Kim Yun Shin
Grace in the Glow 2025-14
2025
oil on canvas
19 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches; 50 x 50 cm
$28,000 USD
So many of the taste-making galleries of the late 20th century were founded by women, and yet they often offered a program dominated by male artists. There’s a plethora of reasons behind this paradox that we don’t have time to get into here. For now, we’d like to focus on the overdue recognition of one particular artist: Kim Yun Shin, who, at 90 years old, is finally getting paid her dues. She was included in Adriano Pedrosa‘s Venice Biennale in 2024, and a large-scale retrospective of her work opens at the Hoam Museum of Art in South Korea this month.
Born in Wonsan, in what’s now North Korea, Kim lived through the post-war turmoil of the region before traveling to study sculpture and lithography in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts in the early ‘80s. There she discovered the abundance of large, strong trees of Argentina, where she still maintains a studio. For sculpture, wood is her material of choice, often carved by chainsaw (she has also dabbled in materials like iron and bronze). Although these wooden sculptures are central to her practice, painting is just as intrinsic. In both mediums, you can see the tenets of East Asian philosophy—yin (division and fragmentation) and yang (addition and integration)—merge with traditions of vertical stacking and repetition in both Korean and Latin American totemism (not to mention the undeniable influence of Buenos Aires, given her vivid palette).
It goes to show that one does not have to be one of the Dansaekhwa superstars to make a mark (pun intended) in the art world, even if it occurs late in life.
– JB
If you’re interested, shoot me an email at josh@thebaerfaxt.com or hit the Inquire button below
Kim received her B.F.A. from Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea, in 1959 and studied sculpture and lithography at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, in Returning to Seoul in 1969, she taught sculpture at Sangmyung University as a professor until 1983 and participated in the 12th São Paulo Biennale in 1973. Despite having a successful career, the artist decided to move to Argentina in 1984 to expand her artistic practice. In 2008, Kim founded the Museo Kim Yun Shin in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Select recent solo exhibitions of Kim’s work have been organized by LEEUNGNO Museum, Daejeon, South Korea (2024); Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY (2024); Park Soo Keun Museum, Yanggu, South Korea (2024); Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea (2024); Nam-Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2023); Whitewave Art Center, Seoul, South Korea (2022, 2015); Gallery Banditrazos, Seoul, South Korea (2022), E2Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2022); Korean Cultural Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2022, 2021, 2018); Korean Cultural Center, Warsaw, Poland (2019); Korean Cultural Center, Madrid, Spain (2019); Centro Cultural Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2017); Cabildo, Córdoba, Argentina (2016); Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina (2015); Hanwon Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2015); María Elena Kravetz Gallery, Córdoba, Argentina (2010); and Museo de Arte López Claro, Azul, Argentina (2009).
Select group exhibitions featuring her work include 2024 Sculpture in Seoul: The Strange Encounter, Yeollin Songhyeon Square, Seoul, South Korea (2024,); Art at Americas Society, NY, New York (2024,); 2024 ARKO Selection: ZIP, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, South Korea (2024); Stranieri Ovunque –Foreigners Everywhere, the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2024); Diálogos artísticos: KIM Yunshin y Mari Puri Herrero, Korean Cultural Center, Madrid, Spain (2019); 15 Korean Abstract Painters: Yesterday and Today, Ahn Sang Chul Museum, Yangju, South Korea (2015); Green Life, Korean Cultural Center, Washington, D.C. (2012); STONELAND, Iksan International Stone Culture Project, Iksan, South Korea (2012); Encuentro, Korean Cultural Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2011); International Sculpture Symposium, Rosario, Argentina (2007); Exhibition of Korean Artists in South America, São Paulo, Brazil (2006); Korean-Spanish Sculpture Symposium, Icheon, South Korea (2003); Beijing International Sculpture Symposium, Beijing, China (2002); The 7th International Sculpture Symposium, Rosario, Argentina (2001); The 3rd International Sculpture Symposium, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2000); Exposición Grupal de la Asociación Artes Plásticas Coreana, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1998); Galería de Arte La Candelaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1995); ‘95 Korean Women Artist Festival, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (1995); and Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico (1992, 1991).
Kim’s work is in numerous international public and private collections, including Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico; Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museo de Arte López Claro, Azul, Argentina; Central Post Office, Rosario, Argentina; Beijing International Sculpture Park, Beijing, China; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea; Park Soo Keun Museum in Yanggu County, Yanggu, South Korea; Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea; Hanwon Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea; Korea Land and Housing Corporation, Seoul, South Korea; Asan Social Welfare Foundation, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea; Korean-Spanish Sculpture Park, Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea; and Central Sports Park, Iksan, South Korea. In this March, Kim will have a retrospective exhibition at Ho-Am Art Museum, Yong-in, South Korea.
