Kee-ho Yuen received a B.A. from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1983 and an M.F.A. in Metalsmithing and Jewelry from The University of Iowa (UI), US in 1989. He is currently a Professor and the Coordinator of the UI Jewelry and Metal Arts program.
Kee-ho looks at his work as an evolving collage of both the philosophy and the sensibility of the East and West. His work is an aesthetic investigation as well as a quest to whimsically comment on human emotions and interactions. Kee-ho employs an eclectic use of contemporary and traditional technologies and materials, ranging from advanced 3-D computer modeling to traditional fabrications and enameling.
Work by Kee-ho has been acquired by the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom; the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC; the Museum of Arts and Design (formerly American Craft Museum), New York, NY; the Museum of Art, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA; the Cedar Rapids Museum, Cedar Rapids, IA; the Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; the Waterloo Museum, Waterloo, IA as well as other institutions. Collectors of his work include Rosanne Raab, New York, NY and Sonny Kamm, Los Angeles, CA. His national and international invitational group and solo exhibitions include: the Goldsmith Hall, London, England; Museum Für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany; Galerie Pierre, Taichung, Taiwan; Pionine Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan; Tunghai University Art Gallery, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan; Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea; the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC; the Museum of Arts and Design, Fortunoff, and Aaron Faber Gallery, New York, NY; the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington; the Museum of Art, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, and the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, TN.
Publication of Kee-ho's work can be found at The Compendium Finale of Contemporary Jewellery Makers, Darling Publications, Cologne & New York, 2009; 500 Metal Vessels published by Lark Books, 2007; The Metalsmith's Books of Boxes and Lockets by Tim McCreight; Contemporary Silver: Commissioning, Designing, Collecting by Benton Seymour Rabinovitch and Helen Clifford; Ornament, Dec. 2006 issue; Metalsmith, "Exhibition in Print" 2005 issue, and Silver Magazine, July/August 2005 issue.
Kee-ho has currated many international and national exhibitions, such as the "Metals Iowa: Making Connections" at the Russian State Pedagogical University (RSPU), College of Art, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2008; "The Second Iowa Metals Guild Exhibition: a riveting experience", Figge Museum of Art in Davenport, Iowa, 2009; "The third Iowa Metal Guild Exhibition", the LUX Center for the Arts, Lincoln, NE. and the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; "International Metal Artists Invitational Exhibition" at the Kepco Plaza Gallery in Seoul, Korea, 2004; "International Jewelry and Metalsmithing Invitational" at the University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa city, IA, 2002; and "Seven British Silversmiths" at the Gallery of Art at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, 1997.
