Exhibitions
Nam June Paik: Global Visionary
3rd floor North, American Art Museum
December 13, 2012 – August 11, 2013
Nam June Paik, Zen for TV, 1963, 1976 version, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Byungseol and Dolores An
The artwork and ideas of the Korean-born artist Nam June Paik transformed the art of the 20th century. His innovative, media-based artwork was grounded in the practices of avant-garde music and performance art, which he used to expand the electronic media of video and television. Nam June Paik: Global Visionary will offer an unprecedented view into the artist’s creative method by featuring key artworks that convey Paik’s extraordinary accomplishments as a major international artist as well as material drawn from the Nam June Paik Estate Archive, which was acquired by the museum in 2009. Paik’s writings and the materials he collected reveal the influences of Asian and Western philosophy as well as the developments in technology and science that informed his thinking and art making.
The exhibition will present artworks from the museum’s collection, including Zen for TV (1963/1976), Megatron/Matrix (1995), and Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii (1995), as well as loans, including Urmusik (Primitive Music) (1961) from Museum Moderner Kunst in Vienna, TV Garden (1974) from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Whitney Buddha Complex (1982) from the Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College. Paik’s rarely seen installation Moon Projection with E Moon and Birds (1996), on loan from the Paik Estate, also will be on display. A wide selection of materials from the Estate Archive, including televisions, radios, antiques, toys, cameras, writings, announcements for exhibitions and performances, and correspondence, along with an interactive kiosk, will allow visitors to explore this material’s relationship to Paik’s artworks and working practice. John G. Hanhardt, senior curator for media arts and the leading expert on Paik and his global influence, is organizing the exhibition.
Publication
The exhibition catalogue is written by Hanhardt and focuses on Paik’s global journey and multidisciplinary art practice. It will include an introduction by Elizabeth Broun, the museum’s director, and an essay by the artist’s nephew Ken Hakuta reflecting on his uncle’s life.
Credit
Nam June Paik: Global Visionary is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with generous support from Sheila Duignan and Mike Wilkins; Marilou and Ken Hakuta; Korea Foundation; Paula and Peter Lunder; Roselyne Swig; and the Barbara & Howard Wise Endowment for the Arts.
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