Young
Sun Han: sooner later
Fundraising
event for North Korean Refugees,
with an
exhibition by reality personality Young Sun Han
Opening Reception: Saturday February 4th, 6-10pm
Show Runs Saturday February 4th – Sunday February
12th
The recent death of Kim Jong-il prompted Korean-American
artist and activist Young Sun Han to think about his own family’s connections
to North Korea:
“My father’s family escaped North Korea somewhere between
1949 and the summer of 1950 at the outbreak of the Korean War. They got us out
just in time by bribing Russian officials and stowing away in military tanks
across the border.”
When the artist’s father passed away in November 2010, Young
Sun Han was left with hundreds of cell phone photos that documented his
father’s battle with cancer. About six months later, Han began to assemble an
intimate book with these images, recently published under the title, sooner later.
The book portrays his family’s daily struggles and efforts to combat the
disease.
The 76-page full-color book will be sold along with limited
edition prints and posters in an evening fundraiser at Las Manos Gallery, with
half of the proceeds benefiting the organization Life Funds for North Korean
Refugees.
Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (northkoreanrefugees.com)
provides protection and material support to defectors of North Korea who have
fled the country or are hiding in shelters in China. They also provide food and
basic education to escaped children while lobbying for defectors’ recognition
of refugee status.
“I want sales from my exhibition to benefit LFNKR because my
father’s family was lucky enough toe escape North Korea and start a new life in
America, while thousands of North Koreans don’t have the same opportunity. I
worry about what will happen inside the country as the regime restructures.”
Young Sun Han is an artist and curator who has exhibited
locally and in Germany, Australia and New Zealand. He was the runner-up on the
recent season of Bravo’s Work of Art: The Next Great Artist. He has been the
recipient of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange scholarship, 1st
place in photography at the Union League Civic Arts Foundation, Fred Endsley
Fellowship (School of the Art Institute of Chicago), and Jean Paul Ohadi
scholarship. He currently lives in Chicago.
Las Manos Gallery is located at 5220 N. Clark St., Chicago,
IL. 60640.
www.lasmasnosgallery.com, 773-728-8910.
