24-26, and a public lecture is scheduled Thursday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. in the Eccles Conference Center, room 216.

 

During the public event Yook will show slides and speak about his artwork. In addition, art historian Hee-Young Kim, from the University of Alabama, will speak about the significance of Yook’s artwork. Kim will discuss Yook's use of technology to describe the primordial themes of life and death.

 

Yook is a professor at JungAng University and is an installation, performance and video artist. His work has appeared in 16 solo and 17 group exhibitions, including DOCUMENTA 9 in Germany, The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the International Outdoor Sculpture Festival in Grant Park, Chicago, The Power Plant in Toronto and the Lyon Contemporary Museum, France, to name a few. He has been awarded the ZKM (International Award for Video Art) four times.

 

Yook’s statements about his work in catalogues for previous shows revolve around a number of polarities: birth/death, male/female, natural/artificial, destruction/creation, urban/rural.

 

Professor Yook will spend several days at Utah State University working with students. In addition to his lecture, he will present a two-day workshop in the sculpture studio. During the workshop students will speak one-on-one with the artist and will have a chance to observe his video process. Advanced sculpture students will have the opportunity to have the guest artist discuss and critique their artwork. This opportunity for interaction between artists and the students is invaluable.

 

“Bringing artists of international stature to the campus of Utah State University is a high priority for the art department,” said John Neely, head of the art department. “A generation ago it was a struggle just to reach beyond Cache Valley and the state, but with our students traveling on a regular basis to the domestic art capitals of California and New York, we find it critical to acquaint them with the global art community. We are fortunate to have a faculty with strong international ties, especially in Europe and Asia, who can facilitate these programs.”

 

Additional guests in this spring’s program are Maine artist and digital photographer John Paul Caponigro who will be at Utah State March 21 and 22, Romanian  printmaker Bogdan Achimescu March 28-30 and San  Francisco painter Ed Musante April 5-7. Guest artists are selected for their national and international reputations, the ways in which their art reflects diversity with respect to the media used, and their diverse backgrounds.

 

The Visiting Artist Program is supported by a grant from the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Utah Arts Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Arts. All events are free and open to the public.

 

For more information about the Visiting Artist Program at Utah State, contact program director Marilyn Krannich, 435-797-7373.