April 27–August 26, 2012
Exhibition rooms 3 and 4
396 Mannyeon-dong (#99 Dunsandearo)
Seo-gu, Daejeon, South Korea
T 042 611 9805
97moderato [at] hanmail.net
Press opening & exhibition press conference
April 26, 2012, 10:30am
Exhibition hall
Sound art performance
May 3, 2012, 7pm
Museum lobby
Media installation by Hyun-wook Kang and sound art performance with 3D visuals
Artist performance & artist talk
May 26, 3pm
June 23, 3pm
Exhibition hall
A satire of social reality through witty, artistic experimentation, this future-oriented exhibition shows the future directions to be taken by the Ungno Lee Museum.
Project L is an exhibition intended to perpetuate the experimental spirit of Goam Ungno Lee (the name of the project derives from the “L” of Ungno Lee).
Hello! Media: symbolic expression of Goam and media art
In an effort to discover new artists, the Ungno Lee Museum is hosting an exhibition by Hyun-wook Kang, a media and installation artist actively working in Europe. Through this exhibition, we want to taker a closer look at the art worlds of Ungno Lee and Hyun-wook Kang. Both artists never shied away from experimentation as they sought to criticize the massive power and violence of the capitalistic society that surrounded them both.
At a glance Goam’s work, which consists of mainly of soomuk (a painting genre involving the use of ink and brush that is thought to be the representative traditional Asian art), and the installation and video work by Hyun-wook Kang don’t have anything in common. However, they come together due to the fact both artists conducted diverse experiments to comment on society from different perspectives; indeed, their criticisms of society are expressed in roundabout and witty ways. Thanks to their satirical criticism of reality, viewers will discover hidden meanings in their art.
The experimental spirit of Hyun-wook Kang
The emerging artist Hyun-wook Kang studied at Le Fresnoy – National Studio for the Contemporary Arts, which is a leading French contemporary media art educational institution. Through media, installation, photography, and drawing, he expresses his emotions. When looking carefully, we can feel the artist’s vantage point of looking at the world up close and yet from a contemplative distance. By accepting the loneliness and vulnerability he felt as an outsider while studying in France, he was able to see the truth about the massive social structure. He continues to make works that translate the traumas he experienced while feeling burdened by a nameless sense of oppression and massive power. Through satire and humor, this artist was able to turn such potentially destructive feelings into beautiful images of pure wit. His works is aimed at healing him and, at the same time, providing viewers with the opportunity to meditate upon themselves and their relationship to the massive social structure.
Hyun-wook Kang biography
Born in 1973, Hyun-wook Kang graduated from Mokwon Universty, where he studied painting, École Nationale Supérieure d’art de Limoges – Aubusson (2004–2007), and Le Fresnoy – National Studio for the Contemporary Arts (2007–2009) in Lille. He mainly works in Europe, and his potential has been noted for some time. Focusing on social issues, such as racism, human disasters, humanity, and technology, he wittily and light-heartedly expresses the malady of human society from the perspective of communication. By dealing with the issue of communication using high-tech media, he expresses the current status of Korea quite appropriately.
