Gyeonggi Shinmun | Even Snow White in Hanbok Puts On a False Front?
Gyeonggi Shinmun reported that Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung's exhibition 'Naesoong' would run through September 26 at Shinsegae Gallery Incheon. Introducing the artist's style as a '21st-century genre painting' that wittily combines tradition and modernity, the article highlighted works such as 'Acha,' which satirizes SNS vanity, and '#Snow White-gram.'
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Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung's exhibition 'Naesoong' runs through the 26th at Shinsegae Gallery Incheon.
Artist Kim Hyun Jung wittily combines the traditional and the contemporary. By contrasting a woman in elegant hanbok behaving in unrefined, unceremonious ways with props laden with contemporary references, she stages humorous scenes, and her works are praised as a 21st-century genre painting.
Kim first paints the figure nude, then applies her own dyed hanji paper to the upper garment to express the texture of hanbok, while rendering the skirt semi-transparent with ink-and-color technique to reveal the line of the body beneath. Through these expressions of visibility, she conveys both confessing a confined self and a process of self-discovery.
Several witty works stand out. 'Acha' captures the flustered moment when an elegantly dressed woman's shoe suddenly slips off while walking. The exhibition also features '#Snow White-gram' and 'Insta-ya, Insta-ya, who's the fairest of them all?,' both reflecting the reality of SNS.
Through the figures of Snow White, who posts photos as if traveling somewhere scenic while actually living in a room infested with cockroaches, and the witch, jealous of this and getting ready to travel herself, viewers can glimpse the reality of contemporary SNS users.
Kim Hyun Jung's 'Naesoong series,' as seen through this exhibition, conveys a cheerful insight into one's true self and life, fully revealing the artist's philosophy of dreaming of a society where art breathes within everyday life.
An exhibition official said, "The 'Naesoong' exhibition offers viewers who consider the threshold of art too high a chance to appreciate the work easily and enjoyably, and will convey positive energy about life." (Inquiries: 032-430-1158)