Moon-Seup SHIM
Introduction
As a child, Shim Moon-Seup grew up close to nature, and he has remained close to it ever since. It is therefore perfectly logical that he should be interested in simple, elementary materials. The nature of matter brings him close to the matter of nature. And if he loves the essential, primitive (as in, close to the origins) aspect of these materials, it is above all for the power and density that emanate from the purity of water or the rough appearance of hewn wood. But even more than the specific character and intrinsic power of such and such an element, what Shim Moon-Seup seeks is the encounter and dialogue created by juxtaposing two or three of them together. For his work is organised essentially around the relations of tension and balance created by bringing together opposites such as hard and soft, straight lines and curves, verticals and horizontals, natural (a stone) and industrial (an iron sheet), etc.
...
Whether they shout it out or whisper it low, all Shim Moon-Seup?s works are involved with the concept of energy : human energy, natural energy, and the energy in man?s existential relation to nature. Hence this constant search for movement, these frequent evocations of flowing water, the work on rhythms, cycles and transience. Far from focusing on a fixed evocation of nature, Shim Moon-Seup chooses to directly reveal the forces that breathe life into reality, the energy fields that generate all movement : in other words, he chooses to make each work an example and a metaphor of life?s fragile equilibrium.
From [Shim Moon-Seup],
by Henri-François Debailleux (Art Critic)
Biography
Shim Moon-Seup
1943 Born in Tong Young, Korea
1965 Graduated College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University
Currently, Professor of Chungang University Collage of Fine Arts
Selected solo exhibitions
2011 Shim Moon Seup, Reveal the Visible (Paris, France)
2010 Yuan Art Museum (Beijing, China)
2009 Severance Art space (Seoul, Korea)
Muramatsu Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
Gallery 604 (Busan, Korea)
2008 Hakgojae, Gallery Hyundai (Seoul, Korea)
Muse des Arts Asiatiques de Nice (Nice, France)
2007 Jardin du Palais-Royal (Paris, France)
Xin Beijing Gallery (Beijing, China)
2001 Art Sonje Museum (Gyongju, Korea)
Galerie Rabouan Moussion (Paris, France)
Fondazione Mudima (Milano, Italy)
1999 Tokyo Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
1996 Gallery Hyundai (Seoul, Korea)
1995 Kodama Gallery (Osaka, Japan)
Galerie Rabouan Moussion (Paris, France)
1994 Inkong Gallery (Seoul, Korea)
1993 Tokyo Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
Gallery Hyundai (Seoul, Korea)
1992 Sigma Gallery (New York, U.S.A)
Total Museum of Contemporary Arts (Seoul, Korea)
Galerie Rabouan Moussion (Paris, France)
1991 Kangnam Hyundai Gallery (Seoul, Korea)
1990 Gallery Hyundai (Seoul, Korea)
Suzukawa Gallery (Hiroshima, Japan)
Galerie Humanit Nagoya (Nagoya, Japan)
Gallery Yamaguchi (Tokyo, Japan)
Kodama Gallery (Osaka, Japan)
1989 The Grayson College (Chicago, U.S.A)
Tokyo Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
1988 Gallery Hyundai (Seoul, Korea)
Kodama Gallery (Osaka, Japan)
1986 Gallery Hyundai (Seoul, Korea)
Hankook Gallery (Seoul, Korea)
Studio D?ars (Milano, Italy)
1985 Tokyo Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
1983 Ryo Gallery (Kyoto, Japan)
1982 Inax Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
1980 Kwanhoon Gallery (Seoul, Korea)
1979 Lee Gallery (Daegu, Korea)
Komai Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
1977 Muramatsu Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
1975 Hanil Gallery (Seoul, Korea)
1972 Satou Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
1965 Busan Gallery (Busan, Korea)
Selected group exhibitions
2010 The Second Today?s Documents 2010 (Beijing, China)
2007 Busan New Media Art Museum (Gwangalli Beach, Busan, Korea)
2006 Seoul Forest Open Air Sculpture Symposium (Seoul Forest, Seoul, Korea)
Kim Se-Choong sclupture awards 20th anniversary
(Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, Korea)
Imagine in Motion (Andrew Shire Gallery, L.A., U.S.A)
2004 Looking Back to the Current of Contemporary Korean Sculpture
at? Sculpture Now?(Moran Museum of Art, Namyangju, Korea)
Stillness & Movement (Seoul Olympic Art Museum, Seoul, Korea)
2003 What is Sculpture (Seoul Arts Centre, Seoul, Korea)
2002 Aomori Contemporary Art Centre Open-Air Sculpture 2002 (Aomori
