{{Short description|Canadian artist (born 1976)}}'''Jinny Yu''' (born 1976)<ref name="AiC">{{cite web |title=Artists in Canada |url=https://app.pch.gc.ca/application/aac-aic/artiste_detailler_bas-artist_detail_bas.app?lang=en&rID=46230 |website=Canadian Heritage | date=17 October 2012 |publisher=Government of Canada |accessdate=16 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref> is a Canadian contemporary artist and educator, known for her abstract paintings and installations that explore the complexities of belonging and place by reflecting on the shifting roles of guest and host.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.jinnyyu.com/about |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=Jinny Yu |language=en-CA}}</ref> She is currently Professor of Painting at the University of Ottawa. <ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Jinny Yu |url=https://uniweb.uottawa.ca/view/profile/members/472 |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=uniweb.uottawa.ca |language=en}}</ref>{{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Jinny Yu<!-- include middle initial, if not specified in birth_name --> | honorific_suffix = | image = Jinny Yu au maison des arts de Laval.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Yu in 2019 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1976}}<!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living artists, {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}} for dead. For living people supply only the year unless the exact date is already WIDELY published, as per WP:DOB. Treat such cases as if only the year is known, so use {{birth year and age|YYYY}} or a similar option. --> | birth_place = Seoul, South Korea | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} --> | education = Dawson College <small>1995</small><br/>Concordia University <small>1998</small> | alma_mater = York University <small>2002</small> | known_for = Painting<Br/>Installation art | notable_works = | style = Contemporary artist | movement = | spouse = | partner = | awards = Laura Ciruls Painting Award <small>Ontario Arts Foundation</small><br/>Mid-Career Artist Award <small>Council for the Arts in Ottawa</small> | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website = <!-- {{URL|http://jinnyyu.com/}} --> | module = }} thumb|Jinny Yu's "Story of a Global Nomad", Exhibition view, Art Mûr gallery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, February 2008.
==Early Life and Education==
Jinny Yu was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to Montreal, Canada in 1988.<ref name="AiC"/><ref name="CCCA">{{cite web |title=CCCA Artist Profile for Jinny Yu |url=http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/jinny_yu |website=The Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art |publisher=University of Concordia |accessdate=16 December 2018}}</ref> She began her formal arts education at Dawson College, earning a degree in fine arts in 1995, followed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Concordia University in 1998. She later completed a dual degree at York University, receiving both an MFA in Visual Arts and an MBA in Arts and Media Administration from the Schulich School of Business in 2002.<ref name="CCCA" />
== Career == Jinny Yu’s practice is defined by "expanded painting," where she uses traditional techniques to explore conceptual and political questions. A central inquiry in her work is the relationship between "guest" and "host." She often reflects on her own position as a settler in Canada, examining the ethical and political responsibilities that come with occupying space.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jinny Yu on the guest/host dynamic |url=https://readfoyer.com/article/jinny-yu-guesthost-dynamic |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=Foyer |language=en}}</ref> Yu is known for painting with oil and graphite on aluminum supports, a technique she has used since 2004. The material’s semi-reflective surface allows the support to act as both a mirror and a structural element, challenging the boundaries of the pictorial plane.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Jinny Yu - Overview |url=https://metiviergallery.com/artists/117-jinny-yu/overview/ |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=Nicholas Metivier Gallery |language=en}}</ref>
