b. 1993 in Seoul, KR, lives and works in Berlin, DE
Shinoh Nam, born 1993 in Seoul, South Korea, lives and works in Berlin and Seoul. He received a Meisterschüler from Monica Bonvicini at the Universität der Künste in Berlin (2022) and previously studied Fine Art and Architecture at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf with Rita McBride, Lothar Hempel, Jürgen Drescher and Donatella Fioretti (2015-2021). Before moving to Germany, Nam has worked in Photography and Visual Media in Seoul, where he also obtained a qualification in psychological counseling.
Shinoh Nam’s artistic practice unfolds between architecture, psychoanalysis, and cultural displacement. Having grown up in Korea, a society defined by development and competition, and later studying and living in Germany where preservation and coexistence are deeply embedded values, Nam constructs a body of work that reflects on the contradictions of progress and identity formation. His sculptures, installations, and two-dimensional works oscillate between construction and collapse, between the functional and the personal.
Nam puts forth a philosophy of reconstruction which simultaneously romanticises and critiques the habit of constantly throwing up buildings … His artisanal treatment of industrial materials invokes a sense of impermanence at odds with the capitalistic desire for eternity. — Olamiju Fajemisin
Upcoming and recent exhibitions and fairs
Shinoh Nam’s upcoming and recent exhibitions include N/A gallery, Seoul (2027); Caption Seoul, Seoul (2027); The Drawing Center, New York (2026); Ranee Seoul art space, Seoul (2026); The Third gallery, Seoul (2026); Mountains, Berlin (2026); Hyperborea (cur. Shelly Lea Reich), as part of HALLEN 06 at Wilhelmhallen Berlin during Berlin Art Week (2025); Clearing NY/LA in Basel during ART BASEL week (2025); NADAN, Berlin (2025); Wehrmuehle Biesenthal (2023); Anhaltischer Kunstverein / Kunsthalle Dessau (2022); Darmstädter Sezession, Darmstadt (2022); KARMA International, Zurich (2021); SOMA art space, Berlin (2021); Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin (2021).
Prizes and nominations
Nam has been nominated for various prizes, including the Kunststiftung Kunze scholarship (2025); Ars Viva Preis (shortlist 2024, nominated 2025); Elsa Neumann Prize (shortlist 2023); UDK Berlin Art Award (winner, 2023); Darmstadt Prize for young artists (shortlist, 2022); Karl Hofer Stipendien (shortlist, 2022); and Federal Prize For Art Students (2022).
Collections
Works by Shinoh Nam are held in the Burger Collection, Krupa Collection, and other collections in Europe and Asia.
Gallery exhibitions
2026 Shinoh Nam A Guide to the Interior for a House on Ambiguous Grounds
2026 to make appear (cur. Stefanie Bringezu)
