"Bottari Artist" Kim Suja Receives French Order of Arts and Letters Officier

Second French Order of Arts and Letters After Receiving "Chevalier" in 2017

Kim Suja, known as the "Bottari Artist," received the Officier of the Order of Arts and Letters, awarded by the French government, at the French Embassy residence in Korea on July 9. This order is given to individuals who have achieved outstanding creative accomplishments in the fields of art and literature, and is divided into three ranks: Commandeur, Officier, and Chevalier. This is her second French Order of Arts and Letters, following her receipt of the Chevalier rank in 2017.

Artist Kim Suja received the Cultural and Artistic Merit Medal 'Officier' from Philippe Pertusot, the French Ambassador to Korea, at the French Embassy residence in Korea on the 9th. Photo by Yonhap News

Born in Daegu in 1957, Kim graduated from the Department of Painting at Hongik University. Although she initially worked as a painter, she shifted to installation art in the early 1990s and has since presented works that transcend boundaries across various fields such as painting, sewing, installation, performance, video, light and sound, and architecture. Her installation series "Bottari," in which she wraps furniture and old clothes in traditional bojagi cloth, has attracted international attention and earned her the nickname "Bottari Artist."

Kim is active in both Korea and France. In 1984, she studied lithography at the ?cole des Beaux-Arts, the French National School of Fine Arts, which marked the beginning of over 40 years of artistic activity in France. Last year, she became the first Korean artist to be invited as a Carte Blanche (full mandate) artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce ? Pinault Collection, a private art museum in Paris.