Choi xooang biography

Xooang Choi

  Born in Seoul, Korea.

  Graduated from Department of Sculpture in Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.

  Graduated from Seoul National University with M.F.A , Seoul, Korea.

Currently lives and works in Seoul, Korea.

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

  Xooang Choi, Cais Gallery, Seoul, Korea.

  Xooang Choi, Sungkok Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea.

  Islets of Aspergers, Doosan Art Center, Seoul, Korea.

  Islets of Aspergers, Galerie Albert Benamou, Paris, France.

  The Human Emotion Unveiled, Galerie Albert Benamou, Paris, France.

  The Pruritus, Dukwon Gallery, Seoul, Korea.

  The Vegetative State, Gallery LM. Seoul, Korea.

  Phototaxis - Mania, Space cell, Seoul, Korea.

Selected Group Exhibitions:

  Fiction Nonfiction, Interalia art company, Seoul, Korea.

  Korea Tomorrow - Hybrid Reality, SETEC Convention Hall 3, Seoul, Korea.

  Blindness, Boan-Yugwan, Seoul, Korea.

  Here/There:The World in Motion, Fine Art Gallery of Luxun National Institute, ShenYang, China.

  The fabric Arche - Daegu Textile Art Documenta , Deagu Cultual & Arts Center, Deagu, Korea.

  The Beginning of New Era, National Museum of Contemporary Art., Seoul, Korea.

  Korean Hyper Realism, Gimhea Arts Center, Gimhea, Korea.

  City - net Asia , Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea.

  Between The Borders, Gwang-ju Museum of Art, Gwang-ju, Korea.

  Artist Gallery - Portrait, Museum of Art Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.

  Sculpture Spoken Here, Dukwon gallery, Seoul, Korea.

  Korean Young Artists 3:Sculptures&Objects- Solitary Meditation, Doosan Art Center, Seoul, Korea.

  SeogyoSixty The Battle of Taste, Gallery SangSangmadang, Seoul, Korea.

  From Korea, First Step, A

Xooang Choi began to be recognized from the early ’s for his miniature figurative sculptures made of
painted polymer clay. Since his work has been enlarged in its scale, which gave more presence to his
sculpture - as if a living object staged in space.
Choi’s work is distinguished for its hyper-realistic technique of portraying human bodies and its powerful
metaphors contained therein. Figures and body parts in his work are distorted, exaggerated, abbreviated or
mutilated, participating in a certain action or composing a certain structure. The artist portrays facets of human
relations and contemporary psychology including society’s pathological state, gender politics, communication
(or its absence), and isolation, oppression or anxiety of an individual devastated in the homogenized, uniform
social structure. Remarkably delicate in detail yet also disturbing - even macabre, images of his work comprise
a metaphor expressed in human bodies, their gestures and looks –at once extremely realistic and surrealistic
– reflecting the artist’s acerbic observations and commentary on society. His sculptures that reveal mental
maladies of contemporary people - lost; deficient; paranoid; and deprived of free will-, and violence hidden
beneath the rationality of society expand to explore ontological questions about human existence and identity.

Condition for Ordinary Exhibition Forward

In , Xooang Choi held a solo exhibition titled 'The Vegetative State'. Choi has continuously explored ordinary people and the social milieus in which they live. His interest centers around how social systems– asthey become both accelerated and urban centers expand–becomemore standardized in order to manage and control people more effectively. Most people have no choice but to adapt to these changes, and some – without their knowledge – are brought to a standstill (become helpless),a condition Choi has termed “The Vegetative State”. The sculptures in his embody this “state”,drooping almost lifelessly and appearing resigned, as if they are suppressed by a great force.

In , Choi presented two works ;The Wings()'and 'The Hero()', both of which reveal his interest in the issue of “microfascism”. The French philosopher Felix Guattari’s analysis of capitalism and fascismnoted that figures of authority in a capitalist society try to control the population by making their values internalized by the masses. That is to say, what the society desires is induced, and the masses in turn follow the desired actions voluntarily. Even though it may appear that thosefollowing authority desire something forced upon them by an outside entity, the desires may in fact be their own.

The military regime that governed Korea during the s emphasized the value of the collective over the worth of a single individual under the guise of growing the industry and economy. The people of this generation followed the direction established by the authority figuresand regarded themselves the protagonists and heroes of Korean society’s progress. However, as time passed, thishistoric era has been (re)assessed,raising the question of whether its generation was in fact heroic or if they had been manipulated by the ruling party. The Heroes and The Wings specifically address these longstanding issues.

In the works mentioned above, Xooang Choi began exami

Born in in Korea, Xooang Choi obtained his MFA in Sculpture from the Seoul National University in Already during his studies, he became recognized for his tiny figurative sculptures made of painted polymer clay. However, since and his one-man show titled The Vegetative State, Choi’s figures have been enlarged in its scale, which gave more presence to his figurative sculptures that unearth dark emotions. The artist modifies proportions of the human-like characters or isolates body parts and takes them out of context to create disturbing and thought-provoking pieces that explore human rights, discrimination, society’s pathological state, isolation, loneliness, and sex and gender politics among other themes.

Deep, complex and sometimes mysterious, emotions are fundamental to the human condition. They color our days and have a profound impact on the way we feel about our lives. Although all people should be able to control their personal emotions, there are times when that is not the case – when, actually, emotions control us. Korean artist Xooang Choi has created an impressive body of work that shows us the realism of the human emotion frozen in an instant. His art reveals the raw reality of modern life ordinary people face every day if they don’t confront the outer world. The artist’s interest focuses on social systems that manage and control people, their behavior and feelings more than ever before.

Created from clay and resin, Xooang Choi’s pieces take on a strange life form all of their own. Extremely detailed and graphic sculptures wear poignant, but at the same time, very powerful expressions. Their feelings, fears, bitterness, anger and frustrations are written on their faces. Marble-like, flesh-toned figures show the sculptor’s concerns about human condition in the society. Although his highly detailed works can be described as hyperrealistic in terms of technique, Xooang’s sculptures are surreal at the same time, having their bodies distorted, exaggerate