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Tina Kim Gallery has announced that it will represent the artwork of Lee ShinJa, who helped establish and legitimize fiber art in South Korea. Lee\u2019s first solo exhibition with the gallery will open in New York on August 22. This week, Tina Kim will be showing her work at Art Basel\u2019s booth. <\/p>\n
Born in Uljin, South Korea in 1930, Lee began working in textile art in the early 1950s, when textile art was primarily associated with women and therefore considered a serious art form. Lee’s work pushes the boundaries of traditional fiber crafts, using experimental materials such as old sweaters and burlap. Lee, founder of the Korean Fiber Artists Association and a retired professor at Deoksung Women’s University, has become a leading advocate for craft and textile art in recent years. <\/p>\n
\u201cLee Shin-ja was a true pioneer,\u201d said gallery founder Tina Kim. \u201cShe was not only an artist, but she also had a rich career in the arts\u2014she was an educator and organizer of international exhibitions, and she served as a professor, dean, and museum director at Deoksung Women\u2019s University. She is still alive, and we urgently need to recognize her contributions. She is a living embodiment of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
The representation announcement comes on the heels of the artist\u2019s retrospective at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Gwacheon, South Korea. Her work has been exhibited at the National Museum of Korea, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and the Seoul Museum of Art, among others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n