The internationally acclaimed contemporary artist Suki Seokyeong Kang is the subject of a solo exhibition titled face at Commonwealth and Council in Los Angeles through March 7, 2020. Highly regarded for her works that encompass and merge painting, installation, and video, Kang has been constructing a unique practice founded on ideas of Korean tradition and narrative themes extracted from her personal history. As inferred from the expression “[a] face in the mirror” that delineates the title of the exhibition, Kang presents a body of work reflecting tradition and history through methods of contemporary art. 

Kang introduces a multipart installation brought together by paintings, installation, performance, and video for the exhibition. On view are works from the artist’s signature Mat series, a body of work inspired by the traditional musical notation system jeongganbo, which reinterprets and reframes Korean tradition. The Mat series provides a contemporary visual translation of chunaengmu (春鶯舞), a solo court dance developed in the Joseon Dynasty (the last dynasty of pre-modern Korea, from 1392 to 1897) typically performed on a 2-meter wide, woven reed mat called hwamunseok. Such works portray how individuals occupy space and time as they come together to interact in society while maintaining their position within. The Circled Stair series, conceived in memory of Kang’s grandmother, visualizes her late grandmother’s precarious yet beautiful body and presence by employing materials such as steel and thread. A selection of works also on view, including Tender Meander #19-07 (2018-2019) and face Video Sculpture (2018-2019), delivers a comprehensive understanding of the artist’s unique artistic vocabularies and the ideas that constitute them. As part of the exhibition program, Kang will be presenting an artist talk and performance at the gallery on February 14, 2020, coinciding with the opening of the 2nd edition of Frieze Los Angeles.