Born: Busan, South Korea, 1968
Moved to Germany, 1994
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany
Sunah Choi, born in 1968 in Busan, Korea investigates and deals with the process of abstraction in relation to time, location and phenomena. In various mediums and materials, she examines rooted ideas and traditional structures of perception. Her installations, sculptures, photographs, and drawings specifically focus and highlight visual aesthetics of cultures encapsulated in collective memory.
By diffusing visual perceptions in her compositions of sculpture, Choi explores a raw aesthetic quality deeply rooted in a culture of the everyday. The materiality of her works often relies on pure materials like, steel, concrete and stone which, through their composition process, explore the content and formal structure of things.
Education
1995 - 2001
Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste -Städelschule- Frankfurt, Germany class of Georg Herold, Peter Kubelka, Thomas Bayrle
2000
The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London, GB
Solo Exhibitions
2020
Kunstverein Reutlingen, Reutlingen, Germany
Banco, Kunsthall 3.14, Bergen, Norway
Karo, Edition Block, René Block, Berlin, Germany
2018
Skala, Museum Nikolaikirche, Hannah-Höch-Förderpreis, Berlin, Germany *
2017
Kólla, Galerie Mezzanin, Geneva, Switzerland
2016
Cryptographic Imagination, 7 1/2 - Seven and a Half, Seoul, Korea Chemi, U4, Albrecht Kastein, Urologisches Zentrum Steglitz, Berlin, Germany Eisen, NON Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2015
Galerie Johann Widauer, Innsbruck, Austria
2014
Galerie Mezzanin, Vienna, Austria Nach Material, Galerie Cinzia Friedlaender, Berlin, Germany
2011
Galerie Cinzia Friedlaender, Berlin, Germany
2009
A Circle within Six Circles, Galerie Cinzia Friedlaender, Berlin, Germany
2006
long and short, Alternative Space Loop, Seoul, Korea
2005
Bielefelder Kunstverein, Bielefeld, Germany *
2005
Tokonoma, Galerie Michael Neff, Frankfurt, Germany
2004
Japan im Kopf, 1822-Forum, Frankfurt, Germany *
2002
Empty Full City, Galerie Michael Neff, Frankfurt, Germany
Learning Asia, dontmiss, Frankfurt, Germany
1999
flowersandleaves, rraum, Frankfurt, Germany
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020
... aber nur zuschaun tut richtig weh, Edition Block, Berlin
Kunst am Bau, curated by Hans-Jürgen Hafner, Gunter Reski & Marcus Weber, Berlin
2019
Ansammeln, Galerie Johann Widauer, Innsbruck, Austria
Quaderna, with Marcus Weber, after the butcher, Berlin, Germany
2018
Divided We Stand, Busan Biennale 2018, curated by Cristina Ricupero & Jörg Heiser, Museum of Contemporary Art, Busan, Korea
Elephant in the Room, curated by Sunyoung Oh, Museum Sejarah Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia A Tale of Two Cities: Narrative Archive of Memories III, curated by Sunyoung Oh, National Gallery of Indonesia, Indonesia Birds, invited by Michael Beutler, Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg, Germany
Lilia & Tulipan, curated by Meike Behm, Kunsthalle Lingen, Germany
A Tale of Two Cities: Narrative Archive of Memories II, curated by Sunyoung Oh, Gimhae Arts and Sports Center, Gimhae, Korea
2017
Vision & Perspective 1999 - 2017, Cognitive Mapping, Busan Museum of Art, Busan, Korea
A Tale of Two Cities: Narrative Archive of Memories, curated by Sunyoung Oh, Arko Art Center, Seoul, Korea
Sonne auf Papier, Technische Sammlungen, Dresden, Germany
2016
Sonne auf Papier, curated by Thomas Niemeyer, Städtische Galerie Nordhorn, Germany
Wiederholung. Cmelka - Choi - Falsnaes, curated by Kira Dell, Blumenladen - St. Elisabeth Kirchhof II, Berlin, Germany
The Unfaithful Replica, curated by Nuria Enguita Mayo & Nacho Paris, CA2M-Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Móstoles-Madrid, Spain
Remember Lidice, curated by René Block, Städtische Galerie Nordhorn, Germany
2015
Dérive Dérivée, curated by Angelique Campens, CAB Contemporary Art, Brussels, Belgium
Significant Other, Korea Kulturhaus, Donnaupark, Vienna, Austria
Remember Lidice, curated by René Block, Edition Block, Berlin, Germany
Supermagnets, curated by A. von Taube & H. Friebe, Schau Fenster, Berlin, Germany Grand Illusion(s), curated by Christopher Eamon, Simon Preston Gallery, New York, USA
Springer, nochmals, curated by Angela Rosenberg, Probebühne 7, Humboldt Lab Dahlem, Ethnologisches Museum Berlin, Germany
2014
I multiplied myself in order to feel myself, curated by Barbara Rüdiger, Kunstraum Niederösterreich, Vienna, Austria
2013
Josefine meets Sunah, with Thomas Bayrle, Galerie Mezzanin, Vienna, Austria
Cattedrale, invited by Enzo Cucchi, Salvatore Lacagnina and Victor Man, Istituto Svizzero Roma, Rome, Italy
