“Yoo Lizzy: A Philosophic Metalsmith”

Sayart.net
Maria Kim, sayart2022@gmail.com 

SayArt hopes to promote the works and philosophies of the deceased artists who have made Korea shine. So we prepared special articles this time. We hope that our special articles will be helpful for their ex post evaluation. In particular, We hope to be able to re-evaluate those who, despite their outstanding work, have not yet made a name for themselves at home and abroad.

The 1st artist to introduce is the late Yoo Lizzy (1945-2013), a 1st-generation representative Metalsmith who devoted herself to the development of modern metalworks in Korea. The eldest daughter of Yoo YoungKuk (1916-2002), the 1st generation of Korean abstract art, Yoo Lizzy had studied art in the United States in the 1970s. After that, she worked for a long time for the establishment and development of Korean metal crafts.

Based on deep reflection on human life and death, she developed her own world of art. From lyrical landscapes to ornaments, environmental sculptures and funeral tools, her world of work is very broad. 

▲ Yoo LizzySince 1981, she had nurtured her juniors as a professor in the Department of Crafts at Seoul National University. In 2004, she established “Chiwoo Craft Museum”, the 1st art museum specializing in metal crafts in Korea, and she had served as the director since 2010. However, she passed away in February 2013 of leukemia, leaving many art lovers grieving.

Her family changed the name of the art museum to “Yoolizzy Craft Museum” in honor of her, and continues to operate it to this day. Especially the bereaved family made her work known to the public and donated 327 pieces (worth 3.5 million Dollars) to the “Seoul Craft Museum.”

The Thinking Craftsman Yoo Lizzy exhibition, which collects works donated to her bereaved family, is currently being held at the “Seoul Museum of Craft Art” located in Jongno-Gu, Seoul. The exhibition started on the 27th of last month and runs until the 27th of November.

SayArt met her gem of a work at the exhibition hall on the 2nd.

The exhibition is divided into 4 parts. In the first part, “Remembering Yoo Lizzy,” her early works were exhibited. Her studio is reproduced here. In her studio, various tools she used during her lifetime are also on display.

Below is interview with Sohyeon Lee in charge of exhibition planning at the Seoul Craft Museum

“Yoo Lizzy's father, Yoo Young-Guk, was ill in the early 2000s. At that time, Yoo Lizzy hoped that she would let her father go more comfortably through her artistic activities, Rather than mourning the breakup with her father, who will leave her. From that moment on, Yoo began to study funeral in earnest and left her related works.” Lee said.

Part 1 “Remembering Yoo Lizzy”
“Based on her philosophical thoughts, Yoo Lizzy is a metal craftsman who spread her art activities. This is the reason why the title of this exhibition was chosen as “Yoo Lizzy: A Philosophic Metalsmith.” ▲ Intro space, photo by Maria Kim.

“What you see above is the intro space. For Yoo, the studio was not just a workplace, but a space with an important meaning, such as a space of thought. We reproduced the work space so that the audience could see and feel the scene of the work a little closer. Yoo started working on her funeral in earnest in the 2000s.” Lee said

“These goals are necessary for the well-being of those who are leaving the world. In addition to Golho (bone jar), there are sangyeo(Korean traditional bier) and sari boxes commonly used in temples. (Saris are small crystals sometimes found in the remains of cremated monks and are considered sacred relics.) And there are rituals that are used for ancestral rites. Most of them were made in the 2000s.”

“The video you see part 1 shows artist Yoo Lizzy from his youth until his death. All of them are working in the studio, and the photos remain, and they were made based on her. Artist Yoo Lizzy majored in crafts at university in the 1960s. From then on, until the early 1970s, she focused on design.”

“After Yoo Lizzy's sudden death from leukemia in 2013, her family has continued to promote and honor Yoo Lizzy's world of her work. Not only her works but also her archives have been well organized and preserved. This time, her bereaved family donated some to the Seoul Craft Museum.”

“Yoo produced many works for her family during her lifetime. This is the reason why the stories of her family continue to appear throughout her works. In this exhibition, her works and photographic materials related to her family were also displayed for viewing. Yoo's father is Yoo Youngkuk, who is very well known as a first-generation Korean abstract painter. Many of Yoo Youngkuk's works were lost during the Korean War, and they were recreated in the early 2000s with the help of his daughter Yoo. In the 1970s, when his father's health deteriorated and walking became uncomfortable, Yoo made a special wand for his father.”

▲ Pin 1, 1975 Silver (92.5), Moonstone 12x3.2x2cm, Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum.▲ Creamer, 1975-76 Silver (92.5) 13x7.4x15cm, Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum.

▲ Wand, 1977 silver (92.5), flower, tree, Derlin 85x11x3.5cm, 

   Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum.

