PRESS RELEASE

NAM JUNE PAIK: FOUR DECADES

Thomas Solomon Art Advisory

Felix Art Fair 2020, Room 1223

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

7000 Hollywood Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90028

Dates: February 13–16, 2020

Thomas Solomon Art Advisory is proud to present Nam June Paik: Four Decades, at Felix Art Fair 2020, Room 1223. This unique presentation spans four decades of important artworks by Nam June Paik. Known for using diverse mediums, this presentation will feature various mixed-media works including, video-sculptures, static-sculptures, digital-paintings, works on paper, digital photographs, and works on paper.

Born in South Korea in 1932, Paik lived between New York, Japan, and Germany. Today, his immense influence can be seen throughout contemporary art and culture. Credited with inventing video art, Paik’s work developed collaborative aspects combining various mediums including, music, dance, and performance. His historic global satellite event Good Morning, Mr. Orwell, 1984, was the first international satellite installation. It anticipated the future of technology and its global simultaneous outreach of art and the internet. 

Among the various examples of video installations included in this presentation is an iconic robot. In Clock Arms Robot, 1995, old television sets make up the head and torso, with antique clocks forming the arms. The video illustrates a Buddha sculpture caught in a snowstorm, bringing together a unique history of time and science-fiction. Japanese Garden, 1994, is a multi-channel video installation featuring a reclining female nude. The figure is broken up in two parts over the ten monitors, juxtaposed with four living potted cacti. As the reclining woman moves, her nude body interacts with the viewer in the mysterious human garden. Also included in the presentation, Rear Window, 1995, a dollhouse featuring images from the Hitchcock film, Untitled (Toy Robots), 1992, a mixed-media painting on canvas. Subjects including John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, and his longtime collaborator Charlotte Moorman also run throughout the presentation.

Major retrospectives of Paik's work have been organized by Kölnischer Kunstverein (1976), Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1978), Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (1982), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1989), Kunsthalle Basel (1991), National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul (1992), and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (2000). His work also appeared in important group exhibitions such as São Paulo Biennale (1975), Whitney Biennial (1977, 1981, 1983, 1987, and 1989), documenta 6 and 8 (1977 and 1987), and Venice Biennale (1984 and 1993). From 1979 to 1995 Paik served as department chair at Staatliche Kunstakademie in Dusseldorf. 

The present survey, Nam June Paik, is on view at the Tate Modern in London through February 9, 2020. The exhibition was co-organized by Tate Modern and SFMOMA in collaboration with the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. The exhibition travels to MCA Chicago, SFMOMA, and the National Gallery, Singapore in the coming years.