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Kate Oh

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Kate Oh

케이트 오

호 - 연지당 ( 蓮池堂 )

knyaa1993@gmail.com

646-286-4575

https://kateohart.com

Affiliation

16th President, Korean New York Artist Association. INC

Docent at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US, 2004 - Present

Instructor of Korean Folk Traditions at Rutgers University, New Jersey, 2021 - Present


Member of National Association of women Artists (NAWA)

Founder of Kate Oh Gallery, New York, US, 2016 - Present

ShinHan art US Ambassador, 2024 - Present


KFAA (Korean Fine Arts Association), Chairman of the international committee USA, 2017 - 2020


FACO Federation of Artistic & Cultural Organization of Korea, 한국예총, 2020 - 2024

Korea - US Culture & Art Honorary Ambassador FACO, since 2020 - 2024

Korean-American Cultural Arts foundation USA, Chairman of the New York Chapter


Collections
Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, Korea

Princeton University Department of East Asian Studies NJ, US

Wellesley College MA US

Rutgers University (Alexander Library) NJ US
Won Dharma Center, Claverack, NY

Scott Hall, New Brunswick, Rutgers University, NJ US


The Memorial Hall of Korean Buddhist History and Culture, Seoul, Korea


Embassy of the Korean Cultural Center, Beijing, China


Munsusa Temple, Boston, MA, US


Ahnkook Zen Center, Seoul, Korea

Experience

18 Selected Solo Exhibitions

Korean Traditional decorative patterns at Princeton University First Multipurpose room, NJ US, 2025

"Lucky Charm" Exhibition, NY US, 2023

​​86 Selected Group exhibitions

- Han-Mee Artists Association of Greater Washington "Departure Golden Jubilee Art Exhibition", MD, 2025

- Summer Series 2025, NY

- Minhwa in New York, US, 2025 ​

- Wings of Joy NY, US, 2025

- Spring Art Exhibition KNYAA at KAAGNY, US 

- "Endless Knot" Curated by Pema Rinzin, NY 

- KNYAA Artists Association, Flushing Town Hall,

- The Metropolitan Museum of Art "Staff Art Show, Off the Greek & Roman Gallery NY, 2024

- NAWA, National Association of Women Artist,  Summer small work, NY US, 2024

- Special gust Artist "Tradition, Identity & Future Narrative" at the Salmagundi Club, NY US, 2024

- Asia Week Group Exhibition, NY, 2024

- The Met Staff Art Show 2020 Online Exhibition, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, 2020

Jury & Teaching Experience (Artist Lectures & Workshops)

2nd Workshop at Princeton University, Korean Traditional decorative patterns, NJ US, 2025

Jury for 9th Annual international Art Competition "Little Things Matter" SMYH Foundation, 2024

Jury "Very Special Art Contest" CIDA, St. John's University, NY US, 2024

National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) Jury for 134th Annual Exhibition, 2023

Lectures and conducts a course on Korean Folk Traditions at Rutgers University, NJ, US, 2022

Jury for 7th "Very Special Art Contest" presented by CIDA (Community Inclusion & Development Alliance), St. John's University Queens Campus, NY, US, 2022

Judge at Youth Art Competition 2022 (Peacemaker), NJ Story, NJ, US, 2022

Korean Traditional Folk Painting Workshop at Zimmerli Art Museum - Rutgers University, NJ, US, 2022

Lectures and conducts a course on Korean Folk Traditions at Rutgers University, NJ, US, 2021

Korean Traditional Crafts Workshop “Moon Over Manhattan”, The Asia Society and Museum, NY, US, 2020


Min-hwa Workshop, Frist Campus Center of the Princeton University, NJ, US, 2019

Min-hwa Workshop, Alexander Library, Rutgers University, NJ, US, 2019

Awards

Artist Award by STEVE M. FULOP, Mayor of Jersey City, US, 2021

 

12th Annual Korean Artists Gala, KFAA (Korean Fine Arts Association) Special Honorary Award, 2018

“Botanical & Florals” Art Open-Exhibition, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, US, "The Ten Symbols of Longevity", Special Merit, 2018

8th Annual "Animal" International Art Exhibition, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, US, "Chaekgeori- Family", Special Merit, 2018

Korean-New York Artist Association, US, Achievement Award, 2018   

12th KACAF International Art Competition " The Line of Korea ", Achievement Award, 2017   

7th Annual “Botanical & Florals” International Open-Exhibition, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, US, Special Merit, and Special Recognition, 2017  

Korean Fine Arts Association Chairman Award (KFAA), Achievement Award, 2017  

6th Annual “Seasons” International Open-Exhibition, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, US, Special Merit, and Special, 2017  

Recognition

The 32nd Korean Traditional Art Exhibition, Korea Art Gallery, Korea, Excellence Award, 2017  

Korea Contemporary Art invitation exhibition, Zagreb Art Pavilion, Croatia, Grand Prize, 2017  

The 30th Bohoonart Association, Painting Open-Exhibition, Korea, Grand Prize, 2016  

Botanicals Art Open-Exhibition, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, US, Special Recognition, 2016  

The 9th Healing Arts Contest Exhibition, Woulsan Museum, Korea, Excellence Award, 2016  

 

