70 Years After the Korean War Armistice, Looking Back at the DMZ: “DMZ Exhibition: CHECKPOINT” Part 2.. and More
Yonkang Gallery
70 Years After the Korean War Armistice, Looking Back at the DMZ: “DMZ Exhibition: CHECKPOINT” Part 2
18 artists, including Kim Westfall, Suh Yongsun, Minouk Lim, and ikkibawiKrrr, will participate in the exhibition DMZ Exhibition: CHECKPOINT Part 2. It will be held from October 6 to November 5. Following Part 1 of the exhibition in Paju (08.31 – 09.23, 2023), Part 2 will be held at Yeoncheon, utilizing the Yonkang Gallery in the civilian-controlled area and three Gyeongwon Line stations (Sinmang-ri Station, Daegwang-ri Station, Sintanri Station). For visitors with limited mobility, a tour bus will depart from Art Sonje center every Saturday from October 14 to November 4, and online registration will be accepted until three days before departure.
The exhibition marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War and aims to evoke a sense of place, history, and division in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) created during this period. Inaccessible to the public, the DMZ, a space for soldiers, has become home to a variety of plants and animals. The exhibition seeks to reflect on this sense of place. Rather than directly addressing social phenomena or the trauma of war, the participating artists shed light on the place from an artistic perspective, looking at the space unfamiliarly or abstractly.
At Yonkang Gallery, works by multiple artists are displayed across the first and second floors of the gallery and the nearby Imjin River Peace Wetland. While at the three stations of the Gyeongwon Line, one artist’s work is installed at each station.
Post Territory Ujeongguk
Cultural Appropriation, Migration, and the Politics of ‘Miss Kim Lilac’: Jisoo Chung’s Solo Exhibition “Miss Kim Lilac”
Miss Kim Lilac, a solo exhibition by Jisoo Chung (b. 1990), will be on view from October 6 to 29 at the Post Territory Ujeongguk.
Chung is based in Seoul and Los Angeles, and her work focuses on the uncomfortable place caused by digital language and non-native English. Her work is based on multimedia with humor derived from linguistic errors such as autocorrect and mistranslation.
The exhibition starts with a flowering tree called ‘Miss Kim Lilac.’ Miss Kim Lilac was collected by botanist Elwin M. Meader from Korea and brought to the United States. It was named ‘Miss Kim Lilac’ by Meader. The plant gained attention in the international flower market and was reimported back to Korea.
The artist begins to explore the relationship between name and object, finding that the evolution of the name of this flowering plant is linked to the intersection of political and cultural power dynamics in Korea and the United States, cultural appropriation, and migrant identity. The exhibition features a video work that documents the history of Miss Kim Lilac and photographs of it. Next to the chairs where viewers sit to watch the video, photographs of Miss Kim Lilac move on a conveyor belt.
ONSU GONG-GAN
Beyond the Glass Cases: Lim Heejae’s Solo Exhibition “Nesting”
Lim Heejae’s (b. 1993) solo exhibition Nesting will be on view at ONSU GONG-GAN from October 5 to 22.
Lim uses painting to capture images of nature that are transformed by frames and structures. The artist works with themes such as glass and stuffed animals in glass cases, creating a sense of speed and movement on a canvas.
In this exhibition, the artist presents works that actively experiment with glass and frames. The scenes of stuffed animals behind the glass are captured in the paintings, which are further transformed by the angle and amount of light reflecting off the cabinet.
The scenes in the paintings do not have clear figures, but rather a sense of dynamic movement based on bold brushstrokes. Also, the artist has also been experimenting with paintings that directly change the frame of the painting, such as installations that include paintings inside wooden cabinets.
