Christine Sun Kim
Biography
Christine Sun Kim has crafted a renowned practice that considers how sound operates in society, deconstructing the politics of sound and exploring how oral languages operate as social currency. Musical notation, written language, infographics, American Sign Language (ASL), the use of the body, and strategically deployed humor are all recurring elements in her practice. Working across drawing, performance, video and large scale murals, Kim explores her relationship to spoken and signed languages, to her built and social environments, and to the world at large.
Kim (b. 1980, Orange County, California, USA) has exhibited and performed internationally, including at the Gwangju Biennale (2023); Secession, Vienna (2023); Queens Museum, New York (2022); the Drawing Center, New York (2022); the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2021); Manchester International Festival, Manchester (2021); MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge (2020); Whitney Biennial, New York (2019); Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo (2019); Art Institute of Chicago (2018); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2017); De Appel Arts Center, Amsterdam (2017); Berlin Biennale (2016); Shanghai Biennale (2016); MoMA PS1, New York (2015) and the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013), among numerous others. Kim’s awards and fellowships include an MIT Media Lab Fellowship, a United States Artists fellowship, a Ford and Mellon Foundations’ Disabilities Future Fellowship, and the Prix International d’Art Contemporain of the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco. Her works are held in numerous prominent collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, LACMA, Tate Britain, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. She is represented by François Ghebaly Gallery in Los Angeles and WHITE SPACE in Beijing. Kim lives and works in Berlin.
Kim (b. 1980, Orange County, California, USA) has exhibited and performed internationally, including at the Gwangju Biennale (2023); Secession, Vienna (2023); Queens Museum, New York (2022); the Drawing Center, New York (2022); the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2021); Manchester International Festival, Manchester (2021); MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge (2020); Whitney Biennial, New York (2019); Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo (2019); Art Institute of Chicago (2018); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2017); De Appel Arts Center, Amsterdam (2017); Berlin Biennale (2016); Shanghai Biennale (2016); MoMA PS1, New York (2015) and the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013), among numerous others. Kim’s awards and fellowships include an MIT Media Lab Fellowship, a United States Artists fellowship, a Ford and Mellon Foundations’ Disabilities Future Fellowship, and the Prix International d’Art Contemporain of the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco. Her works are held in numerous prominent collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, LACMA, Tate Britain, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. She is represented by François Ghebaly Gallery in Los Angeles and WHITE SPACE in Beijing. Kim lives and works in Berlin.
Works
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Constant Debt, 2022
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Small Echo, 2022
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How Do You Hold Your Debt, 2022
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Long Echo, 2022
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When Grammar Mood, 2020
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Clock Face, 2020
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The Star-Spangled Banner (Third Verse), 2020
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Alphabet From the Speller's Point of View, 2019
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When I Play the Deaf Card, 2019
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Shit Hearing People Say To Me, 2019
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No Way, Finish, 2018
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Suggested Amount of Allowing Friends to Sing Songs to a Baby, 2018
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When a Deaf Person is Around, 2018
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Degrees of My Deaf Rage in the Art World, 2018
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Classical Flute Music, 2016
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Royalty Free Song, 2016
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Jazz Music Upstairs, 2016
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The Sound of Laziness, 2016
Installation Views
Exhibitions
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The Future in Present Tense
Group Exhibition May 7 - June 5, 2021 391 Grand St., New YorkKelly Akashi Neïl Beloufa Candice Lin Candice Lin & P. Staff Patrick Jackson Christine Sun Kim Cassi Namoda Em Rooney François Ghebaly is proud to announce the opening of a...Read more -
Christine Sun Kim
Trauma, LOL December 12, 2020 - January 23, 2021 2245 E Washington Blvd., Los AngelesFrançois Ghebaly is proud to present Trauma, LOL , an exhibition by the acclaimed multidisciplinary artist Christine Sun Kim. Rooted in visual communication systems like musical notation, infographics and internet...Read more -
Bad Peach
Group Exhibition August 10 - September 7, 2019 2245 E Washington Blvd., Los AngelesKelly Akashi Sayre Gomez Haroon Mirza Davide Balula Channa Horwitz Cassi Namoda Dan Bayles Patrick Jackson Eli Ping Neïl Beloufa Christine Sun Kim Umar Rashid Meriem Bennani Mike Kuchar Kathleen...Read more -
Christine Sun Kim
Finish Forever December 15, 2018 - January 20, 2019 2245 E Washington Blvd., Los AngelesFrançois Ghebaly is pleased to present Finish Forever , an exhibition by the acclaimed multidisciplinary artist Christine Sun Kim . Her first solo exhibition in Los Angeles brings together recent...Read more
Video
Press
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Facing Pervasive Trauma with Humor and Hope: Christine Sun Kim at François Ghebaly
Gerry Peña-Martinez, Variable West, February 22, 2021 -
Drawings that chart out the levels of deaf rage
Lindsay Preston Zappas, KCRW, January 19, 2021 -
Translating Deaf Culture, Christine Sun Kim Underlines the Difficulty of Interpretation
Caroline Ellen Liou, Hyperallergic, January 19, 2021 -
‘I Want to Be Able to Maintain My Clear Voice’: Artist Christine Sun Kim on Translating Her 2020 Into Trenchant New Drawings
Kate Brown, Artnet, December 15, 2020 -
Review: What does sound look like? Artist Christine Sun Kim’s funny, at times enthralling answers
Leah Ollman, The Los Angeles Times, January 18, 2019 -
Critics' Picks: Christine Sun Kim
Geoffrey Mak, Artforum, January 5, 2019 -
Critics' Picks: Christine Sun Kim
Geoffrey Mak, Artforum, December 15, 2018
News
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I Performed at the Super Bowl. You Might Have Missed Me.
It was an act of both patriotism and protest. And it brought both joy and frustration. June 25, 2024 Read more -
Walkthrough of "Trauma LOL" with Christine Sun Kim
January 15, 2021A transcript of Christine Sun Kim in conversation with senior director Gan Uyeda on her show, Trauma LOL. With ASL interpretation by Francine Stern. ...Read more
Inquiry