=== Early Artistic Development === Jinny Yu began her professional artistic practice in the late 1990s, gaining recognition in the Canadian and international art scenes for her abstract paintings that explore spatial concepts related to nomadic existence and identity fluidity. Her early works featured large-scale canvases with geometric abstraction, often reflecting themes of displacement and migration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jinny Yu – Drain Magazine |url=https://drainmag.com/jinny-yu/ |access-date=2026-04-29 |language=en-US}}</ref> A notable series from this period is ''Story of a Global Nomad'' (2007-2008), which integrates her interests in global displacement and dynamic compositions.<ref name="Burant 2022">{{Cite book |last=Burant |first=Jim |url=https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/ottawa-art-and-artists/key-artists/jinny-yu/ |title=Ottawa Art & Artists: An Illustrated History |publisher=Art Canada Institute |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-4871-0289-0 |location=Toronto |language=English}}</ref>
After completing her BFA, Yu undertook an artist residency in Banff. Once she finished her MFA she went on to do two more artist residencies in Berlin and Beijing. In 2006, she was appointed as a professor at the University of Ottawa. Her installation ''Sequence'' (2009) at Carleton University Art Gallery marked a significant milestone, extending her explorations into site-specific forms.<ref name="Burant 2022" />
=== Mature Practice and Themes === Since the early 2010s, Yu's practice has concentrated on exploring the formal and spatial limits of painting. She has primarily used industrial-grade aluminum since 2004, manipulating the material to create works that blur the lines between two- and three-dimensionality.<ref name=":1" /> Through techniques like bending and layering applications of oil paint or Korean ink, her works, including ''Black Matter'' (2013) and ''Non-Painting Painting'' (2012), invite viewer engagement and challenge conventional boundaries.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Jinny Yu: to activate space |date=2014 |publisher=Éditions Art Mûr ; Ottawa Art Gallery |isbn=978-2-923243-07-8 |editor-last=Cheetham |editor-first=Mark A. |location=Montréal, Québec : Ottawa, Ontario |editor-last2=Wlusek |editor-first2=Ola |editor-last3=Ottawa Art Gallery |editor-last4=Art mûr (Art gallery)}}</ref>
In 2015, Yu exhibited the site-specific work ''Don't They Ever Stop Migrating?'' during the 56th Venice Biennale at the Oratorio di San Ludovico.<ref name="Burant 2022" /> She created an immersive experience where viewers enter a room made entirely of draped cotton panels, painted with clusters of ink strokes that evoke an overwhelming sense of “threatening flocks of birds.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-25 |title=Jinny Yu: The world is burning and I am painting |url=https://dunloplearning.ca/exhibitions/jinny-yu |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=Dunlop Learning |language=en-CA}}</ref> The installation work used a sound collage of Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film ''The Birds'' as a metaphor for the migration crises in the Mediterranean Sea and Bay of Bengal. The work is now in the permanent collection of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.<ref name="Agnes">{{cite web |title=Don't They Ever Stop Migrating? |url=https://agnes.queensu.ca/explore/collections/object/dont-they-ever-stop-migrating/ |website=Collections |publisher=Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen's |accessdate=16 December 2018 }}</ref>
In 2023, Yu collaborated with architect Ki Jun Kim and plant biochemist Frédéric Pitre on ''S’Y RETROUVER'', a subterranean installation of earth and white clover that gives form to the interconnectedness of tree roots and fungal networks. Visitors navigated trench-like pathways designed slow movement and prompt reflection on the land they stand on. The use of clover, a species introduced by European settlers, engages questions of ecological and colonial histories.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Profil des jardins |url=https://www.internationalgardenfestival.com/s-y-retrouver/ |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=www.internationalgardenfestival.com |language=fr}}</ref>
Yu’s other public artworks include ''Breathing Out'' (2009) and ''Style of the Between'' (2016), presented at the Taewha River Eco Art Festival in South Korea.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sang-heon |first=Jeon |date=September 30, 2009 |title=TEAF 2009 12일간 전시 마치고 폐막]‘문화가 흐르는 태화강’ 전국에 각인 |url=https://www.ksilbo.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=267170 |url-status=live |access-date=April 29, 2026 |website=경상일보}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hyun-joo |first=Seok |date=June 8, 2016 |title=[태화강국제설치미술제]하나된 예술가-관객…시민과 함께하는 미술제 |url=https://www.ksilbo.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=547803 |url-status=live |access-date=April 29, 2026 |website=경상일보}}</ref>
