Ahhi Choi solo exhibition Long Island University New York 2014 July 7 - 25
Ahhi Choi
About
The curvilinear movement in the work of Japanese artist Ahhi Choi is both buoyant and ecstatic, expressing the innate sense of adventure the artist possesses. This sense of adventure prompted Choi on a Tom Sawyer-esque sojourn through the Western United States following his college graduation. Choi explored the expansive network of National Parks, from Death Valley to the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone. It was during this stateside excursion that the artist developed an intimate bond with the grandeur and majesty of nature. Upon his return to his home city of Kobe, a malaise set in over Choi, it was the cramped and overcrowded lifestyle of urban Japan, which was causing him to feel nostalgic. Taking the flashes of inspiration that the artist experienced in day-to-day life he began to take ink to paper forming an abstract diary of his adventures. Letting his hand move organically across the page, Choi would interpret the silhouettes, pictures, words and letters from the well of his memory into energetic lines that are ubiquitous in throughout his work.
A few years ago a friends of Choi’s saw particular potential in his work and for a birthday present gifted him a canvas and an easel, this is when his work began to grow exponentially. Choi began to infuse color into his instinctual shapes and forms using acrylic on wooden board. This contemporaneous aesthetic is indicative of the fact that Choi never received formal schooling in fine art, preferring adrenaline infused activities over holding a paintbrush. It is this un-codified and composition-free style that induces Choi’s work with an appealing quality.
When people ask the artist, “What does this work mean?” or “What is this an image of?” Choi responds that it is an inscription of the mental state he was experiencing when he created the work, the intrinsic meaning more or less forming during the physical production or afterwards. However, due to the art being created according to Choi’s guttural sense and emotions, the audience should come to appreciate the paintings and drawings likewise, without limiting the work with confining titles and words.
2006 Dept. Department of Economics, Konan University, Japan
University of Yonsei, The Korean Language Institute, Seoul, Korea
2008 UCLA Los Angels, CA
Exhibitions
The Drums, Kobe, JAPAN
"My Eyes Vol.1" Gallery World Times Hyogo, JAPAN
Solo exhibition – Mt.Rokko Viaggio, JAPAN
Wakanoura Art cube “Enge”, Wakayama, JAPAN
Nara SANAKAKU - Group exhibition, JAPAN
The Drums, Osaka, JAPAN
Art Shopping 2012, Paris, France
Gallery World Times "24", JAPAN
Ouchi Gallery New York "100 Artist Exhibition", New York
Accepted for the 38th Kobe resident art exhibition, JAPAN
"My Eyes Vol.2" Gallery World Times Hyogo, Japan
Artex Seoul -Gallery GODO -, Korea
Artex Tokyo, JAPAN
Palm Springs Fine Art Fair 2014, Palm Springs, CA
Busan Art Show 2014, Busan, Korea
"My Eyes in New York" BCS Gallery, New York
Long Island University
Art Hampton 2014
KIAF 2014
