Yeesookyung © Yang Ian
Yeesookyung (1963–)
Yeesookyung is one of the most internationally prominent figures in Korean contemporary art. Employing “repair” as a method, she transforms objects that have been broken, rejected, or discarded into a new grammar of becoming. Her practice began with a particular reality of the ceramics profession: in the Korean tradition of pursuing perfection, ceramic masters personally destroy any works that fail to meet their standards. These fragments, deemed failures, became both the material of her work and the point of departure from which she redefined the meaning of “wholeness.”
“Joining” constitutes the central vocabulary of her practice. She connects mismatched fragments piece by piece, leaving their fractures visible and tracing their edges with 24-karat gold leaf to accentuate them. In Korean, “crack” and “gold” share the same written character and pronunciation—금 (geum). This linguistic coincidence lies at the poetic core of the work: as lines of gold extend along the wounds, the cracks quite literally become gold. Rather than predetermining the final form, Yeesookyung allows each joining to emerge spontaneously in response to the edges of the fragments. Like brushstrokes, these lines of gold cannot be retraced, transforming the act of repair itself into a form of writing.
Within this method, repair does not mean restoring an object to its original state. The assembled form does not return to any formerly intact work; instead, it establishes an entirely new relationship among the fragments, producing a form that has never existed before. “Brokenness is not an end, but the place where another story begins”—this idea offers an entry point into her entire practice.
In other words, Yeesookyung is concerned not with a problem of form, but with an attitude toward “incompleteness”: accepting unpredictability, accepting the necessity of beginning anew each time, and discovering the possibility that form may generate itself in the process. In this sense, her practice is at once close to and distant from craft. It is close because her work remains grounded in the labour of the hand; it is distant because what she seeks is not technical precision, but an order capable of taking shape even after control has been lost.
This approach is not confined to ceramics. Whether working in installation, painting, video, or public art, Yeesookyung sustains the same set of concerns: discarded objects and devalued traditions—from fragments of craft and imagery drawn from Korean folk art to East Asian representations long regarded by the West as exotic.
She does not regard tradition as a legacy to be preserved, but as material that remains fluid and open to re-editing. Through her acts of dismantling and displacement, symbols that have been repeatedly reused and gradually stripped of their original meanings reveal traces of who defined them and whose interests they served. When a single work brings together fragments from different periods, sources, and functions, it calls into question the very notion of “purity.” Culture has never been the continuation of a single lineage; rather, it is the outcome of countless collisions, losses, and acts of reassembly.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Yeesookyung developed an alternative path grounded in the materiality of craft and the imagery of folk traditions at a time when international perceptions of postwar Korean art were long dominated by the minimalist language of Dansaekhwa. Her practice established a closer relationship with physical labour and historical memory, while anticipating issues that have recently become central to international curatorial discourse, including the boundaries between craft and contemporary art and the reassessment of non-Western traditions.
Her works have been presented in Viva Arte Viva, the central exhibition of the 57th Venice Biennale; at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and at the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial. Her works are held in the collections of institutions including the British Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. Her solo exhibitions have been presented at venues including MASSIMODECARLO in London, the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples, Asia Society Texas Center in Houston, and Art Sonje Center in Seoul.
｜Collections｜
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
The British Museum, London, UK
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
M+, Hong Kong
Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol, UK
Gyeonggi Museum of Art, Ansan, South Korea
Jeonnam Museum of Art, Gwangyang, South Korea
Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, South Korea
Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Suwon Museum of Art, Suwon, South Korea
Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju, South Korea
Ha Jungwoong Museum of Art, Yeongam, South Korea
Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, USA
Reeves Museum of Ceramics, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, USA
Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA
Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, USA
Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Amorepacific Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine
NIROX Sculpture Park, Krugersdorp, South Africa
Mongin Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Gana Foundation for Arts and Culture, Seoul, South Korea
LOTTE Foundation for Arts, Seoul, South Korea
Hoban Cultural Foundation, Seoul, South Korea
HITE Collection, Seoul, South Korea
The Tia Collection, Santa Fe, USA
Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Uli Sigg Collection, Switzerland
YU-UN Obayashi Collection, Tokyo, Japan
ARCO Collection, IFEMA, Madrid, Spain
Jesse & Julie Rasch Foundation, Toronto, Canada
Times Square, Seoul, South Korea
DMZ Peace & Culture Square, Pyeongchang, South Korea
Byucksan Corporation, Seoul, South Korea
Setouchi Triennale Executive Committee, Seto Inland Sea, Japan
Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Kong
Acrovista, Seoul, South Korea
The Ambassador, Seoul, South Korea
CHA Bio Complex, Seongnam, South Korea
POSCO, Pohang, South Korea
Bogaksa Temple, Seoul, South Korea
｜Solo Exhibitions｜
2023, Translated Vase, MASSIMODECARLO—Pièce Unique, Paris, France
2023, Yeesookyung: Temple portatif, Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France
2023, In Dialogue with Uli Sigg, Yeesookyung Studio, Goyang, South Korea
