Kim Hyun Jung x JYP Soul Cup

A Naesoong girl appeared in the corner of a café — not on canvas, but on a screen, brushed by passing light. In August 2019, she became the subject of a fifth art collaboration at Soul Cup, the café on the first floor of JYP’s new headquarters building. The long-running Naesoong Story series filled the walls and stage displays in a digital exhibition, alongside a range of art products. In preparing the exhibition, the artist discussed several concepts with JYP, weighing three directions — an ‘Amusement Park’ where playful colors collided with Soul Cup’s own vivid palette, an ‘Organic Garden’ blending the understated tones of hanji with wood interiors, and a season-driven ‘Harmony of Seasons’ — before settling on the first. Hearing that some 700 people visited over opening weekend, the artist was struck anew by how her paintings had crossed beyond the gallery wall into the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee.