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Korean artist Kim Hyun-Jung who aims 'coyness coordinating with society, art keeping in tune with the public' is introduced to domestic and foreign media by active work.

  • [Lady Gyeonghyang] Aug. Issue| Artist Introduction

    2024 / 03 / 29 / 17:10:09552 view
    [Lady Gyeonghyang] Aug. Issue| Artist Introduction


    [Lady Gyeonghyang] Aug. Issue| Artist Introduction

    Korean painting ,there can be the 'hot'

     

     

     

      

    HELLO, I AM KOREAN OREIANTAL PAINTER, KIM HYUN JUNG

     

    LADY KHAN MAGAZINE  Interview and Filming Sketch in August 2013

     

    We had a great interview time with newshawk Lee yu jin

     

    Thanks for good words and pretty pictures


     

    If you click a web site you can see more detail article

     

    http://lady.khan.co.kr/khlady.html?mode=view&code=4&artid=201307291749291&pt=nv

      














     

    Copyright 2014 By Kim hyun jung All Pictures Cannot be copied  without permission.


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  • [SEOUL MAGAZINE-ENGLISH ber.] 'The Importance of Pretense'

    2024 / 03 / 29 / 17:10:09658 view
    [SEOUL MAGAZINE-ENGLISH ber.] 'The Importance of Pretense'


    'The Importance of Pretense'

     

     

     [SEOUL MAGAZINE ENGLISH ber. ] 2013_09 'The Importance of Pretense' 

     

     Artist Kim Hyun-jung's paintings address a key part of Korean culture  

     

     

     

    HELLO, I AM KOREAN OREIANTAL PAINTER, KIM HYUN JUNG

     

    SEOUL MAGAZINE ENGLISH ber. Interview and Filming Sketch in September 2013

     

    The magazine is published by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and (Corporation)Seoul Selection.

     

    British journalist and American editor monthly magazine to introduce foreigners to every corner of the city.

     

    The main tourist information center in Seoul, palaces, hotels, airports, etc. where a lot of foreign travel and International Cultural Center,

     

     Korea Tourism Organization is distributed for free, etc. Air overseas offices. Every month, 25 days

     

    SEOUL MAGAZINE ENGLISH ber. Trevel information for visitors to seoul and Living Information for foreign residents, and also

     

    contains a variety of events and concert information. 

     

    If you click a web site you can see more detail article 

     www.seoulselection.com 

     

     

    We had a great interview time with newshawk Go Yeon Gyeong and Ben Jackson

     

    Thanks for good words and pretty pictures  RAUM Studio




    What is it about Kim Hyun-jungs Feign series that has got Koreans talking? To the uninitiated observer, this is a series of watercolors showing young women (or one young woman?) in a variety of everyday scenes played out all over contemporary Korea: pondering a large shoe collection, eating instant noodles cooked on a portable gas stove, inline skating, holding a pampered-looking dog on a leash, absorbed in phone messaging while sitting on the toilet. Perhaps it is the way the women are all clad, with seeming incongruity, in hanbok, the traditional Korean dress normally reserved or ceremonial occasions. Or the fact theme running through the works, a phenomenon known as naesung 내숭-a noun-in Korean and translated by Kim using the verb feign? Whatever it is, this Seoul National University graduate student has already done what many of her fellow artists spend much longer trying to achieve: the creation of ripples beyond the boundaries of the art world itself. 

     

     Keeping up appearances

     

    Naesung is one of those words that neatly pins down a particular type of behavior in Korean society but lacks a direct English equivalent. Ive thought about how to translate naesung into English, says Kim. There are various related expressions, like coy,’ ‘prudishness, or pretending to be innocent. In my works, naesung indicates any behavior that involves putting on an outer appearance different to whats in your mind in order to conform to the expectations and conventional judgments of others. So I chose to use the English word feign to express the concept of naesung. I dont think its a phenomenon particular to Korea; rather, its something that can be seen universally, wherever people live together, I think it begins with the desire to be acknowledged by others-thats an almost instinctive quality of people as social beings. Of course, its natural that the naesung in my works has a particular Korean quality, because Im Korean and I use Korean motifs and techniques.

