December 2009

Jean Shin in Truly Truthful at ART ASIA Miami

Truly Truthful
Curated by Leeza Ahmady
December 2-6, 2009

ART ASIA Miami
Soho Studios @ Wynwood Convention Center
2136 NW 1st Ave
Miami, Florida 33127


Altered Trophies, selected works from Jean Shin’s project Everyday Monuments, pays homage to the unsung heroes of our society whose everyday labors go unrecognized. Inspired by the national monuments filling Washington, DC, the artist began working with more intimate versions of monumental accomplishment–the childhood sports trophy. Beginning with donated trophies, Shin transforms each figure’s sensational sports-star pose into the distinctive gestures of routine work. Each set of altered trophies becomes a tribute to the accomplishments of the ordinary working man and woman– stay-at-home moms, gardeners, janitors, postal carriers–who perform the tasks that are generally uncelebrated. In this way, the memories of childhood achievement associated with sports trophies are also transformed to relate to the sense of accomplishment in adult life.
–from ART ASIA Miami exhibition catalogue