Jae-Eun Choi, a contemporary artist active between Seoul and Tokyo, is the subject of the solo exhibition La Vita Nuova at Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum, Tokyo, Japan. As the inaugural installment of the project “Ecology: A Dialogue on Circulations,” organized by the Hermès Foundation to examine art from an ecological perspective, the exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of Choi’s artistic practice spanning four decades, through which she has engaged in a constant dialogue with nature. 

The exhibition primarily features works that contemplate on the transcendence of nature beyond human intervention and reach. In World Underground Project (1986-1991), the infinite cycle of time is encapsulated as traditional Japanese paper washi gets buried in seven different locations around the world, later unearthed, and transformed into a work of art. Similarly, Dreaming of Earth (2015-ongoing) project draws inspiration from the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), paradoxically functioning as an ecological conservation area. Additionally, White Death (2023), a recent work composed of dead coral, and A Poet’s Atelier (2023), which addresses the imminent extinction of unnamed plant species, articulate the artist’s poetic perspective on the ecological challenges confronting today’s environment.

Concurrently, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo is hosting its 20th-anniversary exhibition, Our Ecology: Toward a Planetary Living, in conjunction with the project. Choi’s solo exhibition will be on display until January 28, 2024, followed by the second part of the project—a group exhibition featuring the participation of four contemporary artists.