2023, Yeesookyung: Une Rose, Gana Art Nineone, Seoul, South Korea
2022, Yeesookyung: Nine Dragons in Wonderland, The Page Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2022, Intimate Sisters, Duson Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2021, Moonlight Crowns, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea
2021, Little ASJC—Yeesookyung: Moonlight Crown–Intimate Sisters, Kunsthal Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
2021, Flame Seed, Gana Art Nineone, Seoul, South Korea
2021, The Story of a Girl Named Long Journey, Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
2020, I Am Not the Only One but Many, MASSIMODECARLO, London, UK
2020, Oh Rose!, Space Willing N Dealing, Seoul, South Korea
2019, Whisper Only to You, Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy
2019, Whisper Only to You, MADRE—Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples, Italy
2019, Fragments of Form—Carla Accardi, Yeesookyung, MASSIMODECARLO, Hong Kong (two-person exhibition)
2017, Yeesookyung: Translated Vase, Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, USA
2015, Yeesookyung: Contemporary Korean Sculpture, Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, USA
2015, Saint Breeders, Atelier Hermès, Seoul, South Korea
2015, When I Become You, Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, South Korea
2015, When I Become You: Yeesookyung in Taipei, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
2014, The Meaning of Time, Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, USA
2014, Take Me Home, Country Roads, Space Willing N Dealing, Seoul, South Korea
2013, Flame, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore
2012, Yeesookyung, Sindoh Art Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2011, Yeesookyung, Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2010, Broken Whole, Michael Schultz Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2009, Yeesookyung, Thomas Cohn Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil
2009, Yeesookyung, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan
2009, Yee Sookyung im Schloß Oranienbaum, Museum Schloß Oranienbaum, Dessau, Germany
2008, Broken Whole, Michael Schultz Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2008, Paradise Hormone, Mongin Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
2007, Earth, Wind & Fire, Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
2006, Flame, One and J. Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2005, Breeding Drawing, Gallery SSamzie, Seoul, South Korea
2004, Island Adventure, Alternative Space Pool, Seoul, South Korea
2002, Off-shoot Flower / Painting / Pottery, SSamzie Space, Seoul, South Korea
1997, Domestic Tailor Shop, Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
1996, Lee Sookyung, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, USA
1992, Getting Married to Myself, Indeco Gallery, Seoul, South Korea; K Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1989, Yeesookyung Solo Exhibition, Kwanhoon Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
｜Group Exhibitions｜
2026
Black-and-White Panorama, Suwon Museum of Art, Suwon, South Korea
Women on the Border, Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju, South Korea
2025
Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Talking Heads, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Codes within Narratives, Ulsan Art Museum, Ulsan, South Korea
Rose · Rabbit · Salt: A Living Ritual, Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea
Taipei Biennial: Whispers on the Horizon, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Dialogue II, Esther Schipper Seoul, Seoul, South Korea
2024
The Revolving Earth, Kim Byung Jong Art Museum, Namwon, South Korea
SeMA Omnibus: At the End of the World Split Endlessly, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Substance—2024 Asian Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition, Juming Museum, New Taipei City, Taiwan
2024 Gangwon International Triennale: Ecological Art from Beneath the Ground, Pyeongchang, South Korea
Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
The World beyond the Extraordinary, Gyeonggi Museum of Art, Ansan, South Korea
2023
Trade & Transformation, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, USA
The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA
State of Time: Paradox and Harmony, Seoul National University Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Hysteria: Contemporary Realist Painting, Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
2022
The Nam June Paik Effect, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea
Setouchi Triennale 2022, Seto Inland Sea, Japan
Conversing in Clay: Ceramics from the LACMA Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
The Usefulness of the Useless, Osan Museum of Art, Osan, South Korea
Porcelain: Material and Storytelling, Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Wabi-Sabi, Sun Valley Museum of Art, Ketchum, USA
2021
The Art of Communication: From Goryeo to the Contemporary, Horim Museum Sinsa, Seoul, South Korea
Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2021, Macao, China
Dynamic & Alive: Korean Art, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Deoksugung, Seoul, South Korea
Border Crossings: North and South Korean Art from the Sigg Collection, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Encounters between Korean Art and Literature in the Modern Age, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Deoksugung, Seoul, South Korea
Jeonnam International SUMUK Biennale: The Light of Ink, Mokpo Culture & Arts Center, Mokpo, South Korea
When the Sun Rises, Jeonnam Museum of Art, Gwangyang, South Korea
Valentino Re-Signify, Part II, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
Korea: Gateway to a Rich Past, Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands
2020
Changwon Sculpture Biennale: Non-Sculpture—Light or Flexible, Changwon, South Korea
Audubon in the Anthropocene: Artist Responses, Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA
Strolling through Art, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju, South Korea
Collecting for All, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
2019
The Faces of Modern Korean Sculpture, Seosomun Shrine History Museum, Seoul, South Korea
To the Moon with Snoopy, LOTTE Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
2018
The Book of Disquiet, Gyeongnam Art Museum, Changwon, South Korea
All for TOTAL Museum, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
