Sook Jin Jo - Biography | Studio Artego

Korean born, New York based artist Sook Jin Jo is a multidisciplinary artist. For the last 40 years she has produced drawings, collages, sculptural assemblages, performances, photographs, videos, installations, public works and architecture. Originally because canvas was too expensive for her as a young artist, she started to use plywood and began to explore found wooden materials. Continuing her work with this medium, she has discovered infinite possibilities for painting, sculpture, installation and beyond. She often chose marginalized sites for her outdoor installations and public artworks. Most of them are site-specific and collaborative, working with professionals and local peoples from diverse communities in many countries, including, India, Poland, France, Switzerland, Korea, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Brazil and the US.

Jo has exhibited internationally and has been the subject of 40 solo exhibitions, including “WITNESS III”, Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, Minnesota (2023); “SeMA GOLD 2014: Nobody”, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea; “Walter Gropius Master Artist Series”, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia (2011); A project collaboration with Immigrants from Latin America,

Tenement Museum, New York, NY (2009); “A Mid-Career Survey of the Work of Sook Jin Jo” at the Arko Art Center, Seoul (2007); and numerous group exhibitions, including the “Lodz Biennale”, Lodz, Poland; the “Gwangju Biennale,” Korea; the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea.

Sook Jin Jo is a recipient of many distinguished awards, fellowships, grants and commissions, including a commission from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; the iaab Fellowship (Christoph Merian Stifung Foundation) in Basel, Switzerland; the Hachonghyun Foundation Artist Award in Seoul, Korea; a Korea Arts Foundation of America (KAFA) Award in Santa Monica, CA; a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in New York, NY; the Sacatar Foundation Residency Fellowship in Brazil; and a Socrates Sculpture Park Artist Fellowship in New York, NY.