Beginning on September 20, The Contemporary Austin will feature work by Korean-born sculptor and installation artist Do Ho Suh. His first major solo exhibition in the U.S. in more than a decade will be on display at the Jones Center on Congress Avenue and the Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria.
“Do Ho Suh has assembled a collection of pieces that seamlessly thread the museum’s two sites together,” said Heather Pesanti, curator at The Contemporary Austin. “The exhibition focuses on a mini-survey of his architecturally inspired works based on domestic spaces and objects.”
Do Ho Suh’s meditations on the built environment explore the transient and impermanent quality of the “home” — an issue that increasingly confronts the Austin population. The “348 West 22nd Street” series, for example, is characterized by ephemeral, sheer structures created as an homage to the artist’s various living spaces in New York. It is presented at the Jones Center alongside the “Specimen” series, which features intimately-scaled everyday objects rendered in fabric stretched over stainless steel pieces.
Do Ho Suh’s dynamic installation “Net-Work” has been re-fabricated for display at Laguna Gloria and will be installed along the shores of Lake Austin. Inspired by the artist’s observations of Japanese seaside villages, “Net-Work” mimics the configuration of a fishing net while being comprised of thousands of intricately-fashioned, gold and silver human figures seamlessly joined at the hands and feet. An installation that would not be at home unless lightly touching the water, the metallic net promises to glimmer and sway in the current.
The Contemporary Austin’s Executive Director Louis Grachos notes that the exhibition is particularly appropriate for Austin: “With a population that has always been identified by its creative class, it makes sense that Austin should host one of the most highly respected and critically acclaimed artists working today.”
Charlotte Friedley is the communications specialist for the Texas Society of Architects.
This article is online content for the September/October 2014 issue of Texas Architect.
