INSTALLATION
A Gossamer Gate to Me
All Who Enter Must Duck
Growing up in South Korea, the artist Do Ho Suh, 45, lived in a traditional "scholar's house" built by an elderly carpenter who had worked for the Korean royal family. It was a copy of a house called Yeon Kyung Dang, built in 1828 by King Sunjo, Mr. Suh said, "because the king wanted to experience what it would be like to live a civilian life." . "It was, ironically, considered the most beautiful civilian style from the period," he said. Mr. Suh, right, has been revisiting that house in his work for half a decade, building fragments of it - out of wire frames wrapped in a translucent polyester organza - that recall memories or dreams. His newest piece,
"Reflection," behind him at right, was modeled on the brick and wood gate to his bedroom. "It's a very common design," Mr. Suh said, "and they're always a bit small, so even though I was a child I had to duck. My interpretation is that the size was intentional, that because you had to duck it made you become
aware of your own body, almost like a meditation." Huge and shimmery, the installation is more than 21 feet high, with two gates that mirror each other, filling a two-story space at the Lehmann Maupin gallery in Manhattan. You can walk onto both floors, but not under or through the gates (details, lower right), which stretch overhead like a giant, lacy ghost.
Through Feb. 2 at Lehmann Maupin, 540 West 26th Street
212) 255-2923. Information:
lehmannmaupin.com.
-PENELOPE GREEN