Hein Koh is an artist who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She graduated from Dartmouth College with a dual B.A. in Studio Art and Psychology and received her M.F.A. in Painting from Yale University. In 2019, she completed a major public art project at Rockefeller Center, comprised of sculptures and murals, in partnership with the Art Production Fund. Recent group shows include “Good Pictures” at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, curated by Austin Lee, and “11” at Anton Kern Gallery. She now features as part of Anton Kern Gallery’s WINDOW series.
This is the artist’s first solo exhibition of paintings. A longtime sculptor, her return to painting came about during the pandemic: a need to simplify her practice, and a desire to have the freedom to make loose, expressive, and emotional work. At WINDOW are four paintings depicting broccoli and carrot characters: figures that represent the high standards of perfection and goodness that women are held to. These vegetables, though seemingly healthy, also want to rebel–they smoke, wear sexy outfits, and push against the boundaries of societal expectations to simply, defiantly, be themselves.
On the Walker Street side are three paintings depicting pairs. The artist is mother to a pair of twin girls, but the pairings here also represent couples, soulmates; as well as dualities, and even the two sides of one’s self–vegetables that are good for you but also chain smoke. On the Lafayette side is a painting depicting a lone broccoli figure, another arena Koh has lately been exploring and channeling: angst, existential loneliness, and solitude.
WINDOW is on view 24/7 at 91 Walker Street from March 9 – April 17, 2021
You can walk by and see. For further information, please visit
Image
Hein Koh, Sexy, Smokin’, Bound Carrots, 2020-2021, charcoal, oil and oil stick on canvas, 62 x 54 inches (157.5 x 137.2 cm)
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