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Yeondoo Jung
Still from Handmade Memories: Legend and Poverty, 2008
Dual channel video
Still from Handmade Memories: Legend and Poverty, 2008
Dual channel video
Yeondoo Jung: Handmade Memories
February 27 — March 28, 2009
OPENING RECEPTION, FRIDAY February 27th, 6 — 8pm
Tina Kim Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new video work by Korean
artist Yeondoo Jung. Comprised of six, dual-channel videos, Handmade Memories
continues the artist's ongoing investigation into the subjective instability of memory
as well as the tenuous authenticity of mechanically-produced images.
For this project, Jung has interviewed six elderly strangers who he randomly
encountered in parks around Seoul. His opening line – 'What is the most memorable
experience of your life?' - successfully taps into the pathos of an aging generation that
lived through the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910 – 1945) and the Korean War
(1950 – 1953). For large segments of this demographic basic necessities such as food
and shelter were in short supply as was adequate education. Jung's interviews teeter
precipitously between truth and fiction: some reveal obvious fabrication and
embellishment while others border on confessionals, revealing a tension that speaks
poignantly to the psychological damage levied on the country's collective psyche and
the fantasies that were invented by so many as a coping mechanism. The interviewees'
dreams – which for the most part have gone unfulfilled – are quick to surface and are
laid bare before Jung's lens.
In an effort to both expose these discrepancies and pay tribute to this generation's
experiences, Jung has reconstructed the pivotal location from each story in an empty
soundstage using homemade sets and rudimentary props. First employed in his 2007
film Documentary Nostalgia, this method of using the stage to frame a fictional
narrative has become a signature strategy of the artist and is here employed to
stunning effect — his carefully choreographed trompe l'oeil underscores the disjuncture
between fact and fantasy. This chasm is further heightened by presenting the (re)
created locations adjacent to the interviews, a juxtaposition that highlights their sense
of nostalgia and forces the viewer to question the authenticity of these individuals'
experiences, as well as their own.
One of the most prominent artists working in Korea today, Jung was born in 1969 in
Jinju, South Korea and received his MFA from Goldsmiths College in 1997. He is the
recipient of the 2007 Artist of the Year Award, given annually by the National Museum
of Contemporary Art in Seoul. He has had solo exhibitions in Asia, Europe as well as
the United States and his works have also been shown in numerous museums and
biennales worldwide, including the 51st Venice Biennale and the Liverpool Biennale in
2008. His photographs and videos can be found in important collections worldwide,
including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the National Museum of
Contemporary Art (Seoul), The Essl Museum of Contemporary Art (Vienna), and the
RISD Museum (Providence, RI).
A full-color catalog is available in conjunction with this exhibition. Tina Kim Gallery is
located in the Chelsea Arts Tower at 545 W.25th Street. The gallery is open Tuesday –
Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm. For further information, please contact
jaime@tinakimgallery.com or call (212) 716-1100.
OPENING RECEPTION, FRIDAY February 27th, 6 — 8pm
Tina Kim Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new video work by Korean
artist Yeondoo Jung. Comprised of six, dual-channel videos, Handmade Memories
continues the artist's ongoing investigation into the subjective instability of memory
as well as the tenuous authenticity of mechanically-produced images.
For this project, Jung has interviewed six elderly strangers who he randomly
encountered in parks around Seoul. His opening line – 'What is the most memorable
experience of your life?' - successfully taps into the pathos of an aging generation that
lived through the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910 – 1945) and the Korean War
(1950 – 1953). For large segments of this demographic basic necessities such as food
and shelter were in short supply as was adequate education. Jung's interviews teeter
precipitously between truth and fiction: some reveal obvious fabrication and
embellishment while others border on confessionals, revealing a tension that speaks
poignantly to the psychological damage levied on the country's collective psyche and
the fantasies that were invented by so many as a coping mechanism. The interviewees'
dreams – which for the most part have gone unfulfilled – are quick to surface and are
laid bare before Jung's lens.
In an effort to both expose these discrepancies and pay tribute to this generation's
experiences, Jung has reconstructed the pivotal location from each story in an empty
soundstage using homemade sets and rudimentary props. First employed in his 2007
film Documentary Nostalgia, this method of using the stage to frame a fictional
narrative has become a signature strategy of the artist and is here employed to
stunning effect — his carefully choreographed trompe l'oeil underscores the disjuncture
between fact and fantasy. This chasm is further heightened by presenting the (re)
created locations adjacent to the interviews, a juxtaposition that highlights their sense
of nostalgia and forces the viewer to question the authenticity of these individuals'
experiences, as well as their own.
One of the most prominent artists working in Korea today, Jung was born in 1969 in
Jinju, South Korea and received his MFA from Goldsmiths College in 1997. He is the
recipient of the 2007 Artist of the Year Award, given annually by the National Museum
of Contemporary Art in Seoul. He has had solo exhibitions in Asia, Europe as well as
the United States and his works have also been shown in numerous museums and
biennales worldwide, including the 51st Venice Biennale and the Liverpool Biennale in
2008. His photographs and videos can be found in important collections worldwide,
including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the National Museum of
Contemporary Art (Seoul), The Essl Museum of Contemporary Art (Vienna), and the
RISD Museum (Providence, RI).
A full-color catalog is available in conjunction with this exhibition. Tina Kim Gallery is
located in the Chelsea Arts Tower at 545 W.25th Street. The gallery is open Tuesday –
Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm. For further information, please contact
jaime@tinakimgallery.com or call (212) 716-1100.
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