Year in Review

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Top highlights of 2012: receiving my MA in Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) which involved both a symposium and an art exhibition, starting my teaching job at SAIC, presenting at the (In)Appropriated Bodies conference at Cornell University, starting to write for Sixty Inches From Center, and being invited to present at the International Conference of Asia Scholars in Macau (June 2013).

Below are the top read blog posts from 2012:

1. Master of Arts Visual and Critical Studies Symposium 

2. NYC, April 10, Part I [Sandra Dukic and Boris Glamocanin]

3. Red Gate Reunion Series 2012: Crystal Ruth Bell

4. Landscapes from Pyongyang at Galerie Son in Berlin

5. Just Humans: An interview with Angelica Dass, creator of Humanae  

6. Red Gate Reunion Series 2012: Britt Salt

7. Felix Gonzales-Torres at Samsung Museum in Seoul via ArtDaily

8. Batman, Jaws, and Other Such Characters

9. Red Gate Reunion Series: Jon Hewitt 

10. Sunday Morning Coffee (Quicky)

Thanks for reading! I hope that your 2013 is getting off to a grand start!

Landscapes from Pyongyang at Galerie Son in Berlin

Joo Jong Hwan, Keum Kang Mountain

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Exhibitions of North Korean art are generally few and far between but may be becoming less so. One of the most well-known North Korean defector, artist Song Byeok, flips his North Korean artistic training which emphasized state propaganda into satirical images of Kim Jong Il. Unlike Byeok’s artwork, the work exhibited at Galerie Son is generally idealistic landcapes created by artists who live in North Korea. Read more about the exhibition in a review on the gallery website. This exhibition was brought to my attention via Art Daily.

Sunday Morning Coffee (A Smorgasbord)

Meret Oppenheim, Luncheon in Fur (Object), 1936

I was recently reminded of the wonderful Surrealist object above. The MOMA‘s gallery text about the object gives a nice overview. Just sit for ten seconds and think about using it, you can probably guess most of the gallery text from there.

Have you seen this wonderful 17 minute documentary about our President? “The Road We’ve Travelled” directed by Davis Guggenheim.

In “North Korea in Contrast” the New York Times blog Lens posted an article last week about David Guttenfelder, accordingly to the article he is the only person from the West who has been allowed to photograph North Korea. The images focus on the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang.

For those of you working on a thesis or dissertation, I wanted to share what I use to relax after a long day of writing and researching–Lisa Eldrigde online make-up tutorials. I realized last night this might be my version of watching Bob Ross.

Sunday Morning Coffee (Pink Splash on a Monday Morning)

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Disco in downtown Chicago!

Ex-North Korean artwork shown in the U.S.

Speaking of North Korea, please check out this project! Young Sun Han is an SAIC grad and currently lives in Chicago. Some of his family is from North Korea and a portion of the proceeds from his sales go to Life Fund for North Korean Refugees. (Yes, Zane Davis, I am highly recommending you watch the short video.)

On the Wallstreet Journal Blog, Singapore Considers “No-Censorship Zones”

Art Radar’s 16 most searched Asian artists from July-December 2011. It looks like Ai Weiwei was number one but they also reported a surge in searches for Korean artists (I hope thats not just me doing thesis research!). Lee Yong-baek is number 8 on the list, I am in the midst of writing a chapter on him.

Sunday Morning Coffee (Hot Lemon Water)

From Miru Kim’s The Pig That Therefor I Am

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Miru Kim’s pigs got sick at Art Basel on Huffington Post.

Updates on Ai Weiwei–Art21, a bit about his alleged tax evasion, the sunflower seeds are coming to New York!

Is the postal rendition of year of the dragon too “monstrous”?

Genderbread Person.  I originally found it here.

Do you know about whats going on in Bosnia?  This monument deserves its own post.

Take some time to learn a bit about North Korea.

This is a great new tumblr.  Nepotism? No, it is simply lovely.

Sunday Morning Coffee (Decaf Espresso)

Good morning!  Enjoy my Sunday reading!

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Psychology of portraiture in Des Moines, Iowa.

Kim Jong-Il looking at cotton.

The rise of the art advisor, a job I’d love.

Autumnal review from Ithaca.

October is Chicago Artist Month.