Po Kim: A Memorial Tribute

Po Kim’s artistic career was characterized by an ever-evolving style, and an eagerness to seek out new areas of inspiration. His paintings, often large in scale, were bold and compelling, bursting with life, energy, and emotion. This work distinguished Kim as one of the premier Korean-American artists of his time. When the artist died earlier this year, he left behind a strong legacy in his paintings, the innumerable artists he inspired, and the gallery in New York and museum in Korea which bear his name.

Po’s life as an artist began in Korea, where he founded the Department of Fine Arts at Chosun University. Incarcerated and tortured during the Korean War, Kim left Korea in 1955 to accept a fellowship at the University of Illinois. He moved to New York City a few years later, and his artistic life flourished here over the next six decades.

This exhibition, through personal objects, photographs, catalogues, and paintings, seeks to provide viewers a deeper sense of an artist who found great inspiration in his identities as a Korean, an American, and a New Yorker. The objects are on loan from The Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Art Gallery, an institution dedicated to the art of its founders and their personal mission of intercultural dialogue between the artistic communities of New York and the world.

August 28—September 26, 2014

The Korea Society Gallery

950 Third Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10022 (Corner of 57th & 3rd)

For more information, please contact Hui Yon Kim