Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present Add two add one, a solo exhibition by pioneering Korean artist Kim Yun Shin, which will be on view at the gallery’s London location. Surveying the artist’s oeuvre and featuring both paintings and sculptures from the 1970s to the present, Add two add one marks Kim’s debut exhibition in the United Kingdom. The exhibition will be held at Lehmann Maupin’s temporary space at No.9 Cork Street in London from February 27 to March 15, 2025.

The title Add two add one derives from Kim’s iconic sculptural series Add two add one divide two divide one, inspired by the philosophical concepts of yin (division and fragmentation) and yang (addition and integration). This concept informs Kim’s process, as she “adds” her soul into solid wood and “divides” the space between the bark and the inner wood to create a complete whole. The exhibition will explore the artist’s connection to the natural and spiritual worlds around her, tracing her artistic and thematic development over the years.

This exhibition follows a breakthrough year for Kim, who joined Lehmann Maupin’s program in early 2024, marking her first commercial gallery representation in her nearly seven-decade career. Kim’s work was also prominently included in Foreigners Everywhere, the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Adriano Pedrosa. Her work is in museum collections worldwide, including recent acquisitions by the Singapore Art Museum, the Harvard Art Museum, and the Seoul Museum of Art. A historic sculpture from the late 1980s was recently acquired by the Guggenheim Museum in New York and will enter its permanent collection.

Kim Yun Shin’s artistic journey began in post-war South Korea, where she overcame societal norms to become a first-generation woman sculptor. She ventured to Paris to pursue her artistic aspirations and later co-founded the Korean Sculptress Association in 1974. Her work reflects a fearless exploration of diasporic cultures, including influences from France, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, where she established Museo Kim Yun Shin, the first Korean immigrant art museum. Now, at 90 years old, Kim continues to produce work in her studio in Paju, South Korea.

Kim’s practice encompasses both sculpture and painting, with her sculptural works engaging with the fundamental qualities of materials and nature. Using solid wood as her primary medium, Kim explores themes of confrontation, introspection, and coexistence. Her early sculptures from the 1970s are deeply rooted in traditional Korean hanok architecture, which uses a distinctive technique to join wooden blocks without nails. Her colorful paintings, meanwhile, feature surface fragmentation, where large sections divide into smaller shapes, evoking a primordial energy.

In Add two add one, the exhibition will feature selections from several of Kim’s series, including works from the 1970s to the present. Notable works include her acclaimed Song of my soul paintings, where Kim creates through a process of addition and reduction, applying and scraping off paint with a knife. These “scapes”—land, sea, sky—embody Kim’s emotional and spiritual connection to a place, rather than a formal geographic location. Also on display will be her recent sculptural series Tree Full of Songs, where Kim paints on cast bronze, bringing her practice full circle by translating the aesthetics of her paintings into three-dimensional space.

Add two add one offers a glimpse into Kim’s unique diasporic experience and her spiritual connection to the natural world, while paying tribute to her resilience and commitment to artistic innovation.