# Yunhee Min URL: https://vielmetter.com/artists/yunhee-min/ Represented by Vielmetter Los Angeles Yunhee Min explores the possibilities of abstraction in her paintings and large-scale site-specific projects. Her work is informed by the complex legacies of abstraction, including early twentieth-century European modernism to the postwar practices of post-painterly abstraction. Compelled by non-representational impulse and the physical process of making, she approaches abstraction as an operation for making new environments that resonate with immersive color and light. Playing with luminescence, color, and techniques of application, Min creates spaces and moods in her paintings and installations that are indeterminate and ephemeral as colors and shapes oscillate between material status and atmospheric fields of light. Yunhee Min was born in Korea in 1962 and lives and works in Los Angeles. Min holds a BFA from Art Center College of Design and an MA from Harvard University. Site-specific installations and architectural interventions have been on view at the UCLA Hammer Museum, at the LA County Museum of Art, and at the Night Gallery, Los Angeles. Min has had solo exhibitions at LAXART, Los Angeles, CA; The Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, project space; at ArtPace, San Antonio, TX, project space; the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; and Exercise, Vancouver, BC. Min’s work has been included in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Silvershed, New York, NY; Sweeney Art Gallery, Riverside, CA; the Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, NC; the CCAC Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA; the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle WA; and Artists Space, New York, NY. Her work is in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, and the UCLA Hammer Museum, Santa Monica, CA. She is Associate Professor of Art at UC Riverside. ## Exhibitions - [Yunhee Min: Stills](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/yunhee-min-2025.md): November 1 — December 20, 2025 · Gallery I · Artists: Yunhee Min - [Yunhee Min: Vitreous Opacities](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/yunhee-min.md): July 3 — August 21, 2021 · Gallery III · Artists: Yunhee Min - [20 Years Anniversary Exhibition Part 2](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/20-years-anniversary-exhibition-part-2.md): June 26 — August 7, 2021 · Gallery I & II · Artists: Nick Aguayo, Edgar Arceneaux, Sadie Benning, Ellen Berkenblit, Andrea Bowers, Kim Dingle, Sean Duffy, Nicole Eisenman, Louise Fishman, Charles Gaines, Karl Haendel, Samuel Levi Jones, My Barbarian, Rodney McMillian, Mary Reid Kelley & Patrick Kelley, Elizabeth Neel, Yunhee Min, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Hugo McCloud, Dave McKenzie, Nicola Tyson - [GALLERYPLATFORM.LA: Yunhee Min: Up Close In Distance](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/galleryplatform-la-yunhee-min-up-close-in-distance.md): October 8 — 14, 2020 · Online Only · Artists: Yunhee Min - [The Light Touch](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/light-touch.md): September 7 — October 19, 2019 · Gallery II · Artists: Yunhee Min, Caitlin Lonegan, Monique van Genderen, Sadie Benning, Math Bass, Linda Besemer, Iva Gueorguieva - [Hammer Projects: Yunhee Min](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/hammer-projects-yunhee-min.md): March 28 — October 27, 2019 · Hammer Museum · Artists: Yunhee Min - [Yunhee Min: Wilde Paintings](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2018-04-yunhee-min-wilde-paintings.md): April 28 — June 1, 2018 · Artists: Yunhee Min - [Yunhee Min: movements](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2015-09-yunhee-min-movements.md): September 5 — October 10, 2015 · Artists: Yunhee Min - [Yunhee Min: Into the Sun](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2013-06-yunhee-min-into-the-sun.md): June 1 — July 6, 2013 · Artists: Yunhee Min - [Yunhee Min: Attraction](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2010-09-yunhee-min-attraction.md): September 10 — October 30, 2010 · Artists: Yunhee Min - [Yunhee Min: Continuum: Structure #003](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2009-01-yunhee-min-continuum-structure-003.md): January 10 — March 7, 2009 · LAXART, Los Angeles, CA · Artists: Yunhee Min - [Yunhee Min: People Weekly](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2008-10-yunhee-min-people-weekly.md): October 2 — November 30, 2008 · Amie and Tony James Gallery at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY · Artists: Yunhee Min - [Yunhee Min: Distance is Like the Future](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2005-07-yunhee-min-distance-is-like-the-future-cerca-series-yunhee-min.md): July 7 — August 21, 2005 · Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA · Artists: Yunhee Min - [Yunhee Min: another country](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2005-05-yunhee-min-another-country.md): May 14 — June 18, 2005 · Artists: Yunhee Min - [New](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2004-01-steven-criqui-sean-duffy-martin-mcmurray-new.md): January 10 — February 14, 2004 · Artists: Steven Criqui, Sean Duffy, Martin McMurray, Yunhee Min, Wangechi Mutu, Robert Olsen, The Estate of Steve Roden, Patrick Wilson - [Yunhee Min: Corrugate](https://vielmetter.com/exhibitions/2003-02-yunhee-min-corrugate.md): February 8 — March 15, 2003 · Artists: Yunhee Min ## Biography Born in Seoul, Korea Lives and works in Los Angeles, California 2007 MA, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Design Studies 1993 Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf, Germany 1991 BFA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA **Selected Solo Exhibitions** 2025 "Stills," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 2023 "New Paintings," Miles McEnery, New York, NY 2022 “You Are Here,” Metro Purple Line, Westwood/UCLA Station (Planned Completion Date 2027) 2021 "Vitreous Opacities," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 2020 "Up Close in Distance," Gallery Platform LA, online 2019 "Hammer Projects: Yunhee Min," Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA 2018 "Yunhee Min & Peter Tolkin: Red Carpet in C," University of California, Riverside, Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts, Riverside, CA "Wilde Paintings," Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA 2016 "movements," Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York, NY 2015 "movements," Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA "Luminaire Delirium (Equitable Life or soft machine)," Equitable Vitrines, Los Angeles, CA 2013 "Into the Sun," Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects ""Shades for Night," Site-specific installation, Inaugural exhibition, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2012 “For Instance,” Site-specific installation, Lindbrook Terrace, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA 2010 "Attraction," Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA 2009 "Yunhee Min: Continuum: Structure #003," LAXART, Los Angeles, CA 2008 "Yunhee Min: For instance," The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, The Amie and Tony James Gallery, New York, NY "Claire Cowie and Yunhee Min,” James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA 2007 Graduate School of Design Team participation, Sponsored by History Channel The City of the Future: A Design and Engineering Challenge, Los Angeles Competition, Harvard 2006 "Yunhee Min: Above and Beyond (x, y, z)," Pasadena Museum of Contemporary Art, CA 2005 "Distance is Like the Future, Circa Series: Yunhee Min", Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA "another country", Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA iT House, OutFiT Design for TaalmanKoch Architecture 2004 “Difference and Repetition (Invisible Cities)," Microsoft Corporation, Redmond Campus, WA "Fading Wild", Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, Texas "Double Positive", ArtPace, San Antonio, TX 2003 James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA "Out of Bounds (from here and afar)," Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA "Corrugate", Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Los Angeles, CA 2002 "Events in Dense Fog," Luckman Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles, CA 