Korean artist Ahn Chang-Hong is presenting “noon-mool,” a large-scale solo exhibition at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, D.C.
Opened on Sept. 5, the exhibition occupies the museum’s second and third floors and continues through Dec. 6. According to materials provided by the artist, it comprises 93 works, including pieces from the “Taxidermy,” “Blindness” and “Mask” series, as well as earlier paintings and three-dimensional works.
Structured as a survey of several decades of Ahn’s practice, the presentation places recent work alongside earlier pieces. Partner organisations have described it as the museum’s first major solo exhibition devoted to a Korean artist.
The title “noon-mool” is a phonetic rendering of the Korean word for tears. By retaining the sound of the original Korean term rather than using only its English translation, the exhibition foregrounds the language from which the title originated.
The “Taxidermy” series forms the centre of the exhibition. Ahn applies paint to large-scale photographs of preserved animals, adding tears to their eyes and placing yellow butterflies around their bodies. The works address mortality and vulnerability through images of animals preserved for human purposes and later discarded.
Working across painting, photography, sculpture and mixed media, Ahn has consistently examined history, memory, violence and death. His work often focuses on individuals and other living beings wounded or marginalised by historical events and social structures.
The exhibition is co-curated by Korean American artist and Georgetown University professor BG Muhn and American University Museum director Jack Rasmussen. Art historian Levi Prombaum contributed an essay to the accompanying catalogue.
Admission to the exhibition is free. Arario Gallery has also announced plans for a large-scale Ahn Chang-Hong solo exhibition across its Seoul galleries in November, with the title and exact dates to be released later.
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