▲ Whisper, 1987 Bronze, Brass, Silver (92.5), Moonstone, Photo, Acrylic, 18.5x24x11cm,

Expressing his mother Ki-soon Kim, Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum.

Part 2 “Leaning on the Wind”
In the second part, “Leaning on the Wind”, Yoo Lizzy’s works are exhibited in the 1980s and 1990s, in which she abstractly unraveled her nature, such as clouds, wind and sea. She lyrically expressed silverware, ornaments, and environmental sculptures.

Below is interview with Sohyeon Lee, in charge of exhibition planning at Seoul Craft Museum.

“The works you see part 2 are from the mid to late 1970s. The first solo exhibition held in the United States in 1977 was released to Korea, and at that time, it caused a very sensational reaction.”

“The title of the second part, 'Leaning on the Wind', was named after Yoo's work. She worked on various silverwares until the early to mid 1980s. She also worked on object works and environmental sculptures that capture the moment of nature and express it as a sculpture. She conducted her work in a wide range of fields. All of her work concepts are peaceful emotions that come from lyrical landscapes. In her work, the oval shape often appears. The reason is that the comfort she felt in the vacant lot she often visited as a child was drawn in an oval in her work.”
 

▲ Winter Island, 1988 aluminum, silver (92.5), wood, paint, 22x44x28cm,

Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum.

▲ Leaning on the Wind, 1978 Silver (92.5), Gold Bulb, Cupronickel, 25.3x22.5x16.5cm, Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum.▲ Whisper, 1987 Bronze, Brass, Silver (92.5), Moonstone, Photo, Acrylic, 18.5x24x11cm, Expressing his mother Ki-soon Kim, Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum.

Part 3 “Water Flowing”
In the third part, “Flowing Water”, various funeral tools produced based on her philosophical thoughts on the cycle of life are exhibited. She thought that these things would help to end the artist's life beautifully. Based on that thought, in the early 2000s, in preparation for her father’s death, she began to produce works for her funeral ceremonies in earnest.

Below is Interview with Sohyeon Lee, in charge of exhibition planning at Seoul Craft Museum

“Her interest in funeral studies began in her early 2000s. She said seeing a Japanese craftsman's bone jar was impressed with how funeral supplies could be part of a person's end-of-life process.”

“The bone jar(Golho) you see now is also the last gift a living person can give to a deceased person. and so she made her work very carefully. What you see now is bone jar(Golho) for her mother, who was born in the Year of the Monkey.”

▲ Yoo created this “Golho” for her mother, who was born in the Year of the Monkey. 2001, silver (92.5), limestone, 23x23x32cm, Courtesy of Seoul Craft Meseum.“In the exhibition hall, archive materials related to mother’s Golho is also exhibited. The drawings and the silicone mold used to create the monkey shape on the artwork remain as materials. In Japan, such a foundation is kept inside the house, and small alcoves are made for 12-year cycle of the chinese zodiac(12 animals) and used to commemorate the deceased.” ▲ sangyeo is Korean traditional bier. photo by Maria Kim“What you see above is a small sangyeo. When she and her father Yoo Young-guk died, they rode this sangyeo and headed to the mountain where they would be buried.”

“This work was one of her representative works in the late 1970s, and she exhibited it at the national exhibition at the time and received the Minister of Culture and Public Information Award.”

“This work is directly related to the title of this space. Yoo said life and death are not simply the beginning and the end, but the cycle and flow of life and nature. She chose water as her object, trying to capture the flow of water with a hard metal.”

"The work below is a work that can be viewed and enjoyed formatively, but it has a hole, so it can be used as a vase by inserting a branch.".”

▲ Flowing water, 2010, silver (92.5), gold, walnut wood, lacquer, plate: 6x50.5x27, 6x54.2x28, vase: 18x17x15cm

Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum.

“This is a work that expresses the flow of water well. It’s a work in the 1980s, when she was the most proficient in terms of metal craftsmanship. The work is so good that it is already in the collections of other institutions.”

Part 4 ‘Go Eun Jewel’
It’s the product of a metal craft workshop and shop that donor Yujaya operated to communicate with the public. You can meet precious metal ornaments with outstanding aesthetics made through the design and consultation by Yoo Lizzy.

▲ Golden Cup, 1995, Gold (22K), Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum. ▲ Jade Pearl Necklace, Gold (18K), Silver, Jade, Pearl, Diamond, Courtesy of Seoul Craft Museum.In addition, the bereaved family said that they would enact and support the 'Seoul City Craft Award' to remember her, who had a deep meaning for the development of Korean crafts, starting with this donation.

Kim Su-jeong, director of the Seoul Craft Museum, said, “We hope that through this special donation exhibition, many citizens can appreciate the major works of glass paper, which represent modern Korean crafts. we hope you feel the charm of crafts that make everyday life more special. We will continue to do our best to promote the excellence of Korean crafts to the world by actively promoting modern metal crafts at home and abroad.”