Won-il Rhee
Encyclopedia
Won-il Rhee was a Korean
digital art
curator
. He was born and died in Seoul
.
Rhee was the artistic director in 2002 and 2006 of the Media City Seoul Biennale
. He was the leading curator of the Total Museum of Art and co-ordinator of the Korean Pavilion for the 1995 Venice Biennale
. Also, he served as executive head of the exhibition team for the Third Gwangju Biennale
.
From 1996 to 2002 he was head curator at the Sung-Kok Museum of Art and in 2002 he was appointed artistic director of the Media City Seoul
Biennale. In 2003 he became chief curator at the Seoul Museum of Art
. He also served as the Asian Editor for Flash Art based in Milan and New York City.
On January 11, 2011, Rhee died suddenly of a heart attack.
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
digital art
Digital art
Digital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process...
curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
. He was born and died in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
.
Rhee was the artistic director in 2002 and 2006 of the Media City Seoul Biennale
Biennale
Biennale is Italian for "every other year" and can be used to describe any event that happens every two years. It is most commonly used within the art world to describe an international manifestation of contemporary art, stemming for the use of the phrase for the Venice Biennale, which was first...
. He was the leading curator of the Total Museum of Art and co-ordinator of the Korean Pavilion for the 1995 Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
. Also, he served as executive head of the exhibition team for the Third Gwangju Biennale
Gwangju Biennale
The Gwangju Biennale, which started in September 1995 in the city of Gwangju in the South Jeolla province of South Korea, was Asia's first contemporary art biennale. The purpose of Gwangju Biennale is globalization of art and it respect diversity rather than uniformity...
.
From 1996 to 2002 he was head curator at the Sung-Kok Museum of Art and in 2002 he was appointed artistic director of the Media City Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
Biennale. In 2003 he became chief curator at the Seoul Museum of Art
Seoul Museum of Art
The Seoul Museum of Art is an art museum operated by Seoul City Council and located in central of Seoul, South Korea. It was opened in the Gyeonghuigung Palace area, a royal palace of Joseon dynasty, with six exhibition rooms and an outdoor sculpture park.. However, in 2002 a larger main branch was...
. He also served as the Asian Editor for Flash Art based in Milan and New York City.
Curatorial projects
- Media City Seoul Biennale, Seoul, Korea, 2002 & 2006
- ElectroScape, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China, 2005
- Co-Curator for Shanghai COOL Duolun Museum of Art, Shanghai, 2005
- Advisory Programmer to DMC, Seoul, 2004
- Curator for Portrait-Landscape, Gwangju, 2005
- Curator for City Net Asia, Seoul, 2003
- Curator for the Asia-Oceania-Korea Section of the Gwangju Biennale, 2004
- Curator of the Asian Section at the Lodz Biennale, Lodz, Poland, 2004
- Curator for Digital Sublime, Taiwan, 2004
- Curator of Grounding Reality-25 Young Chinese Artists, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, 2005
- Curator of Silent Power-German Expressionists, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, 2006
- Curator of Thermocline of Art: Asian Waves, ZKM, KarlsruheKarlsruheThe City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, 2007 - Curator of Julian SchnabelJulian SchnabelJulian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates....
, World Art Museum, Beijing, China, 2007 - Co-Curator of Asia-Europe Mediations, Poznan Museum, Poland
- Co-Curator of BIACS 3: 3rd International Biennial of Seville, YOUniverse, 2008
- Artistic Director of DIGIFESTA 2010, Gwangju Biennial, Korea
- Curator of Nanjing Documenta 2010, China
- Co-Curator of Prague Biennial, 2009-2013, Czech Republic
- Co-Commissioner of Vancouver Olympic Sculpture Biennial 2009-2011, Canada
On January 11, 2011, Rhee died suddenly of a heart attack.
External links
- http://www.globalartmuseum.de/site/mp3player/840134920066.mp3 On June 24, 2006 Wonil Rhee speaking at the podium of the conference The Global Challenge of Art Museums. Remarks on the question What is Contemporary Art?