     Viewers unfamiliar with Kim may not realize that the woman who appears in each picture in the Feign series is, in fact, the artist herself. Though it was not originally her intention, she says, to create a series of self-portraits, it turned out that she was the most easily available model. It occurred to me that I live with as many prejudices as anybody else and that these are, in some ways, instinctive and universal things, she says. From then on, I started painting self-portraits based on my own thoughts, daily life, and experiences.

     But is naesung confined to only half the population? Not necessarily. Recently, lots of people have been asking me to deal with naesung on the part of men, says Kim. Im thinking about it, but I dont feel confident to depict it because Ive never experienced life as a man. But its something Id like to try when Im a bit older and have a broader perspective.

     

     The significance of hanbok

     

     Like naesung, hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) is something associated much more with women than men, with the exception of grooms during the traditional part of Korean weddings. While the hanbok has, at times, been used as a source of erotic symbolism, Kim uses it in her works because of the contemporary connotations it has acquired. Today, hanbok are generally worn for ceremonies and regarded as symbols of dignity and refinement. My paintings show these symbols of dignity and class being worn for everyday activities: they are a key motif for presenting such contrasts.

     

    Diverse reactions

     

     So how are viewers to interpret the works in Kims Feign series? Has she managed to avoid the wrath of Koreas notoriously judgmental online critics? Not entirely, it appears. The reactions of netizens have been really varied, she says. While some have praised the works, calling them beautiful, others have been sharply critical. Comments that left a particular impressions on me were those that claimed my work Oops [which shows a young woman in a hanbok squatting on the floor and eating instant noodles cooked on a portable stove while gazing at a Louis Vuitton handbag and disposable Starbucks coffee cup on the floor next to her] lampoons contemporary women. I agree that there is room for it to be interpreted that way, but in fact I had hardly any intention of making a social issue out of and satirizing the tendency of young women toward extravagant consumption. Interest in nice shoes, expensive bags, and brand-name coffee is a reference to myself; I think it is one manifestation of naesung, resulting from an awareness of the opinions and judgments of others. If you look at all of my works, youll see that only a few of them contain luxury items. Of course, if you look at my critical assessment of myself from a wider perspective, it may be possible to generalize it as satire. Since the works are now out of my hands and in the public realm, I leave it entirely up to viewers to appreciate, enjoy, and judge them.

     

     International interpretations 

     

     Kim has also exhibited her works in Germany and Hong Kong, places where the unfamiliarity of Korean culture produced yet more different reactions to her works. In Germany, I needed to explain to people what hanbok, paper and ink, and naesung were; that was how unfamiliar Korean culture and painting was to them. But seeing them taking interest in and enjoying my works despite such unfamiliarity have me a glimpse of how Korean paintings could strike a chord with the rest of the world. Id like to develop my concept of naesung into something with more universal resonance and hold a solo exhibition overseas later on.

     Currently enjoying the freedom to study while creating works and giving exhibitions, Kim has plans to start expressing naesung through a new medium: installation art. If I make it into something directly visible and tangible, I think viewers will be able to accept the essence of naesung more closely and intuitively. If she has her way, we may soon be finding installations of her works in places such as the entrances to department stores, library toilets, and vets surgeries. Having already achieved a degree of success at the start of her career, Kim clearly had much more to offer.



     





     

     

     

     

    Copyright 2014 By Kim hyunjung All Pictures Cannot be copied  without permission.

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  • [Lady Gyeonghyang] Aug. Issue| Artist Introduction

    2024 / 03 / 29 / 17:10:09527 view
    [Lady Gyeonghyang]   Aug. Issue| Artist Introduction

    [Lady Gyeonghyang]

    Aug. Issue| Artist Introduction


     











    Copyright 2014 By Kim hyun jung All Pictures Cannot be copied  without permission


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  • [YTN SCIENCE] Featured Interview, Kim Dong-ryul’s Sesang Mansa, Episode 17, "Meet an Oriental artist, Kim, Hyun-jung!"

    2024 / 03 / 29 / 17:10:09491 view
    [YTN SCIENCE] Featured Interview, Kim Dong-ryul’s  Sesang Mansa, Episode 17,

    [YTN]

    Featured Interview, Kim Dong-ryul’s

    Sesang Mansa, Episode 17, "Meet an Oriental artist, Kim, Hyun-jung!"













    Copyright ⓒ 2015 By 김현정 All Pictures Cannot be copied  without permission.

