In Conversation with Ken Gun Min, Gala Porras-Kim & Steven J. Yazzie

Join us Thursday, May 16 at MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater for a talk with exhibiting artists Gala Porras-Kim, Ken Gun Min, and Steven J. Yazzie about their solo shows at MCA Denver. Moderated by MCA Denver’s Associate Curator Leilani Lynch, the artists will share about their inspirations, processes, and the narratives woven into their thought-provoking works, deeply rooted in themes of nature and its significance in our lives.

Gala Porras-Kim's meticulous examination of the preservation of cultural artifacts regularly intersects with the natural world, offering a fresh perspective on our relationship with the environment. Ken Gun Min's mesmerizing blend of traditional techniques and contemporary themes often draws inspiration from the beauty and complexity of the natural world, inviting viewers to contemplate our place within it. Meanwhile, Steven J. Yazzie's evocative work explores the interconnectedness of identity, the landscape, and the ecosystems that shape them.

Discover the stories behind the art, gain deeper understanding of the exhibitions currently on view, and engage with the artists themselves in a dynamic dialogue that promises to ignite your imagination and expand your perspective.

Doors open at 6PM, conversation begins at 7PM.

Private reception for VIP ticketholders begins at 6PM.

About the Artists

Ken Gun Min (b. 1976, Seoul, South Korea; Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) studied western painting and art history and theory at Hongik University in Seoul, Korea and received his MFA from the Academy of Art, University of San Francisco. Solo exhibitions include Silverlake Dog Park, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles; Wounded Man, Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, K contemporary, Denver, CO; and Becoming Palm Tree, Gae Po Project Space, Seoul, Korea. Group exhibitions that featured Min’s work include Strings of Desire, Craft Contemporary Museum, Los Angeles, CA; i know you are, but what am i? (De)Framing Identity and the Body, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, UT; Sparkle in, Fade out, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA; People of the Otherworld: Ken Kiff in Dialogue, curated by Kathy Battista, Albertz Benda, New York, NY; Who is Your Master? curated by Wolf Hill, 1969 Gallery, New York, NY: Bozomag: Bozo Family Hoedown, M+B gallery, Los Angeles, CA; and 36 Paintings, Harper’s, East Hampton, NY. He was a Hopper Prize finalist and received awards from Direktorenhaus, Berlin, DE and the Kellogg Foundation, New York, NY. Min’s work has been featured in Artnet, Artsy, Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper, Wallpaper* and Frieze.

Ken Gun Min has a forthcoming solo exhibition at the Denver Art Museum in 2025.

Gala Porras-Kim (b. 1984, Bogotá) lives and works in Los Angeles and London. Her work is about the social and political contexts that influence how intangible things, such as sounds, language and history, have been framed through the fields of linguistics, history and conservation. The work considers the way institutions shape inherited codes and forms and conversely, how objects can shape the contexts in which they are placed. She has had solo exhibitions at Leeum, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul, Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Mexico City, The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo (CAAC), Seville, Kadist, Amant Foundation, Gasworks, London, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis (CAMSTL) and Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Los Angeles. Her work has been included in the Whitney Biennial and Ural Industrial Biennial (2019), and Gwangju and Sao Paulo Biennales (2021) and Liverpool Biennial (2023). She was a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University (2019), the artist-in-residence at the Getty Research Institute (2020-22).

Steven J. Yazzie (Diné/Pueblo of Laguna/European ancestry, b. 1970, Newport Beach, California, lives and works in Denver, Colorado) is a member of the Navajo Nation and a veteran of the Gulf War, serving honorably with the United States Marine Corps, 1988-92. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Intermedia at Arizona State University and was named the 2014 outstanding graduate for the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. He also studied at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine, 2006.

Yazzie is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, installation, video/film and community. He is the co-founder of Digital Preserve, a video/film production project prioritizing collaborations with Indigenous communities and arts and cultural institutions. Additionally, Yazzie was a founding member of the indigenous arts collective, Postcommodity, and is the co-founder of the Museum of Walking.

Yazzie’s notable exhibitions include the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; the Museum of Contemporary Native Art; Throughout Arizona: Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona State University Art Museum, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson Museum of Art

Yazzie is a 2021 recipient of the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship and was awarded Community Scholar for the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (in)Equality, University of Denver, Colorado. In 2022, Yazzie was the Native Artist in Residence at the Denver Art Museum.

About the Curator

Leilani Lynch is Associate Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Her recently organized exhibitions include Anna Tsouhlarakis: Indigenous Absurdities and Breakthroughs: A Celebration of Redline at 15. Prior to joining MCA Denver, Leilani most recently served as Curator at The Bass, Miami Beach. There, she curated numerous solo and group exhibitions with artists including Jamilah Sabur, Cara Despain, Naama Tsabar, Mika Rottenberg, Karen Rifas, and Aaron Curry, in addition to co-organizing exhibitions with Adrián Villar Rojas, Haegue Yang, Pascale Marthine Tayou, and Paola Pivi. She holds a BA in Art History from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MAS in Curating from Zurich University of the Arts.

When you purchase a ticket, guess what you get (in addition to this totally awesome experience)? You get free admission to the museum to see the current exhibition. Yeah, that’s right! Admission to the museum is normally $12, so you could say this is a steal. Simply show the front desk your ticket confirmation email to get free entry.

Use promo code MCAMEMBER at checkout for member pricing (and no need to login to your account, just use the discount code). Membership will be verified at check-in. Not a member yet? Memberships start at just $5/month! Learn more here