Contemporary Art Centre, Aomori, Japan)
FIAC (Paris, France)
2001 49th Venice Biennale 2001 (Venice, Italy)
L?art la plage #2 (beaches of Ramatuelle-Saint-Tropez, France)
2000 Basel Art Fair (Basel, Switzerland)
1999 Space and Object : Intervention and Variation (Busan Museum of
Modern Art, Busan, Korea)
FIAC (Paris, France)
1998 The Domain of the Form, Gratts (The National Museum of Modern Art,
Tokyo, Japan)
Sculpture Now '98-Material and the Touch of Artist
(Moran Gallery, Seoul, Korea)
1997 2nd Project 8 (Total Museum of Contemporary Arts, Seoul, Korea)
Earth, Life: The Expression of Earth in Korean Contemporary Art (Seoul
Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea)
Nammang Open Air Sculpture Symposium (Mt. Nammang Sculpture Park,
Tongyoung, Korea)
1996 Basel Art Fair (Basel, Switzerland)
Ilsan Lake Outdoor Sculpture Park (Ilsan Lake Park, Goyang, Korea)
1995 The Tiger's Tail (Palazzo Vendramin ai Carmini, Venice, Italy)
Circulating Currents Japanese and Korean Contemporary Art
(Nagoya City Art Museum, Japan)
FIAC (Paris, France)
1994 The 3rd International Contemporary Art Fair (Yokohama, Japan)
Making New Kyoto '94 (Kyoto, Japan)
'94 Seoul 600 International Art Festival (The National Museum of Contemporary
Art, Gwacheon, Korea)
Adelaide Festival (Adelaide, Australia)
Faret Tachikawa (Tachikawa, Japan)
1993 12 Contemporary Artists from Korea (The Miyagi Museum of Art, Japan)
1992 Chicago International Art Exhibition (Chicago, U.S.A)
FIAC (Paris, France)
1991 Quasi per caso (Milano Gallery, Italy)
1990 Seoul Contemporary Art Festival '90 (The National Museum of
Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea)
The Opening Exhibition (Seoul Arts Center Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul, Korea)
First Mihama Cho International Open Art Sculpture Biennial (Fukui, Japan)
1989 Chicago International Art Exhibition (Navy Pier, Chicago, U.S.A)
1988 '88 Tsukashin Annual (Osaka, Japan)
International Biennial of Paper Art II (Leopold Hoesch Museum des
Stadt Dren, Germany)
Art for Touching (Tukashin Hall, Yurakucho Art Forum, Tokyo, Japan)
1987 Chicago International Art Exhibition (Navy Pier, Chicago, U.S.A)
Toyama Now 87, New Air around the Pacific (Japan)
The First International Open-Air Sculpture Symposium (Seoul Olympic Open-Air
Sculpture Park, Seoul, Korea)
1986 14th Biennale Internazionale del Bronzetto Piccola Scultura Padova (Padova, Italy)
'86 Seoul Asia Contemporary Art Festival (National Museum of Contemporary
Art, Gwacheon, Korea)
1985 The Art of Paper, Modern Korea (Centural Washington University, U.S.A.)
'85 HINUMA (Ibaragi, Japan)
The 2nd Asian Art Show (Fukuoka Museum, Japan)
1984 3rd Human Document '84/'85 (Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan)
1983 Korea Contemporary Art Exhibition (Tokyo, Japan)
1981 The 2nd Henry Moore Grand Price Exhibition (Hakone, Japan)
The 1st International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition (Hawaii, U.S.A)
1980 Festival
Grand Exhibition of Korean Prints and Drawings (National Museum of
Contemporary Arts, Seoul, Korea)
1979 The 11th International Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)
The 11th Cagnes International Painting Festival (Cagnes, France)
1978 Korea : The Trend for the Post <20 Years of Contemporary Arts>
(National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea)
1977 Korea Faces of Contemporary Arts (Tokyo, Japan)
Secondes Rencontres Internationales d'Art Contemporain (Paris, France)
1976 Sidney Biennial (Australia)
1975~89 Ecloe de Seoul (Seoul, Korea)
The 13th Sao Paulo Biennial (Brasil)
The 4th India Triennial (India)
1971~75 Paris Biennial (France)
1970~72 Exhibition of Korea Avant-Garde Association (National Museum
of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea)
texts
Collections
The Hakone Open-Air Museum (Hakone, Japan)
National Museum of Contemporary Art (Gwacheon, Korea)
Sejong Culture Center (Seoul, Korea)
Drama Center (Seoul, Korea)
Independence Hall of Korea (Cheonan, Korea)
Total Art Museum (Jangheung, Korea)
Seoul Olympic Open-Air Sculpture Park (Seoul, Korea)
Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea)
Mihama Open-Air Museum (Fukui, Japan)
Leeum (Seoul, Korea)
FNAC (Paris, France)
Mt. Nammang Sculpture Park (Tongyong, Korea)
Evry University (Evry, France)
Faret Tachikawa (Tokyo, Japan)
Collection Doux (France)
Incheon Sculpture Park (Incheon, Korea)
Asadal Sculpture Park (Gyungju, Korea)
Exhibitions
