KOO Jiyoon

KOO Jiyoon’s (b.1982) works embody the time that passes in the city, depicting the condensed psychological landscape, which reflects on the ever-changing characteristics of urban chronology. The artist identifies the city and its buildings as biological organisms belonging to the structural concept of time. The artist, who observes and personifies the crumbling old buildings in and around Seoul, realizes the tragic fate of these buildings that will one day remain only as a distant memory, disappearing in the brutal order of the city, maintained by the constant cycle of destruction and creation. Therefore, the constant change of emotions, which mirrors the fluctuating characteristics of the city, are at the heart of KOO Jiyoon’s work. The artist captures the city’s desires and memories while reflecting on time and combines them into a psychological landscape where visual elements, such as colors and lines, mingle within the boundaries of the canvas. In particular, the unique and subtle aesthetic of KOO Jiyoon’s works arises from the coexistence of contrast between the new and the old, between the brushstrokes that are sharp and rough in places and thick and soft in others, and between the mixture of cloudy and vivid colors, providing yet another focal point in the abstract paintings.

 

KOO Jiyoon was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1982. She graduated from Korean National University in 2006, and School of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007, both majoring in BFA Fine Art. She recieved her MFA in Studio Art at New York University in 2010. She held solo exhibitions at Gallery Purple (Namjangju, Korea, 2022) in ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL (Seoul, Korea, 2021), ARARIO MUSEUM in SPACE (Seoul, Korea, 2018), Sarubia Dabang (Seoul, Korea, 2016), and more. She participated group exhibitions at One and J. Gallery (Seoul, Korea, 2022) ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN (Cheonan, Korea, 2021), Doosan Gallery (Seoul, Korea, 2019), Hite Collection (Seoul, Korea, 2018), Zaha Museum (Seoul, Korea, 2018), Seoul National University Art Museum (Seoul, Korea, 2017), Common Center (Seoul, Korea, 2014), Doosan Galley (New York, US, 2010), and more. She won the Etro Arts Award in 2014 and the “Young Artist Award” hosted by the Bank of Korea in 2013. Her work is part of many significant collections such as the Bank of Korea, Cummins Station, and ARARIO MUSEUM.