Outdoor News | Record Solo Exhibition Attendance in Korea: Korean Painter Kim Hyun Jung Opens Up a Young Genre Painting

An elegant hanbok and a bright smile. Neat teeth and a candid way of speaking. Sparkling eyes and a deep voice. This is the impression left by painter Kim Hyun Jung, born in 1988, selected for Forbes' '30 Under 30' list of influential people. We met the idol of the art world who, relying solely on social media and word of mouth, broke the record for the most visitors ever to a solo exhibition in Korea, surpassing renowned domestic exhibitions by the likes of Lee Jung-seob and Andy Warhol.

Q. Nice to meet you. You're also famous by the nickname 'idol of Korean painting.' That comes with quite an impressive career.

A. I'm receiving more love than I deserve. I think the nickname came about because I gained attention at a relatively young age, among painters who usually become well known in their 40s and 50s. Being selected for Forbes was a great honor for me. I was the first ever selected in the fine art category. I think my work is very direct, and the exhibitions are enjoyable, so I seem to be receiving a lot of love. I try hard to actively communicate through SNS. That also means I'm exposed to a lot of malicious comments (laughs). But none of it is entirely wrong — it's just different. I think pain naturally follows a lot of attention, but the pain is the same regardless. Lately I try to take everything as positive feedback.

Q. I suppose it's because you're an artist with a different feel from the existing ones.

A. There really are so many difficult paintings in the world. Just as pop music and classical music are different, my paintings are perhaps more like pop songs. Actually, since I've been drawing since I was very young, I think I could express things more abstractly than other artists. Still, the reason I express things so directly is because I feel I was given the gift of my current life after overcoming depression I once suffered from. To put it more precisely, I try to paint with the mindset of giving back to society the life I was given as a gift. I want to lighten people's emotional burdens with a good laugh through direct paintings.

Q. You can't be separated from hanbok. I hear you've loved hanbok since childhood — is there a special reason you love hanbok and project yourself wearing it into your work?

A. A big reason is that I painted Korean painting from a young age. I truly loved the beautiful colors of hanbok, its rustling texture, and the accessories that go with it. The unique charm of hanbok strongly stimulated my desire for expression. Projecting myself wearing hanbok into my work is a major device for showing 'Naesung Story.' Hanbok is an effective costume for revealing the phenomenon of 'wearing formal, elegant clothing while doing common, everyday things.' I paint the figure nude and then, through collage (for the jeogori) or ink-wash coloring (for the skirt), make it appear translucent — leading the viewer's insight toward the sense that 'you can see right through her,' which is what naesoong is about. The collage technique also let me capture the rustling texture of hanbok, and these ideas stemmed from my longtime love of hanbok. Ultimately, the core function hanbok serves in my work is to 'suggest a shock to conventional wisdom.' The 'Naesung' series began from my personal reflections on people whose outside and inside differ, and I'm now developing it further into a broader shock to the conventional wisdom we all carry. The contrast between elegant, refined hanbok worn only on formal occasions and everyday, somewhat comical behavior — the contrast between traditional costume and modern props — shows that our assumptions can sometimes be uncritical conventional wisdom. It will remain an important element throughout the rest of my career as an artist.

Q. Every single one of your works pops. Audacious, or perhaps bold, is the word. Do you have your own experiences that allowed you to think creatively?

A. I dreamed of being an artist from childhood. My parents weren't artists themselves, but they were very interested in art. We went to museums a lot when I was young. My older sister did art, and younger sisters always want to follow their older sister, right? Naturally I thought, 'I want to be like my sister,' and from age 10 I drew for 13 hours a day. I think my parents' way of raising me had a big influence too. They often asked me about my actions and thoughts, and whenever I came back from a test or an important interview, they'd ask, 'Did you do your best?' Those words taught me to look back on myself and realize how important the effort in the process is, more than the result. This variety of environments made me a creative person, and, as a result, let me paint these pop, audacious paintings. In fact, many visitors to my exhibitions often tell me my work is 'audacious' or 'pops.'

Q. You've held many exhibitions with a huge number of works. There must be a work and an exhibition that stand out most in your memory.

