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Michael Joo

Bio

Michael Joo was born in 1966 in Ithaca, New York, and lives and works in New York. Since the beginning of his artistic career, he has always tried to link mechanisms through which visible and living entities-such as the human body, plants, and animals-are connected to invisible entities.

In 1989, he graduated in Biology from Washington University and, in 1991, received his Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Yale School of Art. His artwork is an invitation to reflect on the concept of hybrids through a process that begins by deconstructing the object and ends with a union of deconstructed objects. He recently attempted to reconcile Buddhist spirituality and the analytic approach of Western civilization. In Bodhi Obfuscatus (Space Baby) (2005), the artist surrounds a Buddha statue with a series of cameras that film and project images on large screens located throughout the room, creating a suggestive atmosphere. This process of recording and the transmission of images, what Joo calls a “space helmet,” aim to generate an interaction between the viewer and object filtered through technological media. His masterpieces are included in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and MoMA, both New York; the UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Moderna Museet, Stockholm; and the Fnac, Paris. In addition to representing Korea at the Venice Biennale (2001), he has exhibited in many institutions such as the Anton Kern Gallery (2009), New York; in Glasstress (2011, 2013), Venice; at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (2014), Connecticut; Cass Sculpture Foundation (2014), Goodwood; and Blain|Southern (2016), London.

Expanded Access, 2011

Mirrored borosilicate glass

85 x 67 x 8 cm / 155 x 290 x 290 cm

Glasstress 2019, Glasstress Boca Raton, Glasstress Beirut, Glasstress New York, Glasstress 2011

Michael Joo - Expanded Access
Michael Joo - Expanded Access
Michael Joo - Expanded Access
Pericardium, 2015

Glass, antlers

36 x 45 x 40 cm

Glasstress 2015

Michael Joo - Pericardium
Michael Joo - Pericardium
Dissembled (Version 2), 2013

Low iron glass, polymer alloy with steel inserts

308 x 308 x 62 cm

Glasstress 2013

Michael Joo - Disassembled (Version 2)
Michael Joo - Disassembled (Version 2)
Access Denied, 2011

Mirrored borosilicate glass

85 x 130 x 30 cm

Glasstress Riga, Glasstress Stockholm

Michael Too - Access Denied