Korea’s first-generation woman sculptor Kim Yun Shin has been invited to the 60^th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Biennale Arte 2024 will take place from April 20 to November 24, 2024 at the Giardini, the Arsenale, and multiple venues across Venice, Italy. During its preliminary presentation on January 31, 2024, La Biennale di Venezia announced the names of 332 artists and collectives invited to the exhibition including Kim.

Celebrating its 60^th edition since its establishment in 1895, this year’s iteration of Biennale Arte 2024 will be presented under the title Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere. The title draws its inspiration from the eponymous sculptural series (2004–) by Claire Fontaine, an artist collective based in Palermo, Italy. The series comprises neon sculptures in which the phrase “Stranieri Ovunque (Foreigners Everywhere)” is rendered in various languages and colors, evoking the pervasive threat of xenophobia and the feeling of alienation in a global society. The phrase, originating from an eponymous organization that fought against racism and xenophobia in Italy in the early 2000s, carries a dual meaning: first, the recognition that foreigners are omnipresent; and second, that “no matter where you find yourself, you are always, truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner.”

In his statement published in June 2022, Adriano Pedrosa, the curator of Biennale Arte 2024, shared that the upcoming event will “focus on artists who are themselves foreigners, immigrants, expatriates, diasporic, émigrés, exiled, and refugees.” Expanding on this notion of “stranger,” he emphasized that the exhibition will also explore “the production of other related subjects: the queer artist, who has moved within different sexualities and genders, often being persecuted or outlawed; the outsider artist, who is located at the margins of the art world, much like the autodidact and the so-called folk artist; as well as the indigenous artist, frequently treated as a foreigner in their own land.”

In such context, the theme “Foreigners Everywhere” deeply resonates with the trajectory of Kim’s life as an artist. Born in Wonsan (present-day North Korea), Kim moved to Buenos Aires in 1984, captivated by the wilderness, vast grounds, and most notably, the robust wood of Argentina. Subsequently, Kim also spent time in Mexico and Brazil, where she continued her exploration of the unique materials found in each region. Currently approaching the age of 90, Kim continues to divide her time between Argentina and Korea, gracefully embracing her identity as a perpetual stranger in both lands. Marking the first time the event is curated by a Latin American curator in the 128-year history of La Biennale di Venezia, Foreigners Everywhere offers Kim a significant opportunity to showcase her work on an international stage where prominent figures in the art world and art enthusiasts from around the globe are expected to gather.

Since the late 1970s, Kim has encapsulated her body of work under the title Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One, assigning the same name to each sculptural piece. As implied by the title, each work elucidates Kim’s sculptural process of adding one’s spirit to the work, where “two becomes one through interaction, then splits again to become two different ones.” Most recently, Kukje Gallery and Lehmann Maupin announced their co-representation of the artist, marking the artist's first-ever partnership with commercial galleries throughout her 60-year artistic career.