JOOYOUNG CHOI
B. 1982/1983, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
ADPTD. 1983, CONCORD, NH
REUNTD. 2007, ANSAN, SOUTH KOREA
Through painting, video, sculpture, animation and music, multi-disciplinary artist JooYoung Choi documents the interconnecting narratives of a high-structured, expansive fictional land called the Cosmic Womb. Choi’s work has been exhibited in museums and institutions across the United States, and has been featured by numerous regional and international media groups and publications. Her work can be found in many public and private collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and William P. Hobby Airport.
EDUCATION
2012 MFA in Visual Art, Lesley University College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
2010 BFA in Studio Art, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
2009 Korea National University of the Arts, Exchange Program, Seoul, South Korea
2009 Kyung Hee University, Summer Program, Seoul, South Korea
2008 Ewha Women’s University, Summer Program, Seoul, South Korea
2001 Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Big Time Dreaming in the Age of Uncertainty, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TX
2018 Perennial Favorites, Big Time Believer and the Garden of Courage and Love, Harvester Arts, Wichita, KS
2017 Somnioplexic Resonance, solo installation in conjunction with A Better Yesterday, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX
2016 Paracosmic Alchemy, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX
Have Faith for You Have Always Been Loved, solo installation in conjunction with Round 45: Local Impact, Project Row Houses, Houston, TX
2015 A Strange Paradise, Front Gallery, Houston, TX
C.S. Watson and the Cosmic Womb, Brazos Gallery, Richland College, Dallas, TX
2011 (Choi Show), International Korean Adoptee Art and Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea
2010 Speaking the Unspoken, East Meets West, Cambridge, MA
Parker Hill Library Exhibition, Roxbury, MA
2009 For Ae Ran Won, Ko-Root, Seoul, South Korea
Vive L’Amour, Jamaica Plain, MA
2008 Artdoptee, Somerville Library, Somerville, MA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 A Time Before We Were Born: Visions of Arcadia in Contemporary Painting, Sylvia Wald & Po Kim Art Gallery, New York, NY
From Pangs to Pangolins, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Picture Show of the Mind: A Tribute to the Teachings of Lee Baxter Davis, Meadows Museum of Art, Shreveport, LA
2016 Reverberations, Stella Elkins Gallery, Tyler University, Philadelphia, PA
XX Part Two: 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX
Double Digits: Lawndale’s Artist Studio Program, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
2015 ABCD, Lawndale Artist Studio Program Exhibition, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
The House on Mango Street, National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
Parliament of Owls, DiverseWorks, Houston, TX
2015 Significant Details, Curating Contemporary, Online Exhibition Curated by John Fields
Time Travelers Redux, LAST Projects Space, West Hollywood, CA
2014 Eco Myths, LAST Project Space, West Hollywood, CA
Urban Art: Expressions of an Environment, FCA Council Gallery, Fayetteville, NC
Raw Paw: Keeping Dreamtime, Museum of Human Achievement, Austin, TX
The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
2013 Third Coast National, K Space Contemporary, Corpus Christi, TX
The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
2012 AIB MFA in Visual Arts Graduate Exhibition, Boston, MA
2011 BORN INTO IDENTITY: The Asian Pacific American Adoptees Experience, Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, Seattle, WA
Asian/Pacific Islander American Heritage Month, TJX Head Quarters, Framingham, MA
2010 TJX Asian/Pacific Islander American Heritage Month, Framingham, MA
