Money Today | Do You Know This Painting?…The Perspective of ‘Korean Painting Idol’ Kim Hyun Jung
Money Today interviewed artist Kim Hyun Jung, known as the 'Korean painting idol,' introducing her background as a graduate of Seoul National University's Department of Oriental Painting and its graduate school, the background behind her popularity through the 'Naesoong' series, and the intent behind her representative work 'Acha (我差) Ramyeon.' The article compares the 67,402 visitors to her solo exhibition 'Naesoong Amusement Park' with Do Ho Suh's solo exhibition, and also conveys the artist's attitude of not readily handing over her works to collectors.
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[Interview] 'Korean Painting Idol' Kim Hyun Jung Rides a Wave of Popularity with 'Naesoong'
Kim Hyun Jung's Korean painting work 'Acha (我差) Ramyeon.' /Photo courtesy of Kim Hyun Jung
"If a Korean expresses something with Korean sensibility, isn't that Korean painting?"
Kim Hyun Jung (28, female), known as the 'idol of Korean painting,' defined 'Korean painting' this clearly and simply. Praised for depicting a new genre painting of modern society, Kim Hyun Jung has built up her popularity through exhibitions themed on 'Naesoong.'
Born in Seoul in 1988, Kim Hyun Jung graduated from Sun Hwa Arts Middle and High School before graduating from Seoul National University's Department of Oriental Painting and its graduate school. She has made her work known through various domestic and international exhibitions, including her 2014 solo exhibition 'Naesoong Olympics,' which drew the largest audience since the opening of the Gana Insa Art Center.
'Acha (我差) Ramyeon,' which spread through social media and became familiar to the public, is her work. It depicts a woman in hanbok eating instant noodles heated in a kettle-pot, with a luxury bag and a cup of coffee from a famous franchise café nearby. The humorous painting, capturing the unguarded, honest daily lives of women her age, struck a chord with viewers.
"I really love instant noodles. But when I'm chatting with friends outside, I find myself heading to a café. A premium pack of ramyeon costs about 1,500 won, but coffee is much more expensive. That struck me as ironic."
The title of this painting, depicting the flustered moment of coffee spilling over a bag, combines the Chinese characters 我 (I) and 差 (lacking/falling short). It is also explained as a painting acknowledging Kim Hyun Jung's own 'shortcomings.'
Artist Kim Hyun Jung.
Kim Hyun Jung works by first drawing the figure nude, then painting over it with a semi-transparent hanbok. In her work, the hanbok carries the message of 'Naesoong' — 'hidden, yet the inside is clearly visible.'
This bold female Korean painter, who dreams of being a 'god of exhibitions,' revealed that about 67,402 visitors came to her recent solo exhibition 'Naesoong Amusement Park,' held at Gallery IS in Insa-dong. The exhibition ran for a total of 27 days through April 11, averaging about 2,496 visitors per day.
Kim Hyun Jung's exhibition team counted the number of visitors one by one and even went through a notarization process with a lawyer to quantify her 'popularity.' They then compared this statistic to that of Do Ho Suh, a 54-year-old artist ranked among Korea's leading contemporary artists of the same era. According to Kim Hyun Jung, installation artist Do Ho Suh's 2012 solo exhibition 'Home Within Home' at the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, drew more than 100,000 visitors over 64 days, averaging about 1,581 visitors per day. Though a simple comparison, it gives a sense of the public attention concentrated on Kim Hyun Jung.
Her paintings carry humor, but her perspective on her work is serious. Describing her paintings as her 'children,' she is not one to easily hand her works over to collectors.
"I think of my paintings as my 'babies.' As a mother, I think carefully about how my 'babies' will be shown and cared for — that kind of consideration is part of my affection for my work. I don't sell a piece unless I've met the prospective collector in person. My 'babies' might end up being neglected somewhere."