The 23rd Art International Open-Exhibition, Korea, Excellence Award, 2016  

Korean-New York Artist Association, US, Achievement Award, 2016

Embassy of the Korean Cultural Center, Beijing, China, Culture Exchange Contribution Award, 2015  

 

The Federation of Artistic & Cultural Organizations, Korea, Grand Prize, 2015  

Korean Fine Art Association Chairman Award (KFAA), Grand Prize, 2014  

Contemporary Art Online, “Botanical Theme in May", US, Grand Prize, 2014  

 

Kate Oh The new phase 27 x27 in Acrylic on wood
A Movement away from darkness, Acrylic on canvas 35.5x35.5 in
A City Recharging_edited
the sun and moon and 5 peaks
Kate Oh-Baby Yellow Dreagon
Kate Oh- In Air
Kate Oh-The Sun and Moon and five Peaks
Kate Oh  30x30- Hanji. jpg-;   filename-=UTF-8''Kate Oh Trabulsi 3
Kate Oh Trabulsi.6_23.jpg

Kate Oh (Trabulsi) is a Korean American artist based in New York. She graduated from Parsons The New School for Design, earning both a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Fine Arts, with a focus on painting and sculpture

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Since 2004, Kate has served as a docent for the Highlights Tour at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Inspired by the depth and beauty of the Asian art collection at the Met, she developed a deeper appreciation for the fine arts of Asia, particularly the Korean folk painting Minhwa. As an artist, she employs traditional Minhwa materials and techniques while also exploring contemporary Minhwa practices. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions and group shows worldwide.

Kate is a member of the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) and will become the 16th President of the Korean-New York Artist Association in 2025. She is also an Ambassador for ShinHanArt US. Kate founded the Kate Oh Gallery in New York and teaches Korean Folk Traditions (Minhwa) at Rutgers University.

작품설명

Spirit, Unity and Enduring-Hope.

I express the natural balance that exists in the Universe through my paintings. I try to visualize the secret order that underlies in the universe that encompasses our individual differences.  

My work reflects my sense of a well-balanced Universe that evolves with great mysterious power but accompanying internal order. Each person mirrors this order with a balanced mind, body and spirit.

Each gorgeous flower contains seeds representing dream and hope of an individual. I hope the viewers acknowledge the uniqueness of each blossom and what it entails. 

I appreciate people’s difference. Our distinctions and diverse individualities contribute to the intricate balance of the universe we reside. Thus, each must accept and respect distinctions, variations that are a part of the natural order, since these are the essential components that maintain the balance of the Universe.

 

A City Recharging

By Ekin Erkan, PhD

 

Kate Oh is one of the bastion artists working in modernizing and promoting traditional Korean culture in New York City. Oh pursues this with her art practice, academic pursuits and her work as a gallerist, operating Kate Oh Gallery, where she frequently curates exhibitions mounting works by contemporary and historical Korean artists. This endeavor, of dovetailing Modernist approaches to the picture plane and traditional Korean folk art, is adeptly evidenced in her new painting, A City Recharging.

The work is, viewed from afar, minimalistic and serene. The fluttering, buttery background makes use of swathes of hay-cream oil, unevenly distributed in strokes that render a slight sense of airy depth. The weighty anchor to the canvas is the central element—the coalesced vertical towering blocks. At the bottom edge of the silhouette is a second skyline, painted in gray shrouded strokes, a horizontal expanse of New York City. In a similarly delicate mode of off-black charcoal, peaks are painted into the top portion of the coalesced tower silhouette. This gives the impression of a natural landscape perched within an urban block.

To the structure’s upper right, a flaxen orb-like sun hangs. To the middle-left, a vermillion-orange sun, a bit smaller, buoys. Lastly, in the lower right is a dark, midnight blue circle presumably the titular moon. Oh’s Stygian skyscraper latticework, which metes out the three celestial spheres, is masterfully rendered. On the one hand, she has achieved dimensionality with black-on-black, the peak and middle elements of this architectural foray bulging as angles, casting shadows and perspectivally rendered, therein showing dexterity in the figure/line relationship. On the other, however, the bottom facets of the skyscraper set is pooled into an even black silhouette, evincing Oh’s erudite command of minimalism. She does not forego simplicity where it is required.

Purposing the moon and sun motifs while inventively distributing the five elements’ colors by way of a minimalist field, Oh’s work not only culls traditional Korean motifs but also traditional formal principles, such as Dancheong’s flatness. Oh’s work is also meta-referential, in a way, as her modernization is also made iconographic, indexed by the subject matter she has pictured: a set of New York skyscraper buildings. This is, to be sure, marked by her own familiarity with the city where Kate Oh resides and operates her gallery while practicing, Korean traditional art, which remains as much a geography-specific art, continuing as a skill requiring apprentice-pupil mentorship and serious, studied, laborious erudition. Oh is one of the select Modernists who possesses such know-how, as demonstrated by this new work, and has brought it to New York.

 

About Ekin Erkan

Ekin Erkan is a philosopher and art history researcher whose writing has appeared in The British Journal of Aesthetics, Philosophia, and the Journal of Value Inquiry, amongst other venues. Erkan also is an art critic who contributes to the Brooklyn Rail.

© Since 1993 by Korean-New York Artist Association, INC

442 Main Street, Fort Lee, NJ

Email: knyaa1993@gmail.com

646 - 286 4575

Kate Oh

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