Photos of Korean artists of diaspora amid growing racism in US

An exhibition in New York that sheds light on Korean immigrant artists in the US is being held at the Korean Cultural Center New York.

The exhibition “Creation Continua: Park Joon Photo Portraits of Korean Artist Diaspora in Greater New York” presents photographs of 50 Korean immigrant artists who came to the US in the latter part of the 20th century and are active in their practice.

The photographs were taken by Korean American photographer Park Joon, who moved to the US in 1984. He initiated the project to archive the lives and footprints of Korean artists in New York by presenting stories of how they have survived in their new environment and created works of art of their own, unbounded by geographic identities.

“Intended to capture fellow immigrant artists who continuously create to justify their existence, unexpected details of the human physique contrast with authentic yet heightened gestures,” Inhee Iris Moon, who co-curated the exhibition, wrote in the exhibition program notes. Park uses the same backdrop for all his subjects to “strip the complex of separation encouraged by labels of rich vs. poor, famous vs. less famous, old vs. young,” she noted.

The exhibition opened on March 17 as part of Asia Week New York 2021, an annual event that aims to promote Asian art in the city held in collaboration with top-tier Asian art specialists, major auction houses and internationally renowned museums and Asian cultural institutions in New York.

The exhibition runs through April 30 and online preregistration is required to visit the gallery located at the Korean Cultural Center New York.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)