2008 Calvin Burnett Exhibit, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
2006 Speaking Truth to Power, Edna Stebbins Art Gallery, Cambridge, MA
International Women’s Day Celebration, La Rivolta at CCB, Boston, MA
2004 Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA
ARTIST TALKS
2017 Paracosms 101, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX
2016 Paracosmic Alchemy discussion with Valerie Cassel Oliver, Curator, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX
2015 The Cosmic Womb Mythos, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, TX
2014 Lawndale Artist Studio Program Artist Talks, Houston, TX
2013 The Big Slide Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
2012 AIB MFA in Visual Arts Graduate Thesis Artist Talk, Lesley University, Boston, MA
2011 East Meets West Artist Talk, Cambridge, MA
Somerville Library, Somerville, MA
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2018 Wichita Riverfest Artist in Residency, Wichita, Kansas
San Francisco Day School Artist in Residency, San Francisco, California
2015 Artadia Award, Artadia Fund for Art and Dialogue, New York City, NY
The Idea Fund Grant, endowed by the Andy Warhol Foundation, Houston, TX
Lawndale Art Center, Lawndale Studio Artist Program, Houston, TX
2009 UUFP Stanfield Artist Award, Boston, MA
Ko-Root Visiting Artist, Seoul, South Korea
Ae Ran Won Portrait Project, Seoul, South Korea
2008 UUFP Stanfield Artist Award, Boston, MA
2007 UUFP Stanfield Artist Award, Boston, MA
Inter-Adoptee Scholarship
Somerville Arts Council LCC Cultural Heritage Grant, Somerville, MA
REVIEWS
2017 Just Vibe Houston. “JooYoung Choi and Her World at Project Row Houses”, by Dana Robinson
Free Press Houston. “A World of Her Own: An Interview with JooYoung Choi” by Paul Middendorf Glasstire. “’A Better Yesterday’ at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston”, by Melissa Mednicov
2017 Houston Citybook. “Cosmic Calling”, by Chris Becker
Houston Chronicle. “Art Daybook: How to make a dinosaur smile”, by Molly Glentzer
2015 Huffington Post, "JooYoung Choi's 'Cosmic Womb' Explores Issues of
Adoption and Race in America”, by Talia Lavin
Houston Chronicle, “Art Leads to Many Discoveries for JooYoung Choi”, by Molly Glentzer
Arts+Culture Texas, “The Intoxicating Artistic Vision of JooYoung Choi”, by Michal McFadden
Houston Press, “Round 9: A B C D”, by Susie Tommaney
Korea News Weekly, "그림은 나를 찾아가는 긴 여행입니다," by Mina Kim
2014 PaperCity Magazine Houston, "Welcome To Wonderland", by Catherine Anspon
Nat Brut, "Pleasure Vision", by Kayla AE and Axel Severs
2013 Korean Quarterly, "The Extraordinary in the Mundane”, by Martha Vickery
Houston Press, "Capsule Art Reviews: The Big Show", by Meredith Deliso and Altamese Osborne
The Great God Pan is Dead, "Five Pieces from the Big Show", by Dean Liscum
Houston Press, "Lawndale Art Center's “The Big Show" Drips With
2012 Figurative Art, Sculpture", by Altamese Osborne
2011 The Adoption Constellation, "The Power of Art - Adoptee Artist"
2009 “The Arc of the Universe is Long” by Leslie Takahashi
2007 Boston Globe “Side Kick”
Weekly Dig, “Dig This”
Somerville Journal
PUBLICATIONS
2017 A Better Yesterday. “The Value of Imaginary Friends: Lessons from JooYoung Choi”, edited by Betsy Stepina Zinn
2016 New American Paintings, West Edition, No. 126
2015 Exu, Volume 1, Published by Robert Boyd
2014 The Adoption Constellation. "Fearing the Adult Adoptee", by Jae Ran Kim (Art Work Featured)
2013 Gardening Secrets of the Dead by Lee Herrick (Cover)
2012 Kartika Review Fall Issue (Cover)
Outsiders Within, Korean Translation (Cover)
2010 Waxen Wings. (Cover)
2009 Asian American Poetry and Writing – “New Truths” (Cover)
MEDIA AND ONLINE
2018 Sunflower Journeys: An Artists' Touch, Season 31 Episode 2, KTWU PBS
2017 The Art Assignment, Season 3 Episode 27, PBS Digital Studios
2015 YTN (Yonhap Television News), Seoul, South Korea
2007 Good Morning Emerson
Asian Focus, Channel 7 News with Mary Sit