Fresh Illusions: AHL Foundation, a not-for-profit organization formed in 2003 to support Korean artists living in the United States and to promote exposure of their work in today’s competitive contemporary art world, presents an exhibition featuring the works of eight Korean artists.
In 2004, AHL established an annual competition open to artists of Korean ancestry living in the US. Four monetary prizes are awarded each year and a biennial exhibition presents the winning works from the past two years. Fresh Illusions is the second biennial hosted by White Box. Three prominent art critic jurors selected the finalists based on artistic excellence. The 2006 jurors were Saskia Bos, Eleanor Heartney, and Lilly Wei; in 2007, Robert Berlind, Marcin Ramocki, and Lilly Wei served as jurors.
The eight 2006/2007 winners of the AHL Visual Arts Competition demonstrate a powerful sense of experimentation while employing a diverse range of media. Rock the World, by Sukwon Shin (2006 first place), is a fast-paced video comedy about the Bush administration. In her animation video, Jia Lim (2007 third place) evokes transcultural identity through the use of Caucasian avatars singing traditional Korean children’s songs. Sangwoo Koh (2006 fourth place) inverts gender and race by transforming himself into a non-Asian woman in his provocative photographs. Kyungwoo Han (2007 second place) offers Red Cabinet, a live video installation in which visitors will experience a TV studio set-like space. Dooeol Lee (2006 third place) presents an idiosyncratic video featuring sloppy digital drawings expanding over still photographs. Shin Il Kim’s (2007 fourth place) video In Between presents a viewer seemingly frozen in front of a
painting representing a man wondering through an imaginary space. Haegeen Kim (2006 second place) presents deadpan drawings of invented figures. Haeri Yoo (2007 first place) releases raw emotion in wild, sexually fraught gestures in sculptures and wall drawings created specifically for the exhibition.
This exhibition is made possible by the generous support and sponsorship of AHL Foundation,
a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization. Additional support was provided by Korean Cultural Services, The Korea Times, Mill Korean Restaurant, and Red Bull.
WHITE BOX | 525 W. 26th St. | New York, NY 10001 | tel: 212.714.2347 | whiteboxny.org
WHITE BOX is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. Annual exhibitions are supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, with additional annual organization funds from The Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the
Lily Auchincloss Foundation.

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