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Mina Cheon

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Mina Cheon
Mina Cheon
Born (1973-07-31) July 31, 1973 (age 51)
Seoul, South Korea
Alma materEwha Womans University,
Maryland Institute College of Art,
University of Maryland
European Graduate School
Korean name
Hangul
천민정
RRCheon Minjeong
MRCh'ŏn Minjŏng

Mina Cheon (born 1973) is a Korean American new media artist, scholar, and educator. Since 1997, she has been living between Baltimore, New York, and Seoul.

Personal life and education

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Cheon was born in Seoul, South Korea.[1] Being the daughter of a South Korean diplomat and cultural attache, she grew up in the cities of Seoul, New York, Copenhagen, and Ottawa.[2]

She received a BFA in painting from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, an MFA in painting from Hoffberger School of Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), an MFA in imaging digital arts from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). and a PhD in philosophy of media and communications from the European Graduate School, European University for Interdisciplinary Studies, Switzerland in 2008.

She is currently on the faculty of Maryland Institute College of Art.[3] She is married to architect Gabriel Kroiz. After marrying, Cheon converted to Judaism.[4] They have two children.[5]

Teaching

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One of Cheon's educational contributions has been the international art program and exchange that she has led with architect, Gabriel Kroiz, and between American and Korean art, architecture, and design students. She has directed international art education since 2004, working with universities in Seoul such as Hongik University, Korea National University of Arts, and with Ewha Womans University in 2010, taking students from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)[6] and Morgan State University to South Korea.[7] Cheon expanded her teaching horizons from just art to teaching in the departments of Foundation; Art History; Language, Literature, and Culture; and Interactive Media. She was also the founder and director of the summer study abroad program MICA Korea that was held each summer in Seoul, Korea between 2004 and 2007.[8]

Exhibitions

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Cheon's solo exhibitions include:

  • "Happy North Korean Children" at Trunk Gallery, Seoul[9]
  • "Choco-Pie Propaganda" at Ethan Cohen New York Gallery[10]
  • "POLIPOP: Political Pop Art" at Sungkok Art Museum,[11] Seoul, Korea (2012) includes painting, new media art, interactive media, installation art, and performance art work.
  • "Polipop and Paintings"[12] at the Maryland Art Place[13] Baltimore, Maryland
  • "Groundless" at Lance Fung Gallery, New York, (2002)[14]
  • "Dizz/placement" at Insa Art Space, Art Council, Seoul, Korea
  • "Addressing Dolls" at C.Grimalids Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland (named as "Best Solo Exhibition" by City Paper)[15][16][17][18]

Diamonds Light Baltimore is a collaborative project built by Mina Cheon and Gabriel Kroiz composed of fifteen unique diamond shaped sculptures of different shapes and sizes.[19] These sculptures are large enough for the audience to walk inside and through it. The diamond sculptures are made of LED lights to highlight the unique shape of the object.[20]

On February 23, 2012, "Magic and Media," a New Media Caucus-sponsored panel, was held at the College Art Association 100th Annual Conference in Los Angeles. Cheon chaired the panel with Lisa Paul Streitfeld. The panel focused on the age of new media culture like reality TV shows, horror flicks, the re-creations of religious cults, online spiritual healing, and pop-star worship.

On June 30, 2021, Cheon held an artist talk with The Korean Society in New York City, where she had an exhibition of her art intended to demonstrate the unification and peace that both Koreas are seeking. As a global activism artist, Cheon’s projects to unite both Koreas include making a pair of sneakers where the flag of North Korea is drawn on one shoe, and on the other, the flag of South Korea is drawn. Her statement for this is that you need two feet to move forward; therefore, Koreans can’t move forward without leaving the other country behind.

Writing

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Books

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  • Shamanism + Cyberspace (2009) Atropos Press, New York and DresdenISBN 0-9825309-5-1)
  • Combat: Sports and Military (2010) Co-authored with G Kroiz, Culture Bank Publishing, Seoul, South Korea ISBN 978-89-964858-0-3

Articles

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  • "The Konglish Critique" in Beyond Critique (2013), co-authored with G Kroiz, edited by Susan Waters-Eller and Joseph J. Basile. Maisonneuve Press, College Park, MD ISBN 9780944624500)
  • "Magic and Media" in Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus (2012) Media-N, NMC, USA; ISSN 2159-6891) - Cheon's chaired panel

Her current artistic research involves delving into racism in published visual arts encompassing Asian nations that are found in images and popular culture.[21][better source needed]

References

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  1. ^ Roper, Derek (September 20, 2010), "Mina Cheon speaks of her multicultural artistic pursuits", The Retriever Weekly, retrieved September 17, 2011
  2. ^ Cheon, Mina (March 25, 2011), iamkoreanamerican, retrieved April 17, 2012
  3. ^ "Mina Cheon", Faculty: Art History, Theory, Criticism, Foundation, Interactive Media & Liberal Arts Programs & Minors, Maryland Institute College of Art, retrieved September 17, 2011
  4. ^ Tim Smith (June 10, 2012). "Art, media, politics collide in polipop". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, USA. p. 5.
  5. ^ Stephanie Shapiro (April 8, 2007). "In designs, architect recycles, reuses, rethinks". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, USA. p. 7.
  6. ^ Stephanie Shapiro (April 8, 2007). "In designs, architect recycles, reuses, rethinks". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, USA. p. 7.
  7. ^ International and Intercultural Education for Artists and Designers, MinaCheon, archived from the original on May 14, 2012, retrieved September 17, 2012
  8. ^ Institute, Maryland Art. "Mina Cheon". mica.edu. Maryland Institute College of Art. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  9. ^ Happy North Korean Children at Trunk Gallery, Seoul, Trunk Gallery, retrieved August 1, 2014
  10. ^ Choco-Pie Propaganda at Ethan Cohen New York, Ethan Cohen New York, retrieved November 22, 2013
  11. ^ Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, Korea, Sungkok Art Museum, retrieved January 10, 2012
  12. ^ Polipop and Paintings at Maryland Art Place, Maryland Art Place, archived from the original on August 4, 2012, retrieved April 15, 2012
  13. ^ Maryland Art Place, Maryland Art Place, retrieved April 15, 2012
  14. ^ Groundless at Lance Fung Gallery, Jessica Higgins, retrieved October 12, 2002
  15. ^ "Best Solo Show: Mina Cheon Addressing Dolls At C. Grimaldis Gallery", Baltimore City Paper, September 17, 2008, retrieved September 17, 2011
  16. ^ Noonan, Kate (March 26, 2008), "Mina Cheon: Addressing Dolls: At C. Grimaldis Gallery Through March 29", Baltimore City Paper, retrieved September 17, 2011
  17. ^ McNatt, Glenn (March 15, 2008), "'Dolls' reflects drama in Korea", The Baltimore Sun, retrieved September 17, 2011
  18. ^ 전시회 '인형을 통해 말하다'; 인형으로 남북한의 현실 표현 – 천민정 교수, Voice of America, March 24, 2008, retrieved September 17, 2011
  19. ^ Wesley Case (January 1, 2016). "Light It Up". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, USA. p. 12.
  20. ^ Richardson, Kevin. "Light City Baltimore". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  21. ^ "People: Mina Cheon". Maryland Institute College of Art. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
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