Soonae Tark (b. South Korea) has a BFA from Dongduk Women’s University in Seoul, Korea and then went to France where she lived and studied for nearly 7 years, graduating from the
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, with a Diplôme National d’Art Pratique and a Diplôme National Supérieur d’Expression Pratique (equivalent MFA) with “Les Felicitations du Jury." She moved to New York City in 1996 where she currently lives and works.
She completed two compelling permanent public artworks for the City of New York. She installed a glass mosaic mural on the platform of the Buhre Avenue subway station (2015). The work was funded by the MTA Arts for Transit Commission, and awarded competitively. Her other public work, titled “Love You,” (2008) was placed in New York City’s P.S. 306, commissioned by the Percent for Art Program, a competitive award. Her joyful celebration of color and delight was featured on the cover of Mayor Bloomberg’s New York City's Mayor's Management Report (2009).
She has continued to add to her reductive, colorful geometric work in exhibitions in galleries, museums, and public spaces. Her list of awards includes, but is not limited to: the Pollock-Krasner Foundation; the Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Grant ; a National Academy Museum Abbey Mural Painting Fund Fellowship; and an Individual Artist Initiative Award from the Queens Council on the Arts. She has won more than 15 cash awards in national and international competitions.
She has had 15 solo exhibitions in the United States, Korea and France. Her work has been included in over 100 juried and invitational group exhibitions across the United States and was exhibited at the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Seoul, Korea (2009 to 2012) by the Art in Embassies Program, Department of State, Washington DC. The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, New Jersey- Herald News, Louisiana Magazine-The Advocate, Queens Chronicle and many others have favorably reviewed her work. She has been featured in Marquis Who’s Who in American Art (ongoing since the 29th Edition, 2009) and New American Paintings, Juried Exhibition in Print, with inclusion of her work on the back cover. Her work was featured in U.S. Department of State's 2012 Desk Calendar and numerous times for the Cover Art of books, News Paper.
