imported>Kjell Knudde: Added more categories.

2025-06-09T23:20:54Z

Added more categories.

New page

{{Short description|South Korean jeweler (born 1938)}}
{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Chunghi Choo
| honorific_suffix =
| image = 
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = 
| birth_place =
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| nationality = American
| residence =
| education =
| alma_mater = University of Iowa
| known_for = Metalsmith and Jewelry Designer
| notable_works =
| style =
| movement =
| spouse =
| partner =
| awards = 
| elected =
| patrons =
| memorials =
| website = 
| module =
}}
'''Chunghi Choo''' (born 1938) is a jewelry designer and [[Smith (metalwork)|metalsmith]] who was born in [[Incheon, Korea]] in 1938. She received a BFA degree from [[Ewha Womans University]] in Seoul, Korea, where she majored in Oriental painting and studied philosophy of Oriental art and Chinese brush calligraphy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Rorex|first=Robert A.|date=December 1991|title=The Artistic Integrity of Chunghi Choo|journal=Metalsmith|volume=11|pages=26–31}}</ref> She moved to the United States in 1961 to study [[Smith (metalwork)|metalsmithing]], weaving, and ceramics at [[Cranbrook Educational Community|Cranbrook Academy of Art]] in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where she received an MFA in 1965.<ref name="aaa.si.edu2">[http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-chunghi-choo-13621 Smithsonian Archives of American Art]</ref>

She taught jewelry and metal arts at the [[University of Iowa School of Art and Art History]] from 1968 to 2015 and is currently Professor Emeritus.<ref name="aaa.si.edu2"/>


Her works have been exhibited worldwide and are found in the permanent collections of the [[Victoria & Albert Museum]], [[London]];<ref name="Victoria and Albert Museum">{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Decanter {{!}} Chunghi Choo |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O95022/decanter-choo-chunghi/ |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |access-date=30 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref> [[Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris|Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris]]; the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]],<ref name="Philadelphia Museum of Art">{{cite web |title=Decanter |url=https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/86914 |website=Philadelphia Museum of Art |access-date=30 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref> the Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, Germany; the [[Danish Museum of Art & Design]], Copenhagen; the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]],<ref name="Metropolitan Museum of Art">{{cite web |title=Chunghi Choo {{!}} Container |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/482208 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=30 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref> [[Museum of Modern Art]]<ref name="Museum of Modern Art">{{cite web |title=Chunghi Choo |url=https://www.moma.org/artists/1110 |website=Museum of Modern Art |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref> and [[Museum of Arts and Design]], New York; [[Art Institute of Chicago]];<ref name="The Art Institute of Chicago">{{cite web |title=Chunghi Choo |url=https://www.artic.edu/artists/52408/chunghi-choo |website=The Art Institute of Chicago |access-date=30 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Museum of Fine Arts, Houston|The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston]],<ref name="The MFAH Collections">{{cite web |title=Chunghi Choo |url=https://emuseum.mfah.org/people/3979/chunghi-choo |website=The MFAH Collections |access-date=30 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref> among others.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.craftinamerica.org/artists/chunghi-choo/|title=Craft in America Website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325050052/http://www.craftinamerica.org/artists/chunghi-choo/|archive-date=2018-03-25|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her work, ''Blooming Vessel'', was acquired by the [[Smithsonian American Art Museum]] as part of the [[Renwick Gallery]]'s 50th Anniversary Campaign.<ref name="Savig">{{cite book |last1=Savig |first1=Mary |last2=Atkinson |first2=Nora |last3=Montiel |first3=Anya |title=This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World |date=2022 |publisher=Smithsonian American Art Museum |location=Washington, DC |isbn=9781913875268 |pages=228–238}}</ref><ref name="SAAM">{{cite web |title=Blooming Vessel |url=https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/blooming-vessel-76423 |website=Smithsonian American Art Museum |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Chunghi Choo was born on May 23, 1938, to a rather affluent family that was also one of South Korea's most prominent.<ref name=":12">Milosch, Jane C. (2022). Chunghi Choo and her students: Contemporary art and new forms in metal. Arnoldsche Art Publishers. ISBN 978-3-89790-490-3.</ref> Despite growing up in the era of Japan's occupation of Korea, Chunghi Choo's family remained in relative safety after relocating from Busan. She was 12 years old when the Korean War began and 15 when it ended. Choo's paternal grandfather, Myung Kee Choo, managed a business that exported rice to Japan and assisted the Commerce and Industry Department in Incheon.<ref name=":12"/> Her father, Kwang Hyun Choo, was a lover of art and music. He married Young Bong Choo (Chunghi Choo's biological mother) and had three children. After her mother passed away, Chunghi Choo's father remarried and had five more children. All immersed in classical music and art, Chunghi Choo felt that creating art herself was a form of expression that suited her well.

