Wook-Kyung Choi

Wook-Kyung Choi (1940–1985) graduated from the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University in 1963. Shortly after, Choi moved to the United States to expand her education as well as artistic career, studying at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and receiving her MA in Fine Arts from the Brooklyn Museum School of Art. From 1968 to 1971, Choi taught painting at Franklin Pierce College as an Assistant Professor. She continued her career as an artist and professor after she returned to Korea in 1978, teaching at Yeungnam University and later at Duksung Women’s University.

Throughout her short yet prolific artistic career until her death at the age of 45, she was most known for her association with Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art which were the main movements in the United States at the time. The influence of these schools distinguished her from other Korean artists and the dominant contemporary groups at the time such as Korean Avant-garde who worked with performance and installation and Dansaekhwa. Choi’s challenge to the orthodoxy of the Korean art scene came in many different forms: abstract paintings, ink drawings, paper collages, and figure drawings.

Solo exhibitions of the artist have been held at Kukje Gallery, Seoul (2016); Gana Art Center, Seoul (2013), The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea (1987); Roswell Museum, Roswell, Mexico (1977); and Shinsegye Art Gallery, Seoul (1976). Choi’s work is included in the collection of the Missouri State University, Kansas, Missouri; Skowhegan School Foundation, New York; Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Mural, Skowhegan, Maine; Colby College of Art Museum, Watervile, Maine; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gawcheon, Korea; Seoul National University, Seoul; Duksung Women’s University, Seoul; Christian Academy House, Seoul; Wooyang Art Museum, Gyeongju, Korea; Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; and Hasol Art Museum, Wonju, Korea.