ANTECEDERE

Solo Exhibition at Still House in 2018

307 E 9th St. New York, NY, USA

Still House invites you to see Yoon Young Hur’s debut ceramics show in the US, Antecedere. The series features ceramic sculptures inspired by ancient Korean ritual earthenware called “togi.” As Korea’s oldest form of pottery, “togi" dates as far back as 1 BC and is characterized by its distinct forms and cultural significance. Vessels take many shapes, but Yoon Young Hur has focused on birds, jars, bells, wheels, and towers as these forms have been recognized across many cultures. Before the new year or harvesting season, the vessels are filled with food and liquids as offerings to the sky or ancestral spirits in hopes of bringing good fortune. Vessels also serve as funerary wares to help the souls of loved ones navigate a liminal space occupied just after death. Such ancestral rites called “jesa” are still carried out by Koreans of religious and non-religious background. Overtime, the tall ancient sculptural vessels called “togi” evolved into low-sitting pedestals called “jaegi” on which offerings for ancestral spirits are placed. With this change, focus shifted from the monumentality of the ritual ware’s themselves towards the contents of offerings presented to familial spirits. In this body of work, Yoon Young examines the various ways humans embed meaning and emotion into clay bodies beyond pure form and function. 

OFFERING: BIRD VESSEL - 1

OFFERING: BIRD VESSEL - 2

OFFERINGS: URN, BELL, ROCK

OFFERING: TOWERS + VESSELS

OFFERING: “JAEGI”

OFFERING: CONCAVE

OFFERING: MOUNTAIN 1, 2

Photography by Sharon Radisch @sharonradisch

Article on Design Anthology: “Ceramic Explorations: Yoon-Young Hur’s Primal Modernism”

https://www.designanthology.com/