Do Ho Suh

Do Ho Suh initially stood in his father’s shadow

Do Ho Suh, born in Seoul in South Korea in 1962, came into contact with the world of art as the son of the famous Korean artist Suh Se-Ok. Do Ho Suh’s father was a driving force of an artistic movement in the 1960s which infused traditional ink painting with new senses and concepts, drawing extensively from the abstract currents of the Western art scene. Do Ho Suh himself spent his childhood in Seoul and initially wanted to become a marine biologist, but when his grades weren’t adequate, he applied to an art university. There he acquired a Masters in traditional Korean painting, and after two years of military service, moved to the USA to pursue his artistic education. The spatial distance from his overpowering father brought a kind of freedom for Suh: The continual comparisons fell away, and for the first time he was able to develop his own creative language. 

Nylon and silk special copies to scale

Do Ho Suh travelled extensively, spontaneously capturing motifs in his sketchbook to use as inspirations and impulses for later works, an approach that he had already acquired during his studies. The journey and destination are equal; the artist thus also turned an earlier weakness – his aversion to travel – into a strength. From the beginning, Suh’s art was strongly related to the space, whilst his early work in particular was so integrated into the surroundings that it was often hardly possible for the viewer to make out the work of art itself. The most famous works by the artist are themselves spaces: Do Ho Suh had scale versions of spaces from his personal biography made out of nylon and silk. The unique, transparent silk material played a recurring role in Suh’s work, embodying an important connection for the artist with his Korean roots. 

The inexhaustible question of space and identity

In his creativity, Do Ho Suh strives to combine the two cultures that have shaped him and that have become his double home – Korea and America – while at the same time questioning their boundaries. He is fascinated with the idea of two doorways leading into the same space, the identity of which is fed by the influences of both directions. A fixture on the New York art scene since the 1990s, Suh received his Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from the prestigious Yale University in 1997. He has had numerous solo exhibitions around the world and his work can be found in the collections of important museums and galleries including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. Do Ho Suh represented his homeland of Korea at the Venice Biennale in 2001.

Do Ho Suh lives and works in London, New York and Seoul.