Gallery Bergen.
PARAMUS, N.J. – Gallery Bergen, the art exhibition space of Bergen Community College, in collaboration with the Korean Community Center (KCC), of Tenafly, seeks submissions for a visual arts and performance series documenting the immigrant experience of Koreans in New Jersey this fall. “NJSeoul: New Art from the Korean Diaspora” will open Sept. 12 and remain on view through Oct. 31. The exhibition represents an extension of the collaboration between Bergen and the KCC, which began this past year with a series of lectures led by College faculty on U.S. history.
The exhibition will examine the immigrant experience of Koreans living in the United States – including Koreans who think of themselves as Americans, first and foremost, those who have a foothold in both countries and those who have chosen or may soon choose to return permanently to Korea. According to the federal government, Bergen County contains – by percentage of the overall population – each of the top 10 municipalities in the United States for Korean-Americans. The College enrolls 357 students with Korean citizenship – the highest number of students from any country other than the United States.
Submissions can include drawing, painting, collage, photography, prints, sculpture, installation, time-based media (video, short film, animation) and performance. Interested artists should send image files (no more than three per submission) or URLs for time-based media and a brief artistic statement (English or Hangul) to [email protected] no later than Monday, July 15. Please note, Gallery Bergen does not conduct sales of artwork; it does not receive commissions for third party sales. The gallery will direct prospective buyers and all such inquiries to the artists for these transactions. Gallery Bergen Director Tim Blunk and local curator Hyejong Grenier will oversee the exhibition and performance series. Please contact Blunk for more information.
Along with having their works displayed in Gallery Bergen, artists selected for the exhibition will have the opportunity to participate in a series of artists’ talks scheduled for the College’s campuses in Paramus, Hackensack and Lyndhurst, as well as at the KCC.
A special opening reception of the installation will take place Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. in the gallery. Members of the Woorigarak Korean Cultural Art Center, of Englewood Cliffs, will perform contemporary Korean music and fresh interpretations of traditional dance.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 14,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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