Sinae YooEducation
2015 MA Contemporary Arts Practice, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland
2011 BA Mode (Voluntarily withdrawal), Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerpen, Belgium
2008 BFA, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Derivative Messiah, Seoul Art Space Geumcheon, Seoul, Korea
Petrichor, Studio Concrete, Seoul, Korea
Petrichor, Antichambre, Bern, Switzerland
Petrichor, The Gallery Apart, Rome, Italy
Petrichor, Center for Contemporary Art FUTURA, Prague, Czech Rep
Guilt Trip, QUARK, Geneva, Switzerland
2017 Guilt Trip, Neumeister Bar Am Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Guilt Trip, Sic!Raum für Kunst, Luzern, Switzerland
2016 Shadow rift, The Gallery Apart, Rome, Italy
What A Silencer Sounds Like, Kunsthaus Langenthal, Switzerland
2015 Delivery Near Me, Krethlow Galerie, Bern, Switzerland
Group Exhibitions
2023 ONE MAN AT A LONELY ISLAND, Pingshan Art Museum, Shenzhen, China (Forthcoming)
Week Prompt, Space Sarangfarm, Gimhae, Korea (Forthcoming)
Another Letter to Nature, Culture Station Seoul 284, Seoul, Korea
2022 Human Tank, Wallstreet, Fribourg, Switzerland (Duo Exhibition with Doris Dehan Son)
Circuit Seoul #2, Loop Station Ikseon, Seoul, Korea
2021 Cold Pitch, BB&M Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Castelnuovo Fotografia Edizione IX (Guilt Trip), Castelnuovo Di Porto, Rome, Italy
Substantial Investors Moving Markets On Their Own, Elephant Kunsthall, Lillehammer, Norway
OUT & OFF, Space 413, Seoul, Korea
OLED ART WAVE - Every Wave You Will Sense, Peaches D8NE, Seoul, Korea
2020 Black Watermelon, WESS, Seoul, Korea
06 (online group exhibition), PM/AM Gallery, London, UK
Out of Blueprints, Serpentine Galleries (online), London, UK
Hard Body Soft Core, Body Archive Project, Zurich, Switzerland
Petrichor (video screening), WESS, Seoul, Korea
2018 SHE DEVIL XI, Studio Stefania Miscetti, Rome, Italy
Cantonale Bern Jura, Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland
Dancing Eyes I, II, Video screnning, Spazio Pulp, Vienna, Austria
No Space Between, Artspace Boan1942, Seoul, Korea
Swiss Art Award, Messe Basel Halle 3, Basel, Switzerland
2017 A wandering camera-body, East End Film Festival (with AQNB), London, UK
2016 Oùlà, LaNef, Le Noirmont, Switzerland
You are mean to me when you wake up at three, Neumeister Bar-Am gallery, Berlin, Germany
Daojiao Art Festival, Guangzhou, China
Louise Aeschlimann und Margareta Corti Award, Kunsthaus Centre Pasqu’Art, Biel, Switzerland
Plattform, Swiss Young Art Award, Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zurich, Switzerland
2015 Cantonale Bern Jura, Kunsthaus Centre Pasqu’Art, Biel, Switzerland
Playtime, 9800 S Sepulveda, Los Angeles, US
On Youtube Art and Playlist from 10 Years, Kunsthaus Langenthal, Switzerland
The First Smell of The Moon, O’NewWall Gallery, Seoul, Korea
At Dead of Night, Sic!Raum für Kunst, Luzern, Switzerland
Prime Like, Kolin21, Zug, Switzerland
NEUE, Kunsthaus Centre Pasqu’Art, Biel, Switzerland
More or Less Human, Local-int, Biel, Switzerland
2014 Do Your Best in Your Space, 3h project, Seoul, Korea
All I ever see is matchstick men and you, Kunsthalle, Bern, Switzerland
Cantonale Bern Jura, Kunsthaus Centre Pasqu’Art, Biel, Switzerland
Cantonale Bern Jura, Kunsthaus Langenthal, Langenthal, Switzerland
Jardin Sec, Urgent Paradise, Lausanne, Switzerland
2013 Logic If You Want Human If You Like, Alpineumgalerie, Luzern, Switzerland
For Your Consideration, Progr, Bern, Switzerland
Curated Projects
2023 BONSAI MUSCLES, Sam Lubicz & Sinae Yoo (online presentation), MEEK
Hakyeong Kim & Kim Jaekyoung (Duo Exhibition), Space Kyeol, Seoul, Korea
2022 Trans & Multi & Inter (symposium), Gyeonggi SangSang Campus, Suwon, Korea
ART GYEONGGI X MEEK (Online Screening)
ART GYEONGGI X MEEK, CAVALIFE (Online Exhibition)
TAMEBOW, Lotte Avenuel (Jamsil), Seoul, Korea
2020 Project 1111, Studio Concrete, Seoul, Korea
Other Projects
2023 Organized [Fuckery Poetry Reading Group VII, Dew Kim x Sejin Jung, Seoul, Korea
Organized [Fuckery Poetry Reading Group VI, Kokkiri, Seoul, Korea
2022 Organized [Fuckery Poetry Redaing Group IV + Montez Press Radio New York], Seoul, Korea
Organized [Fuckery Poetry Redaing Group III], White Noise, Seoul, Korea
2021 Organized [Fuckery Poetry Redaing Group II], CAVA LIFE, Seoul, Korea
Organized [Fuckery Poetry Redaing Group I], 30Books, Suwon, Korea
Awards
2023 Post Truth, Cylinder, Frieze (Focus Asia), Seoul, Korea
2018 Shortlisted for the Swiss Art Award, Switzerland
Selected as WAHLVERWANDTSCHAFTEN an fünf Kulturschaffende by Erbprozent Kultur, Switzerland
2016 Awarded the Aeschlimann Corti Award, Switzerland
Shortlisted for the Helvetia Art Prize, Switzerland
Public Collections
Amorepacific Museum of Art, Korea
The Canton of Bern, Switzerland
Collezione De Iorio, Italy
Seoul Museum of Art, Korea
Swiss National Library, Bern, Switzerland
Exhibition view, Petrichor (OLED ART WAVE edition), 2021, Single channel video, 4K, stereo, 11’30’’, 2746(H) × 5786(W) × 782(D) mm, Peaches, Seoul
Penpal (Petrichor), 2023, Oil on canvas, 116 × 81 cm
Triumph of Intelligent Sadcore (Petrichor) #1, 2020, Ceramic and mixed media, 28.5 × 18.3 × 27.5 cm, Unique
Untitled #3 (Petrichor), 2020, Acrylic and watercolor on paper, 41.3 × 26.5 × 2 cm
Untitled #5 (Petrichor), 2020, Acrylic and watercolor on paper, 74.5 × 49.5 × 2.5 cm
Jury’s Statement
