Artist Joon KIM, on his private exhibition at Waterfall Mansion in New York
2016-06-20 l Hit 3000
Interview
Artist Joon KIM, on his private exhibition at Waterfall Mansion in New York
 Installation artist Joon Kim is holding a private exhibition titled ‘Forest’ in New York until this coming July 30th. |
“Doesn’t the visually separated and reassembled human body seem like a tree?”
Contemporary art gallery Waterfall Mansion, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York, USA, is hosting installation artist Joon Kim’s private exhibition, ‘Forest,’ with Exclusive Curator Kate Shin, and it is receiving attention from American art-lovers.
Artist Joon Kim, who visually breaks apart, recombines, and transforms the human body to create experimental work, is showing his representative work in the exhibition from June 15th to July 30th.
The artist explained, “This exhibition is an extension of the exhibition ‘Somebody’ held in Seoul in May of last year. Back then, I exhibited work that depicts broken up and reassembled human bodies, which feel like trees. That is why I titled this exhibition ‘Forest’.”
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The artist continues to create work about separating and recombining human body parts, in order to make the human body seem like certain materials.
“Sometimes, I see human bodies as mere materials without souls. Therefore, I dismantled human bodies like certain objects and added different material elements, like tattoos. Through the process, my work questions the value of each other’s lives and the definition of the soul.”
“Sometimes, I see human bodies as mere materials without souls. Therefore, I dismantled human bodies like certain objects and added different material elements, like tattoos. Through the process, my work questions the value of each other’s lives and the definition of the soul.”
Art-lovers’ reactions from abroad to artist Joon Kim’s work have been very enthusiastic. They focus on the unique images of his work. Waterfall Mansion, which organized the exhibition, also commented, “Artist Joon Kim’s work has very unique and colorful images. It makes viewers look back on one’s identity and values.”
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The artist is exhibiting his work abroad continuously and explained the meaning of overseas exhibitions by saying, “It is very interesting, since I can get a variety of feedback.”
“I open my exhibition in New York and get back to Seoul. And then, I visit Vallauris in France to open my solo exhibition. Vallauris is the place where Picasso baked pottery in his later years. I will hold my private exhibition with my digital pottery work there. After that, this coming fall, my solo exhibition will be at The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography in Moscow, Russia. Overseas exhibitions are exciting, since I can hear a variety of opinions that cannot be heard when I open exhibitions in Korea.”
“I open my exhibition in New York and get back to Seoul. And then, I visit Vallauris in France to open my solo exhibition. Vallauris is the place where Picasso baked pottery in his later years. I will hold my private exhibition with my digital pottery work there. After that, this coming fall, my solo exhibition will be at The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography in Moscow, Russia. Overseas exhibitions are exciting, since I can hear a variety of opinions that cannot be heard when I open exhibitions in Korea.”
 she-tea pot, 2016, C-print, 120x75cm |
Artist Joon Kim will continue to create photographs that show dismantled and recombined human bodies. At the same time, he will experiment in more varied ways than ever before.
“If I look back on my work and my process, I realize that the content is similar, but my approach to the work has changed little by little. I will keep telling stories through a variety of experiments. I believe I can tell stories naturally, if I focus carefully on it.”
“If I look back on my work and my process, I realize that the content is similar, but my approach to the work has changed little by little. I will keep telling stories through a variety of experiments. I believe I can tell stories naturally, if I focus carefully on it.”
Written by Hyo-won Kim, a journalist at Sportsseoul
Photographed by artist Joon KIM
2016. 6. 24 ⓒKorean Artist Project
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