Yoonee Geem | Biografy
Education
Yoonjee Geem is a Seoul-born artist and art historian based in Berlin.
She studied Art History and Cultural Studies at Humboldt University of Berlin, East Asian Art History at Freie Universität Berlin, and Fine Arts at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul.
Short Biografy
Yoonjee Geem is an artist and art historian born in Seoul and currently based in Berlin. Her work is grounded in painting and expands across installation, film, and material-based research, reflecting her long-standing interest in the relationship between natural phenomena, abstraction, and visual perception. She studied Art History and Cultural Studies at Humboldt University of Berlin, East Asian Art History at Freie Universität Berlin, and Fine Arts at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul. These academic backgrounds shaped her research-oriented approach, which integrates artistic practice with historical and cultural inquiry.
Since relocating to Germany in 2003, Geem has developed a practice that explores the ways natural forces—particularly light—shape human understanding of the visible and invisible world. Her early work focused on painting, but over time she expanded into time-based media, driven by an interest in narrative structure and the temporal dimension of perception. Between 2015 and 2016, she received support from Werkstatt Düsseldorf for an experimental project, which led her to produce short films. Her films have been screened at international festivals including the Gwangju and Busan International Video Art Festivals, the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France, and the Seoul International New Media Festival. One of her films was selected in the experimental category at the 57th Short Film Collection by Bremen Filmbüro.
Geem’s interest in materiality also led her to explore glass as an artistic medium. In 2022, she completed training in professional glass-working in Lauscha, Germany, incorporating glass into her practice as a way to examine the behavior of light, reflection, and transformation. More recently, she began working with mother-of-pearl, reinterpreting a traditional East Asian material through a contemporary lens that reflects ecological concerns and the cultural history of natural materials.
Her current research centers on the origins of abstraction and early symbolic expression. Through her ongoing project Lucis Pala, she investigates how ancient cultures translated natural rhythms— such as sunlight, wind, rain, and the cyclical movement of water—into visual symbols. The project draws inspiration from patterns on ancient comb-pattern pottery, integrating archaeological perspectives into her study of light as a primal form of energy and perception. This work forms the foundation for her continued inquiry into how material and immaterial forces shape visual language.
In addition to her individual practice, Geem maintains an active presence in international artistic dialogue. In 2025, she is scheduled to participate in the International Painting Symposium at the Mark Rothko Museum in Latvia, where she will further develop her research on perception, environment, and abstraction within a collaborative setting.
Overall, Geem’s current work seeks to connect historical research, natural observation, and contemporary visual practice. Through painting, installation, material experimentation, and cross- disciplinary engagement, she continues to explore how humans make meaning through images and how natural forces inform artistic expression.
/ Solo Exhibitions
2024 - Yoonjee Geem : IN SEARCH OF NOTHINGNESS. EMPTINESS. INFINITY
Feuerwehr Kemlitz Kunstverein, Kemlitz, DE
2020 - Geem Yoonjee/homo phiis lucis, Insa art Gallerie, Seoul, KR
2017 - Geem Yoonjee/rotation, Project Room in Luisa Catucci Galerie, Berlin, DE
2012 - Geem Yoonjee/ Spinnennetz, DADAPOST Berlin, Berlin, DE
2009 - Spinnennetz( Spider Web), David Nickels Galerie, Berlin, DE
2008 - Geem Yoonjee/ 0+0=0, Koreanisches Kulturzentrum Berlin, Berlin, DE
/ Group Exhibitions
2026 Ueber die Band-Berlin Art Week, almost there, Berlin, DE
Hoto Gallery, Berlin, DE
48 Stunden Neukölln, Berlin, DE
Isotop, Berlin, DE
2025 Auction, Ludwig-Erhard-Haus, Berlin, Berlin, DE
21th international painting symposium Mark Rothko Museum, Latvia, LV
Social Art Award 2024/25, IFAI Institute for Art and Innovation e.V., Berlin, DE
2024 Duo Exhibition, Kunst & Kochen, Berlin. DE
Group Exhibition, Napoleon Komplex, Berlin, DE
2023 Cell in SHAPE and the GHOST in the Shell,G.A.S-station, Berlin, DE
Maximal minimal?Minimal. Art from East asien, Humboldt Forum, Berlin, DE
2022 Das kleine Format “Wetter”, NRW Künstlerverein Malkasten, DE
Glasbläserstadt Lauscha Glasmuseum, DE
2020 Silver lining, Galerie Azaro, Hamburg, DE
Online exhibition, Tricera museum, JP
2019 φφφ(공공공)artfair2φ19,sintchon boxqure media Filmtheater Igoung,Seoul,KR
Épagôgè - Soirée projection CosmiX- kunstfilm festival, Paris, FR
2018 Seoul Interantional new media festival, Seoul, KR
FK&A “Die Neuen”, Forum Kunst & Architektur, Essen, DE
Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, La Jetée , FR
2017 RKB Künstlerverein, Forum Kunst & Archtektur, Essen DE
Busan international video art festival, Busan, KR
57. Short Film collection, Filmbüro Bremen, Bremen, DE
2016 Geumgang nature and art biennale,Gongju Nationalmuseum, Gongju, KR
Geem Yoonjee/ Rotation 13' 40.88'' N 48' 38.79'' E 40.11m, Galerie Plan D, Düsseldorf, DE
„POW! StandForSomething“, DADAPOS Berlin, DE
2009 Spinnernetz (Spider Web), David Nickels Gallery, Berlin, DE
„Semana de Portinari“, Museu Casa de Portinari, San Paulo, BR
2008 <Tacheles Werkschau 07 Tacheles>, Neue Galerie, Berlin, DE
<Gracuras> Artistas do Grupo Olho Latino, Espaco Cultural da Universidade, Santa Cecllia (UNISANTA), Santos , BR
2007 <Tacheles Werkschau 06 Tacheles>, Neue Galerie Tacheles, Berlin, DE
3th Bienal Nacional de Gravura- Ohlo Lationo,
Participacao Especial „Hors Concours”, Centro de Convencoes e Eventos „Victor Brecheret“, Estancia de Atibaia. sp., BR
4th Bienal do Esquisito – Poetca do Nada, Estanicia de Atibaia, BR