Hammer Projects: Yunhee Min

^{Yunhee Min, Wilde Painting 6, 2018. Acrylic on linen. 72 x 76 in.}

Min adapts the vibrant abstract imagery of her paintings on canvas to the steps of the Hammer’s lobby staircase, in the first Hammer Project to be oriented on the floor rather than the walls.

Min’s examination of the impact of the Light and Space movement on generations of artists in Los Angeles is evident in her newest washy, layered, and brightly colored paintings. In these works, the artist distills her attentiveness to the outside world—Southern California’s distinct environment saturated with bright sunlight and captivating sunsets yet continuously punctuated by the manufactured and industrial aspects of the city—into single gorgeously optical and moody canvases. Embracing intuition more than ever before, Min’s inventiveness as a colorist is evident. Working horizontally, she uses a variety of actions such as pouring, rolling, overlapping, and swirling to move the paint around on the surfaces of both canvas and glass. For the Hammer, she adapts the vibrant abstract imagery of her recent approach to painting to the steps of the lobby staircase, in the first Hammer Project to be oriented to the floor rather than the walls. Min completely alters the surface of the stairs themselves, while also making subtle modifications to the walls and lighting in the lobby to underscore how context impacts experience and enhance the visitors’ awareness of the architecture.

_{(Courtesy of the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects. Photo credit: Jeff McLane.)}