Do Ho Suh
Portal

Portal

© 2015 Do Ho Suh

Portal
Portal
ArtistKorean, born 1962
CultureKorean
Titles
  • Portal
Date2015
MediumAcrylic resin
Dimensions132 × 93 5/8 × 48 in. (335.3 × 237.8 × 121.9 cm)
Credit LineMuseum commission funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment and gift of the artist
Object number2016.353
Current Location
The Glassell School of Art
Mcnair Education Court
On view

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Object Type
DescriptionDo Ho Suh draws inspiration from his immediate heritage and a larger history shaped by the Korean War (1950–53) that laid waste to the capital city of Seoul. In the years of reconstruction that followed, the artist’s father Suh Se-Ok built the family home following a traditional architectural style, with the entry portal based upon an actual 17th-century gate. This same gate is reimagined here, cut into the negative space of the clear acrylic blocks, converting a relic of family life into a transparent shell that triggers layers of association for both the artist and viewer. “For me, a building is more than just space,” Suh has stated. “It is not only physical but also metaphorical and psychological. In my work I want to draw out these intangible qualities of energy, history, life, and memory."
ProvenanceThe artist; commissioned by the MFAH in 2006, completed in 2015.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Paratrooper-III
Do Ho Suh
2006
Monofilament, polyurethane resin, silk organza, and stainless steel armature
2008.537
Karma
Do Ho Suh
2003
Urethane paint on fiberglass and resin
2008.536
Karma Juggler
Do Ho Suh
2007
Red colored pencil on wove paper
2008.36
Who Am We?
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2006
Offset Iris print in four colors on coated paper
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2010
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2010.178
Untitled (Men's Suits)
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2009
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2010.221
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2008.840.A-.D
Kidney Stone
Bert L. Long, Jr.
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Acrylic on canvas with bones, nails, stones, and fiberglass resin on plaster and cement frame
87.360
Untitled (Victorian doll house with furnishings)
Yinka Shonibare CBE
2002
Cast resin, plastic, wood, paper, and fabric
2002.3561.A-.V
The Man That Left Home Walking and Came Back Riding
Thornton Dial, Sr.
1994
Steel frame, textiles including cotton and nylon hose, latex rubber gloves, leather, string, brass zipper, polyester resin putty, and latex house paint
2003.694