2017
Ghost, Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, South Korea
The 57th Venice Biennale: Viva Arte Viva, Venice, Italy
2016
MMCA Gwacheon, Thirty Years 1986–2016: The Moon Waxes and Wanes, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea
Born of Fire: Korean Ceramics from the National Museum of Korea, The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia
Earth, Fire, Soul—Masterpieces of Korean Ceramics, Grand Palais, Paris, France; The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia
CERAMIX: Art and Ceramics from Rodin to Schütte, Sèvres—Cité de la céramique and La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
Art from Elsewhere, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Arnolfini, Towner Art Gallery and other venues, touring exhibition, UK
Motions, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore
2015
Paradox of Place: Contemporary Korean Art, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Seattle, USA
Contemporary Art Seeping through the Museum, Gyeonggi Provincial Museum, Yongin, South Korea
CERAMIX: Art and Ceramics from Rodin to Schütte, Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Reshaping Tradition: Contemporary Ceramics from East Asia, USC Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, USA
RIVER—Changing Perspectives on Life, Pier-2 Art Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Serendipitous Encounters, Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
2014
2014 Busan Biennale: Inhabiting the World, Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea
The 3rd Jakarta Contemporary Ceramics Biennale: Coefficient of Expansion, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Beyond and Between, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Moments of Resonance, Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju, South Korea
K-P.O.P.—Korean Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
The Dual Nature of Ceramics, SFO Museum, San Francisco, USA
Body Language: Sculpture Today, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2013
Korea-NRW, Osthaus Museum Hagen, Hagen, Germany
Women Who Heal the World, Osan Museum of Art, Osan, South Korea
The Collectors Show: The Weight of History, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
2012
Deoksugung Project, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Deoksugung, Seoul, South Korea
Women In-Between: Asian Women Artists 1984–2012, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
The Constellation of Twins: Korean Artist Prize, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea
Diverse Spectrum: 600 Years of Korean Ceramics, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Korean Eye, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
The 18th Biennale of Sydney: All Our Relations, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, Australia
Buam Project, Whanki Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Ceramic Commune, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea
2011
Poetry in Clay: Korean Buncheong Ceramics from Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
Epic of Units, Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, South Korea
Tell Me Tell Me: Australian and Korean Art 1976–2011, National Art School Gallery, Sydney, Australia; touring to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea
New Location, New Works, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan
2010
2010 Busan Biennale: Living in Evolution, Busan Cultural Center, Busan, South Korea
Circuitous Strategies, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Sculpture, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan
Close Encounter, Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju, South Korea
The 1st Kanazawa International Triennale of Craft, Kanazawa, Japan
Thirty Years of Young Korean Artists, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea
2009
Vancouver Biennale 2009–2011, Vancouver, Canada
2009 Cheongju International Craft Biennale: Dissolving Views, Cheongju, South Korea
Double Fantasy, Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Marugame, Japan
Fragile—Fields of Empathy, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne, France
Ceramic-Climax, Gyeonggi Museum of Art, Ansan, South Korea
2008
Liverpool Biennial: The Fantasy Studio, Liverpool, UK
Metamorphosis: Korean Trajectories, Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, Paris, France
Micro-Narratives, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne, France
GMoMA New Acquisitions: The Reconstructed Collection, Gyeonggi Museum of Art, Ansan, South Korea
2007
Anyang Public Art Project, Anyang, South Korea
The 4th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale: Ceramic House, Icheon, South Korea
2006
2006 Busan Biennale: Sea Art Festival, Busan, South Korea
2006 Gwangju Biennale: Fever Variations, Gwangju Biennale Hall, Gwangju, South Korea
Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2006, Echigo-Tsumari, Japan
2005–2000
Counter-Translation, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea, 2005
MixMax, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, South Korea, 2004
Ode to Still Life, Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 2004
Attese: Biennale of Contemporary Art Ceramics, Museo della Ceramica, Albissola, Italy, 2003
D.I.Y.: Beyond the Instruction Manual, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea, 2003
The Happy Face of Globalization: Biennale of Contemporary Art Ceramics, Museo della Ceramica, Albissola, Italy, 2001
Leaving the Island: Busan International Contemporary Art Festival, Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea, 2000
Seoul Mediacity 2000, Seoul, South Korea, 2000
Song of the Earth, Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, 2000
1999–1988
Art and Art to Wear, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea, 1999
Frames Favouring Painting, Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 1999
The 2nd Seoul in Media: Food, Clothing, Shelter, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, 1998
1997 Gwangju Biennale Special Exhibition: Gwangju Aperto, Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea, 1997
Across the Pacific: Contemporary Korean and Korean American Art, Queens Museum of Art, New York, USA, 1993
Young Artists Gathering ’92, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea, 1992
The 14th Independent Exhibition, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea, 1988
2026.09.12 – 2027.08.29