EekJin Choi

Born in 1968 (Seoul Korea)

Education
1998, M. A., Chungang University, Department of Fine Art
1993, B. A., Chungang University, Department of Fine Art

Awards
2004, The 23rd Grand Art Exhibition of Korea, Special Prize
2003, The 32th Figurative Exhibition of Gusangjeon, Special Prize
1996, Selected as "New Artists for Gallery of Korean Electric Power Corporation"
1993, The 21th Figurative Exhibition of Gusangjeon, Special Prize

Individual Exhibitions
2005 Non-distant Distance : The Eyes of Walls / Insa Art Center
2004 Non-distant Distance : Utopia / Art Space Mieum Project
Art Seoul Invitation Exhibition / Hangaram Gallery
2003 Nothing Exists in the World : Utopia / Dongduk Art Gallery
2001 Ex-Interior / Marronnier Art Center
1996 No Worries in Inside, Nothing in Outside / KEPC Plaza Gallery
1994 A Song of Shell / Baekak Gallery
1992 Here It Exists / Sorabol Exhibition Hall

Group & Invitation Art Exhibition
2007 Tonghi-dong Miscellany / Kunstdoc Gallery,
2006 The Exibition of Cabaret in Art Museum / Gwangju Art museum
Toungui-dong alley project / art site Tongui-dong
2004 The Exhibition of "Reality and Banality" / Demain Gallery Project Invitation
The Young Artist Biennial Invited Exhibition / Daegu Cultural and Art Center
HAPPY / Kimi Gallery
The 2nd Explore Exhibition of Korea Sensitive / Danwon Gallery
The Exhibition of Korea Excellent Artists / Danwon Gallery
The Art Festival Hanmadang / Doksu Palace, Oll Gallery
The Grand Art Exhibition of Korean / National Museum of Contemporary Art
The Exhibition of Korean Kusang Fine Art / Seoul Art Center
The Exhibition of Today's Korean Painting / Seoul Art Center
The Chungang Exhibition of Korean Painting / Sejong Cultural Center

2003 Global Exhibition / Urim Art Gallery
The 3rd Grand Exhibition of Danwon Fin Art / Danwon Gellery
2003 Environmental Art Festival: Invitation to Life and Forests Festival
/ Gongpyeong Art Center
The 1st Korean Art: Exhibition of Today's Situations / Na Gallery
The 32th The Figurative Exhibition of Gusangjeon
/ National Museum of Contemporary Art
2002 The New Millennium Art Exhibition of Korean Paintings / Gongpyeong Art Center
The Exchange Exhibition of Chung-Ang & Repin Art College, Russia
/ Gallery of National Ilya Repin Academy
The Invitation Art Exhibition of Gallery La Mer ... Gallery La Mer
The Korea-Germany Exhibition, Seoul-Vector Art Exhibition
/ Kwanhoon Art Gallery
Goyang Contemporary Art Exhibition / Lake-Park Exhibition Hall, Goyang
The New Millennium Art Exhibition of Oriental Painting / Seoul Museum of Art
The 22nd International Sun-Myun Art Exhibition / Silk Art Gallery
2001 Young Artists Exhibition of Understanding History, Recoded Light
/ Marronnier Art Center
The 17th Research Exhibition for Present and Future / Jongro Art Gallery
The 23rd Chungang Art Concours / Hoam Art Gallery
The Seoul - Vector Art Exhibition / Kwanhoon Art Gallery
The Exhibition of Korean Paintings in Innovation Period :
The Fighter and Prospect / Gongpeyung Art Center
2000 The Fusion Art Exhibition / CHB Art Gallery
The Art Exhibition of stranger Sight / Art Planet Gallery
The Special Invitation Art Exhibition of Gwangju Biennale / Gwangju Art Museum
2000 Beauty of Homogeneity / Gongpeyung Art Center
1999 The Subway Exhibition / Hyehwa Subway Art Hall
The 2nd Art Exhibition of Flexible Boxes / Marronnier Art Center
1998 The 1st Art Exhibition of Flexible Boxes / Dukwon Art Gallery
1997 The Art Exhibition of Future and Abstractness / Posco Art Museum
1996 The 24th Figurative Exhibition of Gusangjeon / Seoul Art Center
1995 The Art Exhibition of Asia : The New Take-Off / Wakerhill Art Gallery
Seoul Contemporary Art Exhibition / Art Center
The New Art Concours / Seoul Museum of Art
1994 Art Exhibition of Life- Subconsciousness and Autonomous Expression
/ The Woonhyun Palace Art Hall
MBC Art Concours / Seoul Art Center
The 13th Grand Art Exhibition of Korea / National Museum of Contemporary Art
1993 Korea-Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition - Present Status / Art Center
The Sound Exhibition of 24 Artists -Today's Painting / Helen Art Gallery

Eekjin Choi

Artist Statement

My work has driven with the motive of how to articulate the Korean Art in the postmodern world, especially focusing on how I can communicate with others across various distinctions such as genders, social classes, tradition/ modern/ postmodern, or Eastern/ Western world. Preparing my works for the Master degree, I felt a frustration by realizing that I could not clearly understand Korean traditional arts which included paintings as well as poems. This frustration made me think about how we can communicate not only with our ancestors but also with other people in contemporary world too. Today our life is no more organized by the rational modernity but it rather involves the postmodern scheme which allows us an autonomous internal space. Obviously, the postmodernity liberates our life from the power of the modern reason, but it also brings about a peril that we can enjoy freedom only within our confined area with limited communication. Thus, we have a new urgent task in the postmodern world; that is how to communicate with others. In this context, I made a series of works, Utopia, as a way to animate artistic communication. Utopia does not exist in the real world. Thus, nobody can claim which one is right or wrong, which makes us recognize other people's ideas of Utopia. At the same time, we can also communicate with others about Utopia, because everyone has his idea about Utopia. Indeed, even if the terms for Utopia vary according to different areas, human beings are Utopian animal. Most of all, Utopia is a boundless world we can imagine which can expand the boundary of our artistic imagination. In this context, Utopia is the best theme to instigate artistic imagination in the postmodern world.

I don't think there is any such a thing as the authentic Korean Art. Instead, the Korean Art is the outcome of many artists' efforts to articulate the best artistic imagination. Such best imagination cannot be made by a single great artist's isolated work; rather it is the outcome of the best communication with other artistic imagination. In this context, I believe my effort to communicate across the various distinctions will end up with the best Korean artistic imagination eventually.