Her installation ''Perpetual Guest'' (2019) addresses settler presence on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory. After part of the work was accidentally shattered, Yu reworked it into ''Perpetual Guest 2019/2022: Impossibility of Repair'', presenting the fragments in their original configuration. The piece reflects on the limits of repair and reconciliation, drawing parallels between material fracture and the complexities of settler–Indigenous relations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sim |first=Cheryl |title=Marina Roy, Jinny Yu & the Painted Object |publisher=Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts |year=2024 |isbn=9780986560361 |location=Ottawa, Ontario |chapter=Perpetual Questions in the Art of Jinny Yu by Cheryl Sim}}</ref>
In the early 2020s, after a period of working exclusively with black paint, Yu reintroduced color, resulting in geometric abstract paintings featured in her 2024 exhibition ''Jinny Yu: at once'' at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Her themes encompass self-reflexive scrutiny of painting, historical abstraction, and the complexities of belonging.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Jinny Yu: at once |url=https://ago.ca/exhibitions/jinny-yu-once |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |language=en}}</ref> Works like ''What is to be Done?'' (2012) and the ''Hôte'' drawings (2024) explore guest-host dynamics, migration, and colonialism's legacies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=- YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCSc18D4qJ8 |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
=== Teaching and Institutional Roles === Jinny Yu was an assistant professor at Mount Allison University (2003–2005) before joining the University of Ottawa in 2006, where she is full professor in the Department of Visual Arts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How artist Jinny Yu finds meaning in abstraction {{!}} News - Concordia University |url=https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/offices/advancement/2025/04/25/how-artist-jinny-yu-finds-meaning-in-abstraction.html |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=www.concordia.ca |language=en}}</ref> Yu teaches courses on painting practice and contemporary art along with an intensive field course at the Venice Biennale which immerses students in both the art history of Venice and contemporary art dialogues.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Venice Field Course |url=https://www.uottawa.ca/en/events-all/venice-field-course |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=University of Ottawa |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
=== The Canadian BIPOC Artists Rolodex === Yu is the lead investigator and visionary behind the Canadian BIPOC Artists Rolodex, a national digital humanities and advocacy project. This searchable database was created to address the systemic underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour artists in Canadian art institutions and history.<ref name=":0" />
=== Awards and Honours === Yu received the Mid-Career Artist Award from the Ottawa Arts Council in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-13 |title=Jinny Yu |url=https://gn-o.org/en/artist/jinny-yu/ |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2012, she was awarded the Laura Ciruls Painting Award from the Ontario Arts Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Laura Ciruls Painting Fund |url=https://oafdn.ca/programs/awards/laura-ciruls-painting-fund/ |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=Ontario Arts Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> She was finalist for the Pulse Prize in New York in 2011 and 2014.<ref name=":3" />
== Notable Exhibitions ==