echo release, Stipendiaten der Hessischen Kulturstiftung, curated by Aurélia Defrance & Anna-Viktoria Eschbach, Hessischen Kulturstiftung / Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany
The Unanswered Question. Iskle 2, curated by René Block, n.b.k. - Neue Berliner Kunstverein / TANAS, Berlin, Germany Hélio Oiticica im Palmengarten, Performance- und Filmprogram in Penetrável PN 14, MMK, Frankfurt, Germany
einszehn, zweizehn, dreizehn, curated by Jörg van den Berg, Kunstverein Friedrichshafen, Germany
How far away is Mars, T293, Rome, Italy The Artist´s Institute, curated by Thomas Bayrle & Anthony Hubermann, New York, USA
New Kids of the Block, curated by Ayse Erkmen, TANAS, Berlin, Germany
Detouched, curated by Anthony Hubermann, Project Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland
Selected Artists 2012, curated by Frank Wagner, NGBK - Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
2012
Garden of Learning, Busan Biennale 2012, curated by Roger M. Buergel, Busan Museum of Art, Busan, Korea
Expending the Grid, curated by Franziska Solte, Instituts für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
east people power, curated by Jae-Hyun Yoo, KunstDoc, Leipzig, Germany
Object Atlas - Fieldwork in the Museum, curated by Clementine Deliss, Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
2011
Thomas Bayrle kuratiert (ungern) Schrippenkönig mit P?, curated by Thomas Bayrle, Galerie Mezzanin, Vienna, Austria
BEYOND, curated by Adam Budak, KUMU Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia
Is This Where It Ends?, Sunah Choi / Haroon Mirza, curated by Franziska Solte & Isabelle Busch, Kunstverein Harburger Bhf, Hamburg, Germany
based in Berlin, KW - Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
Un´Espressione Geografica, curated by Francesco Bonami, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
Dancing to the Rhyme, curated by Sunyoung Oh, Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea Splace, curated by Antje Majewski, Fernsehturm, Berlin, Germany
Seven Little Mistakes, curated by Stefano Collicelli Cagol, Museo Marino Marini, Florence, Italy
2010
And the Moral of the Story is…, curated by Zoe Gray, Film program, Morality, Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Soot and Spit, Sils, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Art Sonje Lounge Project, with Chosil Kil, curated by Sunjung Kim, Art Sonje Center, Seoul, Korea
2009
USB, Hangaram Museum, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea Dream House, curated by Seon-Ryeong Cho, Alternative Space Pool, Seoul, Korea
2008
Boxer, curated by Juliane von Herz, Literaturhaus Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
2007
The California Files, curated by Ariane Beyn, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, CCA, San Francisco, USA
2006
Beijing Case, curated by Gregor Jansen, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
UPDATE.06, 40 years video art in Germany, curated by Matthias Mühling, Lenbachhaus, München, Germany
2005
Parallel Life, curated by Nicolaus Schafhausen & Vanessa Joan Müller, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany
Screening War, curated by Thomas Thiel, ZKM, Karlsruhe / ZKMax, München, Germany
Therefore Beautiful, curated by Vanessa Joan Müller, Ursula Blickle Stiftung, Kreichtal, Germany
2004
A Grass of Water, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Japan Sculpture Now, Galerie Michael Neff, Frankfurt, Germany
2003
Heute, Hess. Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst, Wiesbaden, Germany In Media Res, Gallery Art & Essai, University Rennes, France
2002
easy-heavy, with Michael Beutler, Luftraum, Frankfurt, Germany
2001 Frankfurter Kreuz, curated by Anette Tietenberg, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
Videonale 9, curated by Sören Grammel, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany
2000
Dynamo-Eintracht, curated by Jan Winkelmann & Konstantin Adamopoulos, Galerie ak, Frankfurt / Robotron, Dresden, Germany
Eine Munition unter Anderen, curated by Sören Grammel, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany
Real Work, Werkleitz Biennale 4, Tornitz, Germany
1999
German Open, curated by Veit Görner, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
Grants and Awards
2018
Hannah-Höch-Förderpreis, Berlin, Germany
2013
Artist Residency, Lenikus, Vienna, Austria
2012
Arbeitsstipendium, Berliner Senat, Berlin, Germany
2005
Prize of Frankfurter Verein für Künstlerhilfe, Frankfurt, Germany
2004
Artist Residency, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi, Japan
2003
Reisestipendium, Hessische Kulturstiftung, Wiesbaden, Germany
2002
Arbeitsstipendium, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn, Germany
Artist Residency, SSamzie Space, Seoul, Korea
2001
Prize of Verein Freunde der Städelschule, Frankfurt, Germany