(1943- )
Shim Moon-seup (b.1943) has been reclaiming new grounds in Korea’s contemporary sculpture scene with his innovative works that go beyond existing conventions for the past half-century. After his debut at the Paris Young Artist Biennale in 1971, he was invited by the Venice Biennale in 1995 as the representative artist of Korea along with Nam June Paik, and continued to attract the global art world’s attention, such as participating in the special exhibit the 2011 Venice Biennale. He held an exhibition at Palais Royal in France, 2007, and was also awarded the Arts and Cultures Metal from France the same year, establishing his position as an internationally renowned artist within and without the country by actively hosting exhibitions abroad in France, Italy, the U.S., and Japan.
Ban means ‘returning,’ and Chu indicates grass (livestock feed); put together, Ban Chu refers to the act of a ruminant, chewing on the feed. The artist transforms the relationship between art, humans, and Nature through the act of rumination.
Shim Moon-sub was born in Tongyoung, Gyeongsang-do. He graduated from the Sculpture department in Seoul National University’s College of Art, and served as a professor of sculpture at Choong-Ang University. His work was critically acclaimed and recognized domestically as well as internationally, leading to various awards including the National Art Competition Minister of Culture and Public Information Award and Chairman of Congress Award (1968-1970), the Korea-France Culture Award (2002), and the French Culture Medal (2007). Actively presenting his work in France, Italy and Japan, Shim will be hosting a solo exhibition at Domaine de Kerguehennec in France from March 6 to June 5 in 2016, as well as the National Museum of Contemporary Art in 2017.