Dong-A Ilbo | ‘Wedding March’ Expressed Through Humor and Parody
Dong-A Ilbo introduced Kim Hyun Jung's solo exhibition 'A Tray of Eggs, Marrying Age,' assessing that works like 'Marriage: Worlds Apart' and 'Marriage: Exhaustion,' which borrow from famous paintings, humorously unpack her worries and stress about marriage. It also introduced the survey corner on visitors' views of marriage set up at the exhibition.
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Kim Hyun Jung's 'A Tray of Eggs, Marrying Age' Exhibition: Fun Paintings Borrowing from Masterpieces ... Also Featuring a Visitor Survey on Views of Marriage
Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung's humorous take on marriage through parodies of famous paintings: 'Marriage: Worlds Apart' (left photo) and 'Marriage: Exhaustion.' Courtesy of Kim Hyun Jung Art Center.
Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung (31), beloved by the public for her humorous paintings, is holding a solo exhibition. 'A Tray of Eggs, Marrying Age,' on view through the 14th at Keumboseong Art Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, grew out of the artist's own personal experience. As she entered her thirties, she unpacked her worries and stress about marriage, including her mother's lament that "my only wish this year is for my daughter to get married."
The works express, simply and directly, her worries about the new identities she takes on after marriage — someone's wife, daughter-in-law, mother. There's not much that's dramatically different from the artist's existing work, which is characterized by breaking stereotypes about women in hanbok. A woman in hanbok resembling the artist, still holding a Starbucks cup and a designer bag, remains the protagonist of the paintings.
The illustration-like paintings that borrow from famous works are fun to enjoy even without much knowledge of art. The artist explained, "I wanted to use the humorous parody of famous paintings to ease the weight that comes with the sensitive subject of marriage. It would be fun if parents and their children of marriageable age visited the exhibition together over the Chuseok holiday."
The exhibition space also features a survey corner looking into visitors' views on marriage. The artist added, "Through this exhibition, I wanted to share the anxiety felt across the generation gap between parents and their children, and remind people that young people's anxiety about marriage isn't something to simply brush off."
Reporter Kim Min, kimmin@donga.com