* ''The world is burning and I am painting'' (2025–2026): A solo exhibition at the Dunlop Art Gallery in Regina, Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jinny Yu: The world is burning and I am painting |url=https://www.reginalibrary.ca/attend/programs/14668050 |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=www.reginalibrary.ca |language=en}}</ref> * ''Superposition'' (2025): A solo exhibition at Fondation Guido Molinari in Montréal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Superposition. Jinny Yu {{!}} Fondation Guido Molinari |url=https://fondationguidomolinari.org/superposition-de-jinny-yu/ |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=Fondation Guido Molinari |language=fr-FR}}</ref> * ''Hidden Variables'', Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, November 8–December 6, 2025 (Yu's first solo presentation at the gallery).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jinny Yu {{!}} November 6 - December 6, 2025 |url=https://metiviergallery.com/viewing-room/162-jinny-yu-hidden-variables/ |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=Nicholas Metivier Gallery |language=en}}</ref> * ''At once'' (2024): A major solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), featuring the series ''Inextricably Ours.''<ref name=":3" /> * ''Don’t They Ever Stop Migrating?'' (2015): Presented at the 56th Venice Biennale, this site-specific installation used sound and ink-on-fabric paintings to comment on the political division over the global refugee crisis.<ref name="Agnes" />
==Notable collections== *Montreal Museum of Fine Arts<ref name=":1" /> *Art Gallery of Ontario<ref name=":1" /> *Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec<ref name="MNBAQ1">{{cite web |title=Story of a Global Nomad (Multiple Trees) |url=https://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/oeuvre/600038852 |website=Collections |publisher=Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec |accessdate=16 December 2018|language=fr}}</ref> *Agnes Etherington Art Centre<ref name="Agnes" /> *Ottawa Art Gallery<ref name="OAGColl1">{{cite web |title=Firestone Collection of Canadian Art & Ottawa Art Gallery's Permanent Collection |url=https://oaggao.ca/collectionsearch/search.php?action=searchbox&lang=eng&search1=Search&q=Jinny+Yu |website=Ottawa Art Gallery |accessdate=16 December 2018 |archive-date=16 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216163533/https://oaggao.ca/collectionsearch/search.php?action=searchbox&lang=eng&search1=Search&q=Jinny%20Yu |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Further reading== *Beaupré, Marie-Eve, Patrick Flores, Ming Tiampo, and Georgiana Uhlyarik. ''[https://gooselane.com/products/jinny-yu?srsltid=AfmBOorE2oO2j_KNRepJO0HiZ7xRfE6__LJ6xVX2J5hVaZ2FS0t9U1rF Jinny Yu: At Once.]'' Goose Lane Editions, 2024. {{ISBN|978-1-77310-427-0}} *Burant, Jim. ''[https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/ottawa-art-and-artists/ Ottawa Art & Artists: An Illustrated History.]'' Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2022. {{ISBN|978-1-4871-0289-0}} *Cheetham, Mark A., Penny Cousineau-Levine, Rhéal Olivier Lanthier, François St-Jacques and Ola Wlsusek. ''Jinny Yu: To Activate Space''. Montreal: Éditions Art Mûr, 2014. {{ISBN|978-2-923243-07-8}} *Cottingham, Steven, Marina Roy, Cheryl Sim, Ming Tiampo, Robert Tombs and Jinny Yu. ''[https://rca-arc.ca/en/programs Marina Roy, Jinny Yu & the Painted Object].'' Ottawa: Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 2024. ISBN 9780986560361 *Falvey, Emily, Antonio Foscari, Rhéal Olivier Lanthier, Édith-Anne Pageot and François St-Jacques. ''Jinny Yu''. Montreal: Éditions Art Mûr and Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2008. {{ISBN|2923243013}} *Fung, Amy, David Garneau, and Jinny Yu. [https://galerie.uqo.ca/publication/entretiens-3-conversation-entre-amy-fung-david-garneau-et-jinny-yu-a-propos-de-perpetual-guest ''Entretiens #3: Conversation between Amy Fung, David Garneau and Jinny Yu on Perpetual Guest''.] Edited by Marie-Hélène Leblanc. Gatineau: Galerie UQO; Montreal: Anteism Books, 2019. {{ISBN|978-2-9816925-7-3}} *Shaughnessy, Jonathan. “Jinny Yu - Perpetual Guest.” In ''[https://eskerfoundation.com/product/relations/ RELATIONS: Diaspora and Painting.]'' Edited by Cheryl Sim. Montreal: Fondation PHI: Hirmer Publishers, 2020. {{ISBN|978-3-7774-3599-2}} *Tiampo, Ming. "Jinny Yu: Don’t They Ever Stop Migrating?". ''Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas'' 4.1-2: 217-219. {{doi|10.1163/23523085-00401016}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{official website|http://jinnyyu.com/}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Jinny}} Category:Living people Category:1976 births Category:Artists from Seoul Category:Artists from Ottawa Category:21st-century Canadian painters Category:Academic staff of the University of Ottawa Category:Concordia University alumni Category:Dawson College alumni Category:York University alumni Category:21st-century Canadian women painters