2001 "Recline," James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA 2000 ACME, Los Angeles, CA 1999 "I Put a Spell on You Too," Plug In, Winnipeg, Canada "Tugboat," Sala Diaz, San Antonio, TX 1998 "Work in two and three dimensions," Post, Los Angeles, CA "Windows on Wilshire," LACMA, Los Angeles, CA 1997 "One Foot in Front of the Other," Or gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia 1996 "Between the Sheets," The Full Moon Gallery, Foundation for Art Resources (FAR), Los Angeles, CA 1997 “Agent Orange,” Site Specific Installation, POST, Los Angeles, CA "Home Improvement Paintings,” LASCA, Los Angeles, CA 1996 "Fast times," ACME, Santa Monica, CA **Selected Group Exhibitions** 2024-2025 "All Bangers, All The Time," Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY 2024 "15 Years of Artist Curated Projects," Morán Morán, Los Angeles, CA "Pacific Abstractions," Perrotin, Los Angeles, CA 2021 "20 Years," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 2019 "The light touch," Vielmetter Los Angeles, CA 2018 “Evolver,” LA Louver, Los Angeles, CA “Belief in Giants,” Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY ([Link](http://www.milesmcenery.com/exhibitions/belief-in-giants)) 2016 “L.A. Exuberance: New Gifts by Artists,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 2015 "Elemental | Seeing the Light," Sturt Haaga Gallery, Descanso Gardens, Los Angeles, CA "Magic Mountain," Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara Satellite, Santa Barbara, CA "Speed Space," Tif Sigfrids, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Alexandra Gaty 2013 "Spectra," San Diego State University Downtown Gallery, San Diego, CA 2012 "Lost Line: Contemporary Art From the Collection," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 2011 "Plain Brown Wrapper," curated by Molly Larkey, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA 2010 "WP9," Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2008 "Claire Cowie: 12 Views || Yunhee Min: New Paintings," James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA "People Weekly," the Amie and Tony James Gallery at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY "Digital With Monument," The Silver Shed, New York, NY 2007 "Merit Badge 2," Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY (Curated by Jason Middlebrook) "The Trans-Aestheticization of Daily Life," Sweeney Art Gallery, Riverside, CA, Curated by Peter Zeller 2006 "Too Much Love," Angles Gallery, Curated by Amy Adler 2005 "Wall Painting," UTSA Art Gallery at the University of Texas at San Antonio, curated by Frances Colpitt "Around About Abstraction:" Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, NC "20 Scene 05," Korean American Museum, Los Angeles, CA 2004 "Difference and Repetition (Invisible Cities)," Microsoft Corporation at Redmond, WA "New," Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Inaugural exhibition Culver City space, Culver City, CA "Yunhee Min - Herbert Hamak", ArtSource, San Francisco, CA 2003 "Warped Space", CCAC Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA, Curated by Ralph Rugoff "International Abstraction: Making Painting Real", Seattle Art Museum, Curated by Lisa Corrin, Seattle WA "Abstruction", Artists Space, Curated by Eungie Joo, New York, NY 2001 "Cal's Art," University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, TX "Rogue Wave," LA Louver Gallery, Venice, CA "Snap Shot," UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Traveled to Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, FL "Curious, Altoids Collection," The New Museum, New York, NY 2000 "The Next Wave," California Center for the Arts, Escondido, Curated by Noriko Gamblin, Escondido, CA "KOREAMERICAKOREA," Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art, Curated by David Ross & Sun-Jung Kim, Seoul, Korea; Traveled to KyungJu, Korea "Deterritorialization of Process," Artists Space, Curated by Michael Joo, New York, NY "Shimmer," Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park, Curated by Thomas Lawson, Los Angeles, CA 1999 "Hubcap Diamond Star Halo," Claremont Graduate University, Peggy Phelps Gallery, Curated by Leonardo Bravo and