Seongmin Ahn: Delectable Landscapes
Evercore Artist Empowerment Award 2022

Delectable Landscapes is a solo exhibition by Seongmin Ahn, presented at Evercore’s New York City offices.

Excerpt from Seongmin’s artist statement:

My work often grows out of complicated personal crises. Through the creative process, I contemplate both my own daily issues and more fundamental social and philosophical problems, transmuting them into physical objects—paintings and installations—that pose meaningful questions to the audience. I address such issues as cultural dislocation, domestic strife, and gun violence, while constantly bearing in mind the relationship between past and present, both collective and individual.

My goals in creative work and social/political life are closely intertwined. Coming from a multicultural background, I place a strong emphasis on open perspectives, coexistence, balance, and cross-disciplinary awareness. I want to enhance my ability to adapt and evolve, and thus contribute to the new culture of a diverse and ever-changing world as an artist.

I juxtapose unexpected objects to create intriguing narratives and intimate relationships between contrasting elements. I often find myself dreaming on the perilous edge between reality and surreality. I belong to these disparate worlds, but don’t belong to either one entirely. While naturally immersing myself in such paradox and dualism, I transform violent emotional turmoil into objects of beauty and positive assertion, both for myself and my audiences.

View the exhibition catalogue to see Seongmin’s work and read her full artist statement.

For inquiries, please email info@cueartfoundation.org

About the Artist

Seongmin Ahn is a multimedia artist whose work expands on traditional forms and themes, adopting models from science, technology, and other cognitive practices. Her cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary approach emphasizes empathy and engagement, adapting to emerging issues of contemporary art and community interest in order to reflect the concerns and problems of a globalized world.

Ahn holds two M.F.A. degrees, one in mixed media from the Maryland Institute College of Art and the other in ink painting from Seoul National University. She has extensive experience as a teaching artist, designing and teaching innovative workshops and art classes at such institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Queens Museum, the Art Students League, and the Asia Society. Ahn is currently an adjunct faculty member at Queens College and the Maryland Institute College of Art.

As an active participant in the contemporary art scene in New York and East Asia, Ahn has exhibited work at such major venues as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul), the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, the Charles Wang Center at Stony Brook University, and the Hello Museum (Seoul).

She has been represented by the Kang Collection in New York, Asian Art Works in Beijing, and Gallery Stan in Seoul. She has received a number of funding awards, including two Pollock Krasner Foundation grants. Her work has been reviewed in The Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, NY Arts Magazine, The Baltimore Sun, and The Plain Dealer, among others. 

Artwork Images

About the Evercore Artist Empowerment Award

The Evercore Artist Empowerment Award is an opportunity that seeks to recognize and support artists at a critical point in their careers. Each six-month engagement at Evercore’s New York City offices provides a platform for artists to present a solo exhibition of their work, and in turn creates an unparalleled opportunity for the Evercore community to experience and engage with contemporary art.

The Artist Empowerment Award was initiated by Corina Larkin, former Executive Director of CUE Art Foundation.

Applications for the Evercore Artist Empowerment Award are accepted annually via an opt-in option on CUE’s Open Call for Solo Exhibitions.

The Evercore Artist Empowerment Award is an opportunity for artists who:

• Have not had a solo show in a commercial NYC gallery within the last five years

• Do not have current, consistent commercial gallery representation in the United States

• Are not currently enrolled in a degree program

• Have a demonstrated, consistent studio practice outside an academic setting for three or more years

• Currently live and work in the United States

Other Recent Artist Empowerment Award Recipients