Culture

Do Ho Suh at the MCA

Rosalind Noor
4 min readFeb 21, 2023

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney presents the South Korean artist’s first solo exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere

Do Ho Suh, Rubbing/Loving Project: Seoul Home (2013–2022) | Photo: R. Noor

The Do Ho Suh exhibition is currently entering its final week at the MCA in Sydney, bringing to an end the South Korean artist’s first solo exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere.

The exhibition starts on the third floor, and after some excellent scene-setting with two video installations, the first show-stopper piece is this installation called Staircase-III (2010) from the Tate Collection. Recreated on a 1:1 scale, the installation replicates a staircase between Suh’s home with his landlord’s and explores the relationship between spaces and how these intermediary spaces act not just as a link but also as a boundary. The handstitched fabric staircase is also a commentary on the passage of time, and the connections between different spaces and cultures due to the medium's portability.

Do Ho Suh, Staircase-III (2010) | Photo: R. Noor

This installation is cleverly referenced at the end of the exhibition with this watercolour on paper entitled Staircase (2007), as well as this work made from thread embedded on cotton paper also entitled Staircase from 2010.

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Rosalind Noor

Doctor, Calligraphy and illumination apprentice. MA Islamic Studies, GradCert Asian Art