Selecting the winner of the 2023 DOOSAN Arts Awards in Visual Arts was particularly challenging. As the jury considered many factors from the recommendation stage, such as the purpose and nature of the award, the quality and potential of the work, age, and previous nominations, the narrow intersection of these criteria made the process more strenuous than ever. Unlike last year, the lack of duplicate nominations resulted in a total of nine candidates—three nominees per each of the three jurors. The candidates ranged widely in both age and medium. Last year, most candidates were in their mid-30s; however, this year, there was a division between artists in their early 30s and late 30s. A clear division was also noticeable in the artists’ medium: while there was a wide range, spanning painting, sculpture/installation, photography, and video, there was a strong concentration on the two traditional mediums, painting and sculpture/installation. This is less an accurate representation of the current art scene than a coincidence, but possibly a result of the fewer notable video/media work since the deconcentration from online and nonmaterial art in the post-COVID times.
The nomination itself was challenging, and the discussion to determine the winner was not any less formidable. The jury had to first establish a standard to narrow the selection of artists, as there were no duplicate nominations this year. Sharing the recommendation letters in advance allowed each juror to have a perspective on one another’s nominees; however, to consider each of their qualifications thoroughly, the jurors conducted a process of discussing their decisions with one another. During this process, each juror prepared comments on the other jurors’ nominations, spending time discussing candidates besides nominees of their own. Then, each juror determined the priority among their own nominees, and, based on a comprehensive evaluation, the jury reached a consensus to select the finalists. After much consideration, the selection was narrowed to two artists, from which determining the winner was yet another mission. The tight match between the two artists, where the result was unpredictable while the jurors reconsidered or even redacted their decisions occasionally, spoke to the stark strengths and weaknesses of the two finalists. Between the options of a more established candidate with institutional recognition and a recent successful solo exhibition and a lesser-known yet ambitious candidate who is innovative and has ample potential for growth, the decision teetered toward the latter. While both candidates unquestionably satisfied the motto of the award, that “[the winning artist] introduces an independent artistic world and new currents,” what settled the decision were the answers to the final questions: “Whose exhibition are we more curious to see?” and “Will the award significantly contribute to the artist’s development?”
The final winner of the award is Sinae Yoo, a primarily video installation artist who experiments across various mediums, such as painting and ceramics. Sinae Yoo is a young artist currently based in Korea and working internationally, who started out in Europe in 2013. Yoo gained recognition abroad before entering the Korean art scene in 2020, which explains her relatively low profile in Korea compared to other artists of her age. Nevertheless, she has made an impact in Europe, winning the esteemed Swiss art award, Aeschliman Corti Award, and showing with Serpentine Gallery. Through subculture motifs, including underground music, arcade games, car audio tuning (“window flexing”) phenomenon, digital memes, and female characters in 3D video games, Yoo’s work delves into problems underlying contemporary capitalist consumerism, such as ostentation and vanity, the commodification of sex, voyeurism, dehumanization, alienation, and other ethical issues. Yoo’s distinctiveness among other young artists who intuitively interpret contemporary culture comes from the grave, existential, and self-aware contemplations that exist beneath the visible surface of sensation, hedonism, and playfulness. In her work, critique of capitalism and skepticism toward humanity blend seamlessly with humor, vitality, empathy, and cuteness, creating a peculiar conjunction of surface and depth. Such convergence of contrasting and disparate elements manifests not only in Yoo’s artistic approach but also in her treatment of materials and form. Ethical inquiries in a capitalist society intersect with an interest in machinery/technology and the development of physical senses to create unique reconfigurations. The humble bodies of the impoverished, who are quickly consumed, objectified, and expelled in the contemporary civilization of technology and the materiality of the tactile soundwaves that vibrate as automobiles are liquefied result in the strange collation of the mundane and the sublime, the lowly and the noble. The free-form fusion of diverse motifs, such as spirituality, the body, and the machine, as well as the hybridization of mediums, including video, painting, print, and sculpture, mark Yoo’s distinctiveness—her strength which holds significant potential for further formal and conceptual development.
Being an artist in the particularly fast-paced and competitive Korean art scene requires establishing a physical working condition and, further, facing and protecting oneself from the never-ending anxiety, compulsion, skepticism, and self-doubt. The jury hopes for unbending self-trust and continued growth not only for the awardee but also for all the nominees, whose potentials are immense. Moreover, the jury wishes that this award becomes an encouragement for the awardee’s long journey ahead and extends a warm congratulations to her.
_Jury: Seong Eun Kim, Jiyeon Kim, Mun Hye Jin