Artist Talk with Ari Kim & Professor Frederick Carriere

Please join us for an artist talk featuring Professor Frederick Carriere in conversation with Mae-Deup artist Ari Kim on February 22, 2025. Together, the two will discuss Kim’s current exhibition Mae-Deup, on view at 13 Market street, NYC. Carriere will offer a unique perspective on Kim’s latest body of work, enriching the conversation with his background living and gaining professional experience in Korea.

Ari Kim is an internationally acclaimed painter and filmmaker whose works have received prestigious awards at both Cannes and Berlin International Film awards. Her multidisciplinary practice is a testament to her unique ability to blend visual storytelling with profound cultural and philosophical insights.

Carriere’s professional experience includes a 30-year career as an administrator in the nonprofit sector, initially as the executive director of the Fulbright Program in Seoul, Korea, and later as the executive vice president of The Korea Society in New York City.

While residing in South Korea from 1969 until 1993, apart from the Fulbright Program, Carriere also supervised the grant program activities of the East West Center and the Humphrey Fellowship Program as well as all the testing activities of the Educational Testing Service. Other positions included editorial consultant and translator (Korean to English) for the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, adjunct instructor in anthropology and Asian studies in the Far Eastern Division of the University of Maryland, and counselor and president of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS).

Carriere has been involved in developing and administering Track II as well as educational and cultural exchange programs with North Korea since the mid-1990s.In this capacity, he has been a consulting professor in the Center of International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, a consultant on North Korea to several other academic institutions, the Turner Foundation, several media corporations and many nonprofit organizations. He is a member of the National Committee on North Korea.

In “Mae-Deup (매듭)”, which translates to “knot,” Kim examines the profound ties between two figures who might be a young mother and daughter—or perhaps two versions of the same self. These works draw inspiration from the traditional Korean art of decorative knotting, symbolizing the bonds that tie us together. Ari’s figures are linked by braided hair, evoking an umbilical cord and referencing the Korean belief that hair, a sacred gift from ancestors, must be cherished and protected.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Galerie Shibumi, 13 Market Street, New York, United States