1275 Minnesota St /
Casemore Gallery
Chicago: Thomas Kong, Ed Oh, Sungho Bae, Efrat Hakimi and Guanyu Xu
28 September - 9 November 2024
Presented by Casemore Gallery and 062
OPENING RECEPTION SEPTEMBER 28, 2024
Casemore Gallery is thrilled to partner with Chicago, Illinois, gallery 062 to present Chicago, an exhibition of works from artists Sungho Bae, Efrat Hakimi, Thomas Kong, Ed Oh and Guanyu Xu.
Originally conceived as a solo show of Thomas Kong’s work, his passing in 2023 led to a more expansive approach, reflecting and celebrating his place within Chicago’s growing and tight-knit community of artists and artist-run spaces. In addition to Kong himself, the four other artists included had keen connections with Kong and his art. Working with a variety of media— painting, sculpture, photography, found materials, and works on paper—these artists are additionally united by their use of collage and assemblage.
Thomas Kong was a prolific self-taught artist and an important figure in Chicago’s AAPI community, where he operated Kim's Corner Food, a locally venerated convenience store in the Rogers Park neighborhood. Over 17 years, Kong created and displayed a massive and always evolving volume of work during the many hours and days he spent at the store. The collages and assemblage pieces he made from repurposed advertising and inventory packaging reflected an uncanny sense of humor and optimism, with many incorporating his signature “Be Happy” stickers. Over 100 of these pieces are featured in the exhibition, many appearing on and attached to the same shelving they had occupied in situ at Kim’s Corner Food’s retail space, as well as in “The Back Room” of the store, which Kong used as an experimental project space and repository for his many thousands of works.
About 062:
Named after a local zip code in Gwangju, South Korea, 062 is a non-profit art gallery in Chicago committed to the promotion of global art discourse. 062 is an open platform for Chicago artists and cultural organizations and supports the work of emerging and established artists through the dissemination of ideas, actions and conversations, and experimental exhibition formats.