The Sisley Cultural Foundation, 'Trois Cinq Friedland,' established the groundbreaking art award 'Sisley Young Artist Award' in 2019 in partnership with the ?cole Nationale Sup?rieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. Now in its fifth year, this award continues to spotlight numerous young talents and support their careers. To date, five recipients from the ?cole Nationale Sup?rieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris have signed contracts with renowned galleries and are rapidly gaining attention in the art market thanks to this award.
Following its success in France, inspired by the dynamism of the Korean art scene, the Sisley Cultural Foundation launched the 'Sisley for Young Creation Award Korea' to highlight the excellence of emerging Korean artists and support graduates of the Korea National University of Arts.
Sharing a common vision, Sisley and the Korea National University of Arts formed an outstanding jury panel with professional insight and sensibility. The panel includes Christine Dornano, Sisley Global Vice President; Hong Byung-ui, President of Sisley Korea; Lim Min-wook, Professor of the Department of Plastic Arts at the Korea National University of Arts; art critic and curator Nicolas Bourriaud; Kwak Jun-young, former Exhibition Director at the Leeum Museum of Art; and Park Hye-won, Vice President of Doosan Magazine, among a total of ten members.
The jury conducted a fierce yet fair final evaluation on November 20 for the Sisley Young Artist Award Korea and selected artist Kwak So-jin (video and media art) as this year’s winner.
Born in 1993, Kwak So-jin graduated from the Film Department of the Korea National University of Arts’ School of Film, TV & Multimedia and completed her master's degree in Intermedia at the Graduate School of Fine Arts of the same university. Since 2020, she has been working with video pieces based on concrete field research and performative filming, as well as performances using objects. The artist employs this multimedia approach as a working methodology to explore affective sensations realized only through movement and turbulence, and speculative practices created through pauses and ruptures. Since 2023, she has been collaborating with Korean and Japanese artists and curators on a Madanggeuk project, sharing the way Madanggeuk is appropriated in Higashikujo Madang in Kyoto city and the history of diaspora communities.
The winner will receive a grant of approximately 7.5 million KRW and the privilege to hold an exhibition in Seoul in the first half of 2025, supported by Sisley.
Going forward, Sisley will continue to discover and support talented Korean artists and further dedicate itself to cultural exchange efforts that promote Korean artists not only in France but internationally.
[Gwak Sojin]
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