Chunghi Choo's early education played a great role in shaping her art practice and worldview. She attended [[Ewha Girls' High School]] after her family moved to Seoul permanently. She later attended [[Ewha Womans University]] in Seoul starting in 1957.<ref name=":12"/> Her studies of philosophy and aesthetics greatly contributed to her work and eye for art.

Deciding to leave South Korea behind to further her education and introduce her to American art, Chunghi Choo attended both the Penland School of Handicrafts and the Cranbrook Academy of Art.<ref name=":12"/> Choo was a resident at Penland for only two short months, but she formed strong relationships with her mentors and even the founding director of Penland, Lucy Morgan. Choo went on with Morgan and worked together to fundraise for their departments and facilities. Choo also became known for her cullinary skills, which she still highly values today.<ref name="aaa.si.edu2"/>

== Career ==
Choo was a resident at Penland for only two short months, but she formed strong relationships with her mentors and even the founding director of Penland, Lucy Morgan. Choo went on with Morgan and worked together to fundraise for their departments and facilities. Choo also became known for her cullinary skills, which she still highly values today.<ref name="aaa.si.edu2" /> Upon Chunghi Choo's arrival at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, she majored in metalsmithing and minored in ceramics. On the side, she was also mentored in weaving by Glen Kaufman.<ref name=":12"/>

[[File:Chunghi Choo, 'PIN', from American Metal Work, 1976 p.7.png|thumb|A metalwork pin by Chunghi Choo, before 1976<ref name="Geske">{{cite book |last1=Geske |first1=Norman |title=American Metal Work, 1976 |date=1976 |publisher=Sheldon Museum of Art Catalogues and Publications #95 |location=Lincoln, NE |quote=No copyright statement in original publication. |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1094&context=sheldonpubs}}</ref>]]

During the 1960s and 70s, Choo created monumental tie-dyed silks using a traditional technique called [[tritik]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Milosch |first1=Jane |title=Oral history interview with Chunghi Choo, 2007 July 30-2008 July 26 {{!}} Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-chunghi-choo-13621 |website=Archives of American Art, Smithsonian |access-date=February 16, 2024 |language=en}}</ref> Her textile works were exhibited in the "Young Americans 1969" exhibition at what was then the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, now known as the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. Choo is also well recognized for her work in metal, most notably her silver and copper vessels made using raising and forging techniques. Her desire to achieve fluid, organic shapes in metal caused her to study electroforming processes with Stanley Lechtzin at Tyler School of Art in 1971. Since that time many of her metal vessels are made using that technique, which allows her to work with metal in a more fluid appearance.<ref name=":0" />

== Relationships ==

=== Mentors ===
Source:<ref name=":12"/>

* No Soo Park and Song Bong Lee
* Richard Thomas
* [[Maija Grotell]]
* Glen Kaufman
* [[Loja Saarinen]]

=== Students ===
Source:<ref name=":12"/>

* Mary Merkel-Hess
* Meiing Hsu
* Lois Jeckli

==References==
* Georgia Museum of Art, ''American Masters of Hollowware in the Late 20th Century'', Athens, Georgia, Georgia Museum of Art, 1997.

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-chunghi-choo-13621 An interview with Chunghi Choo, conducted 2007 July 30-2008 July 26, by Jane Milosch, for the Archives of American Art]
* [https://www.ganoksin.com/article/chunghi-choo-energy-qi/ Chunghi Choo: The Energy of Qi]
{{American Craft Council}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choo, Chunghi}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:South Korean emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni]]
[[Category:University of Iowa faculty]]
[[Category:South Korean modern sculptors]]
[[Category:20th-century South Korean sculptors]]
[[Category:21st-century South Korean sculptors]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Ewha Womans University alumni]]
[[Category:South Korean women artists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women sculptors]]
[[Category:21st-century American sculptors]]
[[Category:American women academics]]
[[Category:American jewelry designers]]

Chunghi Choo - Revision history

imported>Kjell Knudde: Added more categories.