JEAN DESIGNART l PRESS RELEASE
Jang Design Art, February 16 Sijong Kim 《VIVA LA VIDA》
exhibition period. February 16 (Thu) - March 11 (Sat), 2023
(10:30am – 7pm, closed on Sundays)
exhibition place. Jang Design Art (27, Dosan-daero 67-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)
participating writer. Sijong Kim
Jean Design Art is pleased to present 《VIVA LA VIDA》, a solo exhibition of Sijong Kim from February 16th (Thursday) to March 11th (Saturday). Through the medium of photography, the artist has been working on creating his own imaginary world by pictorially depicting the world of reality and unreality.
In order to interpret the painting in a modern way, the artist attempted to make it look like a painting through experimental shooting and editing methods using the medium of photography. To this end, the artist uses lighting to minimize the contrast and arranges them in a row to eliminate the sense of space of the subject to be photographed, or transforms the subject after photographing to create pictorial photographs.
The artist's STILL LIFE series was inspired by 17th-century Dutch still-life paintings and interpreted in a modern way. The artist completed his work using the theme of Dutch still life painting, "Don't forget death" as a motif. So, if you look closely inside the work, you can find withered flowers and moths that symbolize death hidden here and there. These objects can only be discovered by looking at the work slowly. Upon discovering this, we realize the meaning of the attitude of life that the artist wants to convey to us.
On the other hand, the artist's folktale series expresses the identity of the stranger and the identity of the stranger that the artist felt during his long overseas life from childhood. In order to reduce reality and enhance pictoriality, the artist borrowed the composition of a flat folk painting and expressed the beauty of blank space ignoring the law of perspective. Through these works, we want to create the moment when the audience who appreciates the originality of the painting works believes that the photographic work is a painting work.
An opportunity to think about the true meaning of life in the works of Sijong Kim, who talks about the fragility of life and gratitude for the simple life of today through the reenactment and re-creation of Dutch still life paintings and folk paintings that flourished in different places in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Sijong Kim (b. 1983)
Sijong Kim majored in Journalism and Broadcasting at Yonsei University and obtained a Master's degree from the Royal College of Art in England. While studying in London, he exhibited in Soho, England via Berlin and Paris under the sponsorship of famous British designer Paul Smith. The artist participated in a number of solo exhibitions, including the solo exhibition VIVA LA VIDA at Jang Design Art, and continued to participate in KIAF, Art Gallery Art Festival, and Art Busan. His works are in the collections of Paul Smith (London), DOMOBAAL Gallery (London), and the National Gallery of Modern Art Art Bank.