“KYUNGGI CENTENNIAL NO. 9” (1999) by highly celebrated, world renown Nam June Paik, and was created for the Centennial commemoration of the Kyunggi High School, the oldest secondary school in South Korea and the artist's Alma mater. Paik's complex re-creation mimics the pop culture, technology obsessed craze of his generation with bright bold colors of infinitely reproduced images, denoting the passage of the school's celebrated 100 years. The most projecting objects are convex reflective spheres, abstracting a sense of the past and emergence of the future. The artist also includes musical scales, referencing the academic focus of Nam June Paik while attending this High School. This work came directly to the current owner as a gift of the artist, measuring 49.5 x 31 inches, (125.7 x 78.7 cm) with framed measurements 56.25 x 35.98 inches, (142.9 x 91.4 cm) and comes in excellent condition.
Widely regarded as the pioneer of video art, Name June Paik was a central figure in the Fluxus movement of the 1960’s and 70’s along with John Cage, Joseph Beuys, Yoko Ono, and others. Utilizing a variety of technological objects from past and present, Paik’s works explore relationships between the body and technology. Important exhibitions by Nam June Paik include “Projects: Nam June Paik” (1977) at the Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY); “Nam June Paik” (1989) at the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY); “Nam June Paik” (1989) at the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, France); “Nam June Paik” (1989) at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, CA); “Nam June Paik Retrospective: Videotime” (1992) at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Seoul, Korea); and “The Worlds of Nam June Paik” (2000) at the Guggenheim (New York, NY). Paik’s has received awards and grants from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller Foundation, American Film Institute, Will Grohmann Award, Goslar Emperor's Ring and UNESCO's Picasso Medal. Paik’s large scale works have fetched over $645,000 at auction, and major examples similar to “Big Shoulder” can be found in prominent museum collections throughout the world, such as:
Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY)
Guggenheim Collection (New York, NY)
Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY)
Fukuoka Art Museum (Fukuoka, Japan)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, CA)
Reina Sofia National Museum (Madrid, Spain)
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, D.C.)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville (Paris, France)
Smithsonian Museum of American Art (Washington D.C.)
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, CA)
