September 21- October 28, 1989
South African-born Melissa Becker and Korean-born Yeong Gill Kim came to the United States from areas of the world shattering under the stresses of change. While their early art education focused on Western images and ideas, upon immigrating and directly confronting American culture, these artists re-discovered the importance of their native lands as subject matter for their work. Melissa Becker’s haunting landscapes depict the vast emptiness of rural South Africa and reveal a people struggling to secure the basic necessities of survival. Yeong Gill Kim weaves images and text from Korean culture into gestural black and white fields. Documenting his profound loneliness in America, his lifesize images of Korean youths inhabit charred and empty spaces. For both artists, potent images of home have provided direction for their work in a new land and culture.
Jackie Battenfield is a painter and former Director of the Rotunda Gallery.