Sung Ho Choi
b. 1954, Seoul, Korea
Korean Roulette, 1992
Mixed media on wood
Courtesy the artist

Korean Roulette features a rotating fan with blades tipped with bloody gloves that hover over a selection of vegetables and common goods found in Korean grocery stores in the U.S. The sculpture draws on Sungho Choi’s personal experiences working in similar places as a Korean immigrant living in America. 

Referencing the high-profile confrontations between Korean shopkeepers and Black communities in the 1990s, particularly in Los Angeles and New York, the work highlights these traumatic cultural and racial ruptures alongside the aspirational gamble of the American dream.

According to Choi, “Most of my work lies on the intersection between different cultures and traditions addressing critical issues of our society. The way these cultures crash, conflict, destroy and heal each other seems to form certain patterns as do many natural cycles or physics of energy.”