Art Sonje Center presents a scene from Sung Hwan Kim’s video work Temper Clay (2012) as its second Banner Project of 2014. The title “Temper Clay” comes from a verse in Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear. Lear, shunned by his daughters and blaming his lack of foresight, shouts: “Old fond eyes, Beweep this cause again, I’ll pluck ye out, And cast you, with the waters that you lose, To temper clay.” Temper Clay, the work commissioned for the opening of The Tanks at Tate Modern, will be presented to the Korean public for the first time through Sung Hwan Kim’s solo exhibition at Artsonje Center that is to run from August 30 to November 30. Showing in grand size a still image of Temper Clay in which the face of a woman is substituted by the image of paper and fire, and thus intensifying the magical ambience of the work, this Art Sonje Banner Project preludes a haunting presentation of Kim’s art that some refer to as “visual literature”.

About the Artist
Sung Hwan Kim was born in Seoul in 1975 and is currently based in New York. Kim studied architecture at Seoul National University and went on to Williams College where he majored in mathematics and art. He then finished his MA program in visual studies at MIT and participated in the residency program of Rijksakademie, Amsterdam. Kim simultaneously takes on diverse roles of director, editor, performer, composer, narrator, and poet, thus presenting an artistic form that integrates performance, video, and installation. In 2007, he won the Hermès Korea art prize for his Summer Days in Keijo – written in 1937. He has held solo exhibitions at various venues including de Appel (2007, Amsterdam), Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art (2008, Rotterdam), Haus der Kunst (2010, Munich), Kunsthalle Basel (2011, Basel), Queens Museum (2011, New York), and The Tanks at Tate Modern (2012, London).

+ Art Sonje Banner Project

Art Sonje Banner Project, initiated in November 2013, uses the rear façade of the Art Sonje Center to introduce large art prints. Unlike with formal gallery spaces within the museum, the Banner Project further expands the spatial range of art appreciation and allows for art to intervene the surrounding environment and public places. Here, the artwork that has come out to the space of everyday life meets not only museum visitors but the general public as well. This project makes art an everyday experience for everyone that passes by the neighborhood and offers an opportunity to convey the cultural and artistic prospect of the Samcheongdong district, where Art Sonje Center stands.