Women’s News | Artist Kim Hyun Jung’s ‘Naesoong Amusement Park’ Draws 67,000 Visitors
Women's News reported that more than 67,000 visitors attended the solo exhibition 'Naesoong Amusement Park' by artist Kim Hyun Jung, known as an 'idol of Korean painting.' Held at Gallery IS in Insa-dong from March 16 to April 11, the exhibition set a rare box-office record for a domestic solo exhibition, and its audience-participation programs — including coloring and a photo studio — were also well received.
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More than 67,000 visitors have attended the solo exhibition of Kim Hyun Jung (pictured), the artist known as the 'idol of Korean painting.'
According to Kim Hyun Jung's exhibition team for 'Naesoong Amusement Park,' her 10th solo exhibition, held over 27 days from March 16 to April 11 at Gallery IS in Jongno-gu, Insa-dong, Seoul, it drew a cumulative 67,402 visitors, averaging 2,496 per day.
It is highly unusual for a domestic artist's solo exhibition to draw nearly 70,000 visitors. 'Naesoong Amusement Park' surpassed 10,000 cumulative visitors just four days after opening, on March 19, and broke 50,000 by April 4, 20 days in.
'Naesoong Amusement Park' is the latest installment in Kim's 'Naesoong series,' which she has developed around 'Naesoong' — the awareness of others' gaze and the mutual reactions it produces. The artist said, "Everything that helps release stress and that I can enjoy is, to me, an amusement park. In particular, isn't a moment when you don't have to worry about others' gaze the truest amusement park? And the moment empathy forms between myself and others, that place, wherever it may be, can become an amusement park."
Since 2013, Kim has continued solo and group exhibitions themed on 'Naesoong,' including 'Naesoong Story,' 'Naesoong Olympics,' and 'Naesoong Winter Story.' In this exhibition, she depicted the 'Naesoong woman' enjoying various exercise equipment at a neighborhood amusement park in her own distinctive way. The Naesoong woman is shown wearing an elegant hanbok imbued with dignity and mystery, while behaving in an unceremonious, ironic manner.
The image of the Naesoong woman, dressed in hanbok while engaging in 'unexpected behavior,' fully carries the satire and humor of traditional Korean painting. Kim works by first drawing the figure nude, then painting over it with a semi-transparent hanbok. The hanbok carries the message that 'it's hidden, yet the inside is clearly visible,' and this semi-transparency is expressed by borrowing the collage technique of Western painting, adding a thin layer of dyed hanji paper to the canvas.
In particular, the artist designed this exhibition as a 'participatory exhibition' that audiences could enjoy together. Rather than simply appreciating works hung on the wall, visitors could take part in various activities, turning the exhibition space itself into 'a playground for the audience.'
Various hands-on programs were prepared, including 'Naesoong Charging Station,' where visitors could color postcards to relieve stress; 'Naesoong Photo Studio,' where visitors could take photos against backdrops of works from Naesoong Amusement Park; and 'Guaranteed-Win Lottery (a nostalgic drawing booth),' where for just 1,000 won visitors could receive a postcard-frame catalog of Naesoong series images.