Myung-Ock Lim: A Living Being

May 10 - June 9, 2007

Denise Bibro Fine Art, 529 West 20th Street, 4th Floor, Chelsea New York is pleased to announce its third solo exhibition of Korean artist Myung-Ock Lim.

Formally, Myung-Ock Lim’s work bears the influences of high-modernism and minimalism; the interest in sharp, clean geometric forms brings to mind Donald Judd and Tony Smith, and her use and transformation of light conjures Light-and-Space practitioners like James Turrel and Robert Irwin. However, a little time in the presence of Lim’s work and her predecessors’ interest in the scientific and industrial aspects of sculpture begins to yield to Lim’s more personal, even spiritual qualities of the media. Lim’s work finds significance in light not only for its form but for its content; light is symbolic, and her glass pieces function as agents in the transformative process.

Her beautifully crafted prisms of colored glass take in light, process it, and project it back into the surrounding space in translucent wedges of color. The show’s title, A Living Being suggests Lim’s interest in light as an animated and vital force. Her ability to invest light with such a variety of qualities speaks to her nuanced understanding of it both psychologically and materially. That understanding of light contributes to this spectacular sculptural installation.

The works comprising A Living Being simultaneously function as objects and components in a larger interrelated installation. The jewel-like glass creations stand on their own as exquisite and precious objects, and their ability to filter and cast light throughout the room entangles their identities into a single experience. Like the stained-glass in a gothic cathedral, Myung’s work is equal parts heaven and earth; concrete and abstract. They are individually impressive even while they work in concert to cast a sublime wash of light throughout the space.

Mrs. Lim has exhibited widely throughout the United States and Korea, including exhibitions at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the Goeun Art Museum in Suwon Korea, the Seoul Metropolitan Museum, Park Ryu Sook Gallery in Seoul, and the Moln Gallery in Seoul. She is in the National Assembly collection and the POSCO Centre in Seoul. She is a professor of art at the Su-Won University in Seoul, and has received critical attention in the New York Times for her sculptural glass work.

There will be a reception for the artist on Thursday, May 10, 2007 from 6-8 pm.