Jewyo Rhii, a Seoul-born artist from the first generation to come of age during South Korea's dramatic political shifts in the 1980s, has been selected for this year's Korean Artists Today project. Her work, which began as personal explorations of misplacement and survival using ephemeral materials and found objects, evolved around ten years ago into collaborative projects like Love Your Depot (2019), a series of storage-unit-like installations that question the lifespan of artworks. Rhii's practice includes object-oriented performance pieces such as Ten Years Please (2007-17) and Lie on the Han River (2003-06), and she has shown at institutions including the Queens Museum, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Seoul, and the Venice Biennale.
This matters because Rhii represents a generation of Korean artists navigating global recognition while addressing systemic issues in the art world. Her Love Your Depot project challenges gatekeeping by sharing profits with under-represented artists and encouraging curators to feature lesser-known voices. As part of Korean Artists Today, a long-term project selecting artists for their global potential, Rhii's inclusion signals a shift toward more collaborative and equitable art practices that question the traditional lifecycle of artworks and the power structures within the art market.