art blog
Archives for posts with tag: Korea
Travelling to where the tire takes us to
YONG HO JI (b. 1978) is a Korean artist who uses old, recycled tire scraps to make these amazing animal sculptures. ‘Mutant mythos’ is the name of the collection. Love his creative choice of medium. Yonh Ho Ji uses this material because of its flexibility and its close approximation to skin and muscles. It almost look like they are made out of liquorice. The choice of medium itself poses questions about the values of modern society, the car industry and its constant production of new tires which can be seen as a symbol of consumerism. And the title for his mutant series leads the thoughts back to Charles Darwin’s ‘origin of species’ emphasizing the need for living things to adapt in order to survive. His somewhat scary looking sculptures take the shape of sharks, wolves, spiders, deers and buffalos. He is represented by 33 Bond gallery in NYC.
Hyperrealistic paintings
Hyper-realistic paintings by Korean artist KWON KYUNG YUP who uses a technique of transferring photographs onto canvas. This technique was used before it was possible to print photos. All of the young girls and boys in Kwon’s paintings have very sad eyes as well as ‘white bandages’ – a symbol of both self-extinction and healing. The artist uses the eye as an active means to convey emotions. While being depicted realistically, they are felt as unreal beings, looking artificial like animation characters or mannequins. Love that her paintings are so clean and soft. Via yatzer
Touch exhibition @ Kukje gallery, Seoul
the way of the cactus
I love cactusses. They are so fragile and strong at the same time. Here are some amazing cactus paintings by LEE KWANG-HO (b.1967 Korea) from the TOUCH exhibition, 2010 @ Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Korea. Lee Kwang-Ho has attempted to create not only a realistic transfer of the subject onto the canvas but also to investigate the act of painting itself by experimenting with various techniques such as scratching, rubbing of the paintbrush etc. Lee Kwang-ho participated in the Prague Biennale in 2009. Via designboom.