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  • [Lady Gyeonghyang] Jul. Issue| Featured Artist Interview

    2024 / 03 / 29 / 17:10:09490 view
    [Lady Gyeonghyang] Jul. Issue| Featured Artist Interview
    [Lady Gyeonghyang] Jul. Issue| Featured Artist Interview






    When people think about Hanbok, a traditional Korean outfit, they have certain expectations. Hyunjung Kim deliberately defies those expectations by painting a picture that shows Hanbok in an unstressed everyday-life manner. Responsible for an ironically even lovelier look is probably the designer's own persona, a modern Korean woman who enjoys shopping and can't live without her phone. Eloquence met the young, witty artist for an insightful chat.

     

     

    Hanbok elements play a significant role in your work. How did that come about?

      The most important function of the hanbok is to highlight 'the impact of common expectations'. The series Feign started with my personal thoughts about false assumptions and people who act differently on the inside and the outside, and I'm slowly developing that into a more personal confession and a general statement undermining stereotypes. The works depict delicate garments that are usually worn to festive occasions, in rather atypical, often humorous situations, as well as in combination with modern items that take away the entitlement to judge. These contrasts are, of course, present in other outfits, but I really do pattern and accessories of the Korean hanbok. Those unique attributes are more than enough to spark my expressiveness as an artist.

     

     

    Your paintings often depict womens two-sideness. Is there something being feigned there?

      If you look up the word feign it will say something like, acting shy on the outside, but really being deceptive. But, as you can see in your question, most people will naturally associate the word feign with the picture of a woman, even though it is, of course free of gender. While I do agree that it is an expression that in our society suits a woman better than a man, I dont think that it is an exclusively female characteristic. I think that it is a rather common social urge of people to gain confirmation from one another and hide personal weaknesses that result in discordance;. Sometimes it appears almost instinctively, but I also believe that people will sacrifice part of their own selves, their own identities for social convenience. While I planned Feign as an expression of dissatisfaction with pretentious people and a desire for pictorial expression, it has now become a psychological and philosophical topic for me.

     

     

    The pieces that show nude body parts underneath the hanbok are particularly memorable. They could be interpreted sexually.

      I often think that women have to hide their inherent desires and true nature more than men. As mentioned before, I think that pretention is more connected to women and frankly, I think that it is reality. Theres a part of me that chose to draw women because Ive experienced such things first-hand. However, the nudity is there to express that people wear clothes only to adorn themselves, to show that they have a clean core. Its a very important element. The viewer can see through the half transparent textile the essence of the person, and the silhouettes to indicate the characters possibility to reach that core. Seen from the females essential core in my paintings, could one really think I was sending a sexual message?

     

     

    The Feign series is fairly well known, but what other works have you previously done?

      The Feign series can be seen entirely as a study of my own personality. Before that I was preparing for that process of searching. I,E, my own version of The Thinker. When I was in that self-defining of elements of Korean beauty make me nod along to his insightful explanations. I would like to take our art, our hanboks and hanji (Korean traditional paper) and present their subtle beauty proudly all over the world. And Takashi Murakmi is an artist whose works have taught me that art can coexist with capitalistic industrialization and still be a part of our everyday lives. One of my dream is to see art being as much a part of everybodys life as music, to see it being a base for joy that anybody can easily pick up. He showed me that art can become a way to nestle on industrialized territory.

     

     

    It seems as if one can see your own lifestyle depicted in your works. What kind of person are you?

      Thats something I would completely leave up to the spectator. I actually like shopping and very lively things, but on the other hand I enjoy being by myself and like any other artist I am a rather emotional person This might be the right time to unburden myself  as a girl who likes lively things  from something Id like to say about the expression drawing (spoiled) girl. I think that it is denigrating and suppressing womens hopes of a bright and vivid life. Everybody has those desires, not just women. I would like to see more confidence and acceptance of peoples tastes and preferences. Thats one of the things I realized about myself during my working process.

     

     

    What kind of artist would like to be come?

      I would like to be an artist who scratches people where it itches. I usually answer this question with, artists are people who express other people desires. Artists are more sensitive and emotionally charged than other people. They are able to express what others might not be able to understand in the first place or issues they can identify with but dont know how to let out. Artists are professional. I try to be a sensitive, worldly person, interactive and keen on life.


    Copyright 2013 By 김현정 All Pictures Cannot be copied without permission

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