Christopher Miles, Claremont, CA "Other Paintings," Huntington Beach Art Center, curated by Julie Joyce, Los Angeles, CA "Structural Elements, Views of Architecture and Architectural Elements," Transamerica Pyramid Lobby, San Francisco, CA "Under 500/Intimate Abstract Painting,' the Black Dragon Society, curated by James Hayward, Los Angeles, CA "After the Goldrush," Thread Waxing Space, curated by Joe Wallin & Lea Gongitano, New York, NY 1998 "Wings of Desire," San Francisco Art Institute, Walter/McBean Gallery, Curated by Michelle Guy, San Francisco, CA 1997 "Yunhee Min / Lise Soskolne," Or Gallery, Vancouver, Canada "Freeze," W139, Amsterdam, Netherlands "Ambient Suburbs," POST, Curated by Julie Joyce, Los Angeles, CA 1996 "Human Condition," Caren Golden Fine Art, Curated by Bennett Roberts, New York, NY **Bibliography** 2025 Graham, Annabel. "Beyond Language," The Panafold, Fall/Winter 2025 2022 Min, Yunhee. "Abstraction," The Brooklyn Rail, July ([Link](https://brooklynrail.org/2022/07/criticspage/Abstraction)) 2021 Zappas, Lindsay Preston. " Yunhee Min at Vielmetter Los Angeles," KCRW, July & August 2021 ([Link](https://events.kcrw.com/events/yunhee-min-at-vielmetter-los-angeles)) 2019 Walter, Alexander. "10 engaging architectural installations for your Friday inspiration," Archinet, May 3 ([Link](https://archinect.com/news/article/150134649/10-engaging-architectural-installations-for-your-friday-inspiration)) Leung, Phillip. "Hammer Museum installation delivers vibrant, sensory experience," Daily Bruin, April 25 ([Link](https://dailybruin.com/2019/04/25/hammer-museum-installation-delivers-vibrant-sensory-experience/)) 2018 Brien, Patrick. "Four years in the making, massive Riverside exhibit blends art, architecture," The Press-Entreprise, November 22 ([Link](https://www.pe.com/2018/11/22/four-years-in-the-making-massive-riverside-exhibit-blends-art-architecture/)) Nash, David. "Kendall Wilkinson Outfits the $15.5 Million Penthouse at San Francisco's 181 Fremont," Architectural Digest, October 30 ([Link](https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/kendall-wilkinson-181-fremont-penthouse-15-million/all)) Weber, Jessica, "Rolling Out the 'Red Carpet'," UCR News, October 1 ([Link](https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2018/10/01/rolling-out-red-carpet)) Stallings, Tyler, "Red Carpet in C at UCR ARTS Blurs Boundaries of Art and Architecture," KCET, September 4 ([Link](https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/red-carpet-in-c-at-ucr-arts-blurs-boundaries-of-art-and-architecture)) "UCR Arts Exhibition Blurs Boundaries of Art and Architecture," UCR Today (web), August 16 ([Link](https://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/54941)) “Yunhee Min’s ‘Wilde Paintings’ at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects,” Modern Painters, June 2016 Keefe, Alexander, “Yunhee Min: Equitable Vitrines,” Artforum, March “Yunhee Min | Artist,” Curator (web), March 26 Price, Matthew, “Yunhee Min,” Vitamin P3: New Perspectives in Painting, Phaidon 2015 Vankin, Deborah, Descanso Gardens Elemental Exhibition Looks at Art in Different Light, Los Angeles Times, February 14 Goldman, Edward, Septemer LA, a Bursting Art Scene, KCRW (web & radio), September 8 Napoli, Lisa, Pass the Oak Trees and the Camellias and Youll Find Art, KCRW, January 14 2013 Enholm, Molly, "Supersaturated! Three Southern Californian Abstractionists" Art ltd, September-October Shaw, Michael, Art Scene, July/August 2013 Wagley, Catherine, Yunhee Min: Into the Sun; Mary Reid Kelley, Patrick Kelley: Priapus Agonistes, LAWeekly, June 21 Lipschutz, Yael. Art Los Angeles Contemporary, January 24- 27, 2013, Flash Art Online, January 31 Cheh, Carol, Night Gallery Opens a New Space Downtown, Transitioning From Feisty Alternative Space to a Full-Fledged Art Experience, LA Weekly, January 24 2012 Tuck, Geoff, Yunhee Min At the Hammer Museum and at LACMA, Notes on Looking, December 20 2007 Knight, Christopher, 45 Painters Under 45, Los Angeles Times, December 2 Knight, Christopher, They Help Make the L.A. Scene, Los Angeles Times, December 2 Freeman, Tommy, The Trans-Aestheticization of Daily Life at the Sweeney Art Gallery, Artweek, May 2006 Yunhee