News M Korea | Korean Painter Kim Hyun Jung, Reading the Times Through Naesoong

Korean Painter Kim Hyun Jung, Reading the Times Through 'Naesoong'

Painter Kim Hyun Jung, whose Korean painting is grounded in the theory and technique of authentic Oriental painting yet is praised as fresh — and considered rather "audacious" — is emerging as a rising star of the art world. As befits a young painter, she's earned attention as the "idol" of the Korean painting world, steadily communicating with an audience of 90,000 on social media.

Naesoong, born from personal reflection, carries a confessional message through translucent technique

Named to Dong-A Ilbo's list of "100 People Who Will Shine Korea in 10 Years" in 2014, artist Kim Hyun Jung is a talented graduate of Sunhwa Arts Middle and High School and holder of both a bachelor's and master's degree in Oriental Painting from Seoul National University. Her well-known 2014 solo exhibition "Naesoong Olympics," held at Insa Art Center, made her an artist with strong appeal to both the media and art lovers. "Naesoong Story" — shown across 7 solo exhibitions and roughly 40 group exhibitions at home and abroad to date — was conceived from the elegance and secrecy hanbok conveys, and at the same time captures on canvas the contrast between hanbok's inherent image of formality and propriety and relaxed, everyday behavior. Kim Hyun Jung's working process involves first depicting the figure nude, then dressing it in hanbok. The translucent technique is achieved by dyeing thin hanji and then applying a collage method. She renders hanbok this way, translucently, because she wanted to convey the message that "you can see right through her."

The moment that led her to compose images built on this contrast began through encounters with people who judged others arbitrarily out of prejudice. Most of the models in her paintings are Kim Hyun Jung herself, simply because she needed a female model. The work that began this way expanded further into self-portraiture, drawing more and more on her own thoughts, daily life, and experiences — and from this, the "Naesoong Series" was born. As she painted, artist Kim paid attention to the fact that, alongside the personal starting point of "reflection and confession," "prejudice and convention" were everyone's problem. Hanbok, the central motif of her paintings, became a motif signaling "a shock to convention." The strong contrast in her paintings — traditional dress against modern props, or hanbok symbolizing formality and ritual against staged, unexpected behavior — was a stimulus the public hadn't felt in a long time. In particular, this added dramatic effect and enjoyment for the younger generation, contrasting everyday things with our tradition, and offered the older generation a chance to newly understand the younger one.

Drawing the art world's attention at such a young age, in her twenties, artist Kim Hyun Jung throws out a message that can be understood at a glance. The immediacy of that accessibility gives her paintings a popular quality that reaches ordinary people easily.

Wishing her work could be shared in daily life, like music

Like many artists, Kim Hyun Jung too wishes her work could be shared in everyday life, the way music is. She expressed sympathy with artist Suh Do-ho's work "Home Within Home," which reinterprets the hanok, a representative icon of traditional Korean beauty, saying it has served as something of a role model for her. Going forward, holding the ambition to confidently bring the unique beauty of our ink wash painting, hanbok, and hanji onto the world stage, artist Kim Hyun Jung has shown interest in the way Takashi Murakami, known for his collaborations with luxury Japanese brands, achieved both commercial success and popular appeal in his art. It's likely a reflection of her will to leave behind work that anyone, anywhere in ordinary life, can easily enjoy.

The public will naturally be curious who influenced this young artist's style. She answered that the influence of her advisor, Professor Shin Ha-soon, Vice Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University, was significant. She introduced the background of her attachment to figure painting, shaped by her teacher's style of recording small, everyday stories as if keeping a diary every single day, and by the influence she received under his guidance.

Though she still has far more road ahead as an artist, the exhibition that remains most memorable to her so far is her solo exhibition of June 2014, which opened the floodgates of public attention. Over the ten-day run, a total of 23,887 visitors came through the doors, and she personally displayed a large number of works, including her first ventures into new fields such as sculpture, media art, and 3D figures — an impressive milestone for a Korean-painting artist at such a young age.

Artist Kim Hyun Jung currently receives many requests to lecture at universities and companies. On January 13, 2016, she is scheduled to hold an exhibition and lecture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA. She is also planning a solo exhibition under the theme "Naesoong Amusement Park," occupying the entire building of Gallery IS in Insadong from March 15 to April 14, 2016. "Naesoong Amusement Park" expresses moments of play in everyday life, and will show the playful sensibility of today's young generation.