Kimsooja was born in Daegu, Korea in 1957 and now lives and works in New York and Seoul.
She is perhaps best known for her video work A Needle Woman, in which she stands still in a busy city centre, holds her space as people pass by around her, and creates a place of intense calm. Related to this, Kimsooja’s 14-metre-high sculpture A Needle Woman: Galaxy was a Memory, Earth is a Souvenir was recently shown at Frieze Sculpture curated by YSP Director of Programme, Clare Lilley, and will also be sited in the open air at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Spring 2019. This elegant spire was developed with scientists at Cornell University, New York, who formulated a nanotechnology film applied to the acrylic windowpanes that most closely mimics the iridescence of butterfly wings. With a mirrored floor, the environment within the spire is remarkable and its space appears to extend deep into the earth and to reach into the cosmos. It is a profoundly stilling, meditative experience, whilst from without, the spire is an extraordinarily graceful and uplifting sculpture. This is only the third time that A Needle Woman: Galaxy was a Memory, Earth is a Souvenir has been shown in public.
Kimsooja has exhibited in major museums and institutions around the world including Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (2018); Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein (2017); MMCA Seoul (2016); Centre Pompidou Metz (2015); Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (2015); Collection Lambert en Avignon (2014); Vancouver Art Gallery (2013); Museum of Modern Art St. Etienne (2012); Kunsthal 44 Møen, Askeby (2012); Perm Museum of Contemporary Art (2012); Miami Art Museum (2012); Feldkirch Church and Kunstmuseum Lichtenstein (2010); National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea for the Yeong Gwang Nuclear Power Plant, Seoul (2010); Atelier Hermès, Seoul (2009); Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2009); Hirshhorn Museum, Washington (2008); Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa & La Fenice Theatre, Venice (2006); Crystal Palace of Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid (2006); EMST National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (2005); Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf (2004); Contemporary Art Museum Lyon (2003); PAC Milan (2003); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2002); Kunsthalle Bern (2002); MoMA PS1, New York (2001). Kimsooja participated in Kassel Documenta 14: ANTIDORON – The EMST Collection (2017) and has taken part in a number of biennials: Busan (2016), Venice (2013, 2007, 2005, 2001, 1999), Gwangju (2012, 2001, 1995), Thessaloniki (2010), Moscow (2009) Whitney Biennial (2002), Lyon (2000), Sa~o Paulo (1997), Istanbul (1997) and Manifesta 1 (1995).Kimsooja
