Hyosung Group | Meeting You Now
A feature on Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung in the 'Meeting You Now' interview corner of Hyosung Group's in-house magazine, March 2016 issue. It covers the background of her 'Naesoong' series, her solo exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art that drew worldwide attention, her communication with the public through SNS, and the planning intent behind the participatory exhibition 'Naesoong Amusement Park.' Text by Han Yul, photos by Kim Han-seok (Day40 Studio).
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Meeting You Now
Text | Han Yul Photos | Kim Han-seok (Day40 Studio)
Korean Painter Kim Hyun Jung
A Bold Challenge That Wins Sympathy
Kim Hyun Jung, the youngest Korean ever to hold a solo exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, drew the world's attention. In Korea she is known as the idol of Korean painting and a star painter named among Dong-A Ilbo's '100 People Who Will Shine Korea in 10 Years.' From her, stretching out toward the world, we learn courage and innovation in trying something new.
The World Takes Notice of the 'Naesoong Series'
Last January, Kim Hyun Jung became the youngest Korean ever to hold a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, New York, under the theme 'This Is Our Future.' Realized through an invitation from the Korean American Immigration History Foundation (KAIHF), the exhibition was held as a solo show. Her signature 'Naesoong series' received a strong response, with visitors showing great interest in the classical and contemporary stories of East and West hidden within naesoong. Art professionals requested traveling exhibitions to other U.S. cities, and gallery officials, including from museums, extended exhibition invitations on the spot.
In 2014 she left a strong impression with her solo exhibition 'Naesoong Olympics.' That same year she was named among Dong-A Ilbo's '100 People Who Will Shine Korea in 10 Years,' drawing attention in the art world as a Korean painter in her twenties. The 'Naesoong series' can be called her confessional self-portrait, seeking freedom from gaze and convention. The figures in her works wear elegant hanbok, yet act in ways entirely mismatched with the attire — riding a motorbike in hanbok, or eating spicy tteokbokki on the street.
"At first my intent was to caricature people whose outside and inside differ, but one day I saw my own reflection in the studio mirror and realized that the person on the canvas was, in fact, me. I realized that the qualities I meant to depict in others were in me too."
Communication, the Power That Brings Change
Kim Hyun Jung is an artist who runs her own Facebook and blog, actively communicating with the public. The reason she is so active in communication is that she wants art, like music, to be enjoyed by the public. Her ultimate dream aligns with this. The reason she looks for universal subjects from our everyday lives, the reason she takes care to add wit to titles and images, the reason she pursues 'pretty things' that ordinary people can enjoy comfortably — all of it is ultimately to draw the public's interest, because she believes that is the force that brings about change.
"In the past I thought the public wasn't interested in art. But what I've come to feel through my activities is that it's not that the public isn't interested — it's that art itself is too profound to become popular easily, and doesn't make enough effort to reach closer to the public on its own. To feel the enjoyment of art, one first needs to understand the artist's life, and such opportunities are actually rare. That's why I show myself to the public and communicate freely."
Innovation Born From New Challenges, Drawing Empathy
These days the artist is immersed in participatory exhibitions. 'Naesoong Amusement Park,' running March 16 to April 12 at Gallery IS in Insa-dong, was planned after deep deliberation on her part.
"I wanted to create an exhibition that could be enjoyed together with children as well as their parents' generation," she explained, adding that she designed it "not just as a place to appreciate works, but as a playground where people can actually experience art." "I wanted to create a play space within adults' daily lives. Even amid a busy routine, enjoying something you love lets you immerse yourself more fully, and through that, express more of your true self. I hope Naesoong Amusement Park becomes an exhibition that offers that kind of experience to many people."
She also wants to create a genre called 'social drawing' — a term of her own coining, combining 'social' and 'drawing.' It means using social networks to let the public and the artist discuss a work together and complete it jointly. This can be seen as an extension of participatory art, and through it, ordinary people gain the precious experience of owning their own work.
Kim Hyun Jung, who vows to keep working so that more people can find interest and enjoyment in Korean painting and Korean traditional culture, is already anticipated to spread from a Korean painting that resonates across generations to one that draws sympathy from around the world.
01 Kim Hyun Jung, ⟨Naesoong: Garden of Naesoong⟩, 234 x 413cm, 2016
02 Kim Hyun Jung, ⟨Naesoong: Dallyeogama(Horse)⟩, 127 x 183cm, 2015