These ten uniforms are replicas of the artist’s own uniforms
that he wore from kindergarten to his time in the military.
(All Korean men are required to fulfill mandatory military
service for about two years.) This work is a self-portrait of
the artist, and at the same time it investigates the ways in
which the societies and groups he belonged to affected or
formed him. As he explains in his artist’s statement nearby,
Suh has always been interested in these topics. Portraiture
without face or figure is also explored in Young June Lew’s
painting Cycle of Time, which is on display in this exhibition.
Suh is one of the most internationally renowned Korean
artists, exploring various mediums including installations,
drawings, and photography. Other major themes in his work
include home, karma, “locality-versus-universality,” and the
relationship between the East and the West.