Do-Ho Suh

From June 18 through September 17, 2005, The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) proudly presents the latest works of Do-Ho Suh. As an artist-in-residence at FWM, Suh worked with staff to develop a new process of knitting nylon monofilament to create Paratrooper II (2005), the second in a series of sculptures based on the theme of the paratrooper and the latest work by an artist-in-residence to be added to FWM's permanent museum collection. An opening reception and gallery walk-through by the artist will be held at FWM on Friday, June 17 at 6 p.m. with a members-only preview and tour preceding the event at 5 p.m.

For this exhibition, FWM is partnering with The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. From June 18 through August 21, 2005, the Morris Gallery, the Pennsylvania Academy's program devoted to contemporary art, will exhibit Suh's Paratrooper II, made in collaboration with FWM. The Morris Gallery also will host an opening reception on Friday, June 17 at 6 p.m.

Suspended from the Morris Gallery's high ceiling, Suh's paratrooper will take on new proportions when set against the interior of the Frank Furness-designed architecture and historical landmark. In FWM's galleries, Suh will present Paratrooper V (2005), another work in the paratrooper series, and the work Screen (2004), a site-based installation of stacked miniature figurines resembling those in one of Suh's most well-known works, Floor (1997-2000).

Throughout his career, Suh has explored issues of personal and cultural identity, displacement, individuality, and transience. Through repetition of individual forms, as evident in works such as Screen and Floor, the artist makes reference to the complex relationship of the individual to the collective as the seemingly anonymous mass of figures in Screen and Floor literally support the greater whole. The paratrooper series marks a continuation of Suh's interest in the increasingly transient nature of a global culture and in his personal reflections on the experiences of landing in a foreign culture.

Paratrooper II hangs from the gallery ceiling supported by a parachute formed of 200 semi-transparent figures, enveloping visitors in a fabric environment. The life-size human paratrooper, created by knitting colored resin-coated nylon monofilament, is attached to its parachute by strings of monofilament woven directly into the fabric of the paratrooper.

To realize Paratrooper II, FWM Project Coordinator Doina Adam assisted Suh in developing a new process of knitting monofilament that enabled the material to be stretched in various directions and molded to the specifications of the paratrooper. The polyester organza blouses composing the parachute were sewed by Abby Lutz, project construction technician, and Nami Yamamoto, printer/studio assistant.

About Do-Ho Suh Do-Ho Suh was born in Seoul, Korea in 1962. He received a BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in sculpture from Yale University. He has had solo exhibitions at such venues as the Serpentine Gallery, London, Seattle Art Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris. He has also participated in group exhibitions at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the 49th Venice Biennale, among others. The artist's work is represented in a number of major museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Do-Ho Suh lives and works in New York City.

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Do-Ho Suh