Representative Korean Sculptor Exhibition 《Jo Sook-jin: Passing Places》 2026

“The attitude one aspires to toward life is the foundation of the work.” Artist’s Note, 1986.

《Cho Suk-jin: The Place of Passing Through》 is the second exhibition in the Nam Seoul Museum of Art’s ‘Representative Korean Sculptors’ series. It surveys the working attitude and reflections on existence of Cho Suk-jin, who for over 40 years—primarily based in New York—has worked across diverse formats including painting, sculpture, installation, photography, performance, public projects, and architecture.

Born in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do in 1960 and entering the graduate school of the Hongik University College of Fine Arts in 1982, Cho began his work in the early 1980s by actively experimenting with atypical materials such as plywood, linoleum, and board, breaking away from prescribed medium grammars. Starting with the 《10th Indépendants》 in 1983, followed by his first solo exhibition 《Beyond That》 at Kwanhun Gallery in 1985, and participation in the 《Frontier Exhibition》 and the 《11th École de Seoul》 in 1986, the artist breathed closely with the scene of contemporary Korean art.

After moving to New York in 1988, he continued his international achievements, gaining critical and institutional recognition within the New York art world beyond the category of an Asian artist.

The exhibition title, ‘The Place of Passing Through,’ encapsulates the ontological insight that permeates Cho Suk-jin’s world of work. While we are all beings who eventually pass through linear time, for the artist, "passing through" does not simply mean extinction or loss. Rather than treating discarded wood and objects merely as materials, Cho accepts them as beings that possess their own memories, having passed through a longer span of time than humans, and has discovered the inherent possibilities of life within them through art.

His attitude of viewing all things from an equal position and posing humble questions about those relationships is far removed from the human-centric desire to solidly construct and anchor something. The worldviews of the 『Tao Te Ching』, 『Caigentan』, 『Zen Koans』, and the 『Bible』, which have served as deep nourishment for the artist's thoughts, are not converged into a specific doctrine or ideology, but are permeated into his work as an attitude of emptying and humbling oneself to view the world within a broader set of relationships.

This thinking breaks down the boundaries between opposing poles that have previously divided the world dichotomously. Themes repeatedly encountered in his work—human and nature, existence and non-existence, matter and the world beyond, life and death, the individual and the community—are not separate, but exist within a single network of relationships that lean on and connect to one another; for Cho Suk-jin, all of these are another beginning and exist within a cyclical order.

This exhibition consists of a prologue, an epilogue, and three parts. Starting with the prologue ‘Witness,’ the exhibition moves through Part 1 ‘Existence and Non-existence,’ Part 2 ‘Between Spaces,’ and Part 3 ‘The Logic of All Things,’ concluding with the epilogue ‘A World Forming One.’ It surveys the artist's 40-year journey by theme across the outdoor garden and the entire exhibition space.

While Cho Suk-jin's work has previously been introduced focusing on specific periods or certain groups of works, this exhibition surveys his consistent artistic practice from early works to recent projects through approximately 100 pieces, including major works, new pieces, unpublished drawings, and archives.

Through this, visitors will be able to confirm that the material experimentation, sense of space, and reflections on existence that began in Korea during the early stages of his work were not severed after his move to New York, but expanded into an interest in discarded objects, places, and communities.

In that sense, this exhibition will serve as an opportunity to follow the path Cho Suk-jin has passed through and to view his consistent trajectory—practicing a life attitude as art while crossing mediums and geographical boundaries—anew within the context of Korean contemporary art and an expanded international horizon.

Source: Seoul Museum of Art website