Perhaps Sunny Days

In this historical moment, as South Korea takes on the mantle of a “super-aged society,” Perhaps Sunny Days offers a timely touch of warmth to our consideration of the twilight years, establishing points of sympathetic connection between generations.  

Works by Alan Belcher, Louise Bourgeois, Cheryle St. Onge, Yeondoo Jung, Ye-eun Min, Robert Therrien, The Caretaker & Ivan Seal, Davis Birks, Chiharu Shiota, and Kyungwoo Chun cover a diverse range of media including painting, photography, video and installation.

As the average human life expectancy has increased over time, so too has the percentage of each lifespan spent in old age. In addition to physical decline, aging brings unexpected changes to all aspects of our lives. As the burden of eldercare snowballs for the low-birthrate generation, we are seeing the empathy and solidarity that once sustained our communities begin to disintegrate at an alarming rate. All the more vital, then, that we not dismiss aging as some simple misfortune to be avoided; indeed, here we seek to highlight those singular moments that can make our “golden years” the sunniest of our lives.

The ten artists who make up this exhibition focus their artistic gazes on the moments of extreme solitude that we face as we age, especially in the midst of cognitive decline. Dismantling the continuity of our identity and memory, dementia gradually dissolves our understanding of the objects and sensations around us until finally, we are left in a state of total isolation, lost and alone before the boundless expanse of our inner world. As such, the works in this exhibition approach cognitive decline as something more than simple illness; here, it is a metaphor for exploring the remotest corners of one’s soul. In recognizing that we, too, may find ourselves on this same journey someday, and empathizing with the innate fragility of all life, the luminous testaments to wit and life woven together by these works of art become a source of immense comfort. And along the way, we also discover the delicacy and dignity of self and other alike.

Through the warm intersection of countless perspectives facilitated by this exhibition, we hope to sketch the “sunny days” ahead—days filled with hope and optimism even amidst the challenges of our shared reality.

After all, each moment we live in connection with one another is, perhaps, a sunny day in its own right.