A. Every work is like my own child. It's hard to pick just one, but if I had to, I'm especially attached to 'Narcissus,' the first work I ever produced under the theme of 'Naesung.' As the earliest image, I thought that moment of being absorbed in eyebrow makeup in front of a palm-sized hand mirror was the representative image of naesoong. This work won the Gold Prize at the Korea Women's Art Grand Exhibition, so it holds great personal meaning for me. I'm also very attached to 'Strange or Familiar,' a work that expresses a turning point in my creative work. In the early days, naesoong was meant to caricature people whose outside and inside differ, but while working, I suddenly realized the figure I was painting was, after all, 'myself' — my own true self. The image of two women sitting across from each other holding incompatible game consoles visualizes the moment I looked into my own image, familiar yet strange. From that point on, I began painting 'naesoong' in earnest as self-portraiture.

The exhibition I remember most is <Naesung Amusement Park> from March 2016, which ran for 27 days. Over that period, a total of 67,402 visitors came, the highest attendance ever for a solo exhibition by a Korean artist. When we think of an amusement park, we usually think of a space where children run around, right? I wanted to create a play space, a space of liberation, for adults in their everyday lives, so I planned <Naesung Amusement Park>. It's a 'participatory playground' where visitors experience the exhibition together with the artist, create meaningful memories through events and participatory spaces, and then leave. It was a time to genuinely enjoy <Naesung Amusement Park> by appreciating the works and sharing art activities with the artist, and to think about the meaning of self-realization through play.

Q. Works related to outdoor activities like climbing and cycling also stand out. You must have experienced them directly. What outdoor activities do you enjoy?

A. All my works depict things I've actually experienced myself. Whenever I decide I want to try a certain work or activity, I go through it directly and then take photos. I photograph myself in hanbok and separately in tights, then combine them through collage. I don't want to paint from imagination. Casting, experiencing, and photographing are all difficult and labor-intensive, but various sports have helped me a lot. My biggest concern is always 'what activity should I turn into a work next.' The sport I enjoy is cycling. Since it combines aerobic and anaerobic exercise, it's good for managing physical condition. Actually, since I only paint in the studio, I need exercise, so I often go to nearby neighborhood parks, and I like the familiar exercise equipment found there. I enjoy familiar everyday exercises like sit-ups, waist twists, barbells, and pull-up bars. Talking and exercising with the middle-aged women there, I actually came to think this really is 'the Olympics of everyday life.' In the end, I used this subject matter to create work, and not long ago I was even able to hold a solo exhibition titled <Naesung Olympics>.

Q. There must be many people or situations that influence your work.

A. Very diverse. Since all my works are essentially self-portraits, I get the most inspiration from actual moments in daily life. The work 'Fighting Spirit' came from a moment when I was so absorbed in my work that I skipped meals to the point of nearly collapsing, and then aggressively devoured a hamburger — seeing myself in that moment, I thought, 'this is naesoong,' and made it into a work. Since I was in the middle of painting, I drew myself exactly as I was, picking up french fries with a straw to avoid getting oil on my hands. Because I've translated actual slices of life onto the canvas this way, I think that's why many people find it easy to relate to. Since my subject matter comes comfortably from everyday life, I also get a lot of inspiration and material from communicating with netizens on SNS.

The figures who inspire me are the masters Kim Hong-do and Shin Yun-bok. I often recall my predecessors' works and draw inspiration from them. Among today's artists, Suh Do-ho and Takashi Murakami are figures who suggest directions for my work. Sometimes the film <Factory Girl> inspires me too. <Factory Girl> tells the story of artist Andy Warhol and his muse Edie Sedgwick — as a fellow artist, I related to much of it, and I like it because it makes me curious whether a similar muse might appear for me too.

Q. What kind of artist do you want to remain as?

A. I want to hold exhibitions overseas that can introduce Korea. Ultimately, my wish is to make art that breathes together with the public, art that works alongside young artists. If I have an ultimate goal, it's to contribute to making art settle into everyday life and to building a culture and structure that anyone can enjoy.

Reporter Lee Ji-hye hye@outdoornews.co.kr

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Written by — Reporter Lee Ji-hye (hye@outdoornews.co.kr) / Photojournalist Jung Yeong-chan