KEN HAKUTA, JOHN G. HANHARDT
NAM JUNE PAIK
GLOBAL VISIONARY
D Giles Ltd
(January 16, 2013)
Internationally recognized as the father of video art, Korean-born artist Nam June Paik (1932–2006) transformed 20th-century art. His innovative, media-based artwork was grounded in the practices of avant-garde music and performance art, which he used to expand video and television as artistic expressions in contemporary visual culture.
Nam June Paik: Global Visionary features key artworks from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection as well as loans from Museum Moderner Kunst in Vienna, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College and the recently acquired Nam June Paik Estate Archive.
A wide selection of materials including televisions, radios, antiques, toys, cameras, announcements for exhibitions and performances, and correspondence give an unprecedented view into Paik’s artworks and working practice, revealing the influences of Asian and Western philosophy as well as developments in technology and science.
Ken Hakuta, one of Nam June Paik’s paternal nephews, created the highly popular Wacky Wallwalker toys in the 1980s and hosted The Dr. Fad Show, a children’s television program, which aired from 1987 to 1994. He is the executor of the Nam June Paik Estate.
John G. Hanhardt is consulting senior curator for film and media arts at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Since beginning his career at the Department of Film at the Museum of Modern Art, he has curated film and media arts at the Walker Art Center, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Guggenheim Museum.