Min: Above and Beyond (x,y,z), The Los Angeles Times, June 10 2005 Jaunkauskas, Jennifer. Glass Tire, October Firstenberg, Laurie, Another Country, Art Papers, September/October Issue Frank, Peter, Picks of the Week Ellen Phelan, Yunhee Min, Nadine Robinson, LA Weekly, June 16 Pagel, David, A method to crookedness, LA Times, June 3 2004 Oliver, Retha. ARTL!ES, #45, Winter, pg 102 Kekonen, Allen. VOA, Volume 13, Issue 1 2003 Gaines, Malik, "Yunhee Min - Yerba Buena Center for the Arts", ARTUS, November/December issue, pg 11 Van Proyen, Mark, "Yunhee Min at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts", Artweek, October issue, Volume 34, Issue 8 Farr, Sheila, "Mesmerizing art aims to put viewer off balance", Seattle Times, Sept. 26 Baker, Kenneth, "Welcome to Yerba Buena's bargain basement of summer shows", San Francisco Chronicle, July 31 Rugoff, Ralph, "Warped Space", exhibition catalog essay, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA de Guzman, Rene, "A piece in four parts", exhibition catalog essay, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA Kim, Christine Y., "Color Blind", V Magazine, March / April issue Laird, Tessa, "Critic's Picks", ART ON PAPER, March issue Worman, Alex, "L.A. Confidential", ArtNet, February 2002 LaBelle, Brandon. Contemporary, March Ollman, Leah. 'The Art of Disorientation,' LA Times, February 9, F2 2001 Knight, Christopher. 'A Snapshot of L.A. Artists,' LA Times, June 6, F1 Cotter, Holland. 'Fresh,' NY Times, January 19, B40 2000 Knight, Christopher. 'Catching the 'Next Wave' of Painters,' LA Times, June 20, F1 Knight, Christopher. 'Unsteady Glow, 'LA Times, March 17, F25 Mahoney, Robert. 'Deterritorialization of Process,' Time Out, New York, Issue 233, March 9-16 Frank, Peter. LA Weekly, March 10-16 Cotter, Holland. 'Deterritorialization of Process,' NY Times, March 17, B35 Ollman, Leah. 'Happily Enduring Vertigo Amid Min's Mix of Colors,' LA Times, March 3, Wilson Lloyd, Ann. Art in America, January 1999 Watson, Laurie. 'put a spell on me too,' Tart, issue 7 Johnson, Ken. 'After the Gold Rush,' NY Times, June 18, B31 Knight, Christopher. 'Publicly funded artists rise to the challenge,' LA Times, June 4, F16 Morgan, Susan. 'The Spirit of Place: Art in Los Angeles,' COLA Catalogue Essay, Pg 10 1998 Scott, Kitty. 'Vertical Economy,' Canadian Art, Spring, Pg 112 Webster, Mary Hull. Artweek, April, Pg 19 Baker, Kenneth. ' L.A. Imports at Art Institute,' San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, E1 Helfand, Glen. 'Wings of Desire,' Guardian, February 1997 Spaid, Sue. 'Foreign Policy,' LA Weekly, December 12-18, Pg 65 Young, Paul. 'On the Edge,' LA Magazine, November, Pg 92 1996 Kandel, Susan. 'No Way Out,' LA Times, March 21, F10 **Awards, Grants and Fellowships** 2024 Thomas Mann Villa Aurora Fellowship, Berlin, Germany ([Link](https://www.vatmh.org/en/fellowship-berlin.html)) 2022 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, Fine Art, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, NY 2016 Creative Capacity Fund (CCF) Quick Grant Program, Los Angeles, CA 2015 UCIRA Grant (University of California Institute for Research in the Arts for a Major Grant), Riverside, CA 2013 Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, NY 2010 Aurobora Press, San Francisco, CA 2009 Artist in Residence, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju-Do, South Korea 2008 Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Derek Bok Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 2006 Alptert Ucross Residency Prize 2003 Wattis Artist in Residence, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA 1999 COLA, (City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Individual Artist Grant) 1996 KAFA, Korean America Foundation for the Arts Individual Artist Grant **Teaching Experience** 2013 - Present University of California Riverside, Professor of Art, Riverside, CA **Public Collections** Metro Art Los Angeles, UCLA/Westwood Station, Los Angeles, CA Orange County Museum of Art, Orange County, CA Hammer Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, CA Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Canada University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA