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| ▲ Provided by Plateau Museum of Art | ||
What is real and what is fantasy? One of the most prominent Korean contemporary artists, Yeondoo Jung, shows viewers his special perspective to everyday life. Through this exhibition blurs the line between fantasy and reality of our lives. Join his world and find your own special aspect to life.
Spectacle in Perspective focuses on people’s dreams, wishes and passion. As the title suggests, the exhibition aims to harmonize spectacles with our everyday views. The artwork all include people. These people might look mundane when seen in real life, but become special when they are collected to form Yeondoo Jung’s artwork.
Yeondoo Jung is a contemporary artist. In 2007, he was chosen as “Artist of the Year” by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea. Jung is especially famous abroad and has exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Japan. Spectacle in Perspective is Jung’s first museum exhibition after six years.
Yeondoo Jung had a crystal ashtray chucked at his head when his parents initially heard his decision to become an artist. However Jung’s ambitions propelled him to later gain reputation as one of the most amazing contemporary artists in the world. Jung’s strength as an artist is that his artworks are not complicated. Viewers can catch the intended meaning quite simply, which makes them realize how talented Yeondoo Jung is as a storyteller.
The Plateau Samsung Museum of Art presented a solo exhibition of Yeondoo Jung called Spectacle in Perspective. The exhibition highlights mundane aspects of people’s everyday lives and transforms ordinary moments into special memories.
The exhibition logo of a man in a fake Adidas sportswear signifies the lives of everyday people. Such cheap and undistinguished outfit means that something insignificant can become an artwork.
A distinctive artwork is Tokyo Brand City. The series is a collection of ten photos of sales assistants working in Tokyo luxury brand shops. What is eerie about this collection is that the sales assistants are staring intensely into the lenses. This makes the viewers feel like they are customers. Through this, the artwork explores the different perspectives between social classes.
Evergreen Tower is a series of photographs of 32 families. The photographs are stuck on a black backdrop and has a light shown from the back. This effect makes the artwork look like a real apartment which has lights on. The family portraits are extremely identical even though they are all different families. This repeating structure shows a typical stereotype of middle class families of South Korean society.
Crayon Pop Special is a collaborative artwork by Yeondoo Jung and idol band Crayon Pop. The artwork is a special stage that is always ready for Crayon Pop with its endlessly playing music and shining spotlights. However, the real main character is popjussi fans. Popjussi refers to middle aged male fans. A video projection of these popjussis cheering for Crayon pop is projected on a screen next to the stage.
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| ▲ Tokyo Brand City, workers are staring intently into the camera lens. Photographed by Yoo Seung Joo | ||
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| ▲ Evergreen Tower. Family portraits organized like a real apartment called Evergreen Tower. Photographed by Yoo Seung Joo. | ||
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The Plateau Samsung Museum was effective in showing Yeondoo Jung’s pieces due to its simplicity and modern air. The museum is not large in scale, but has twisting corridors that enable quite a few pieces of artwork to be displayed in a small area. The Plateau Samsung Museum first opened in 1999 as a Rodin Gallery. This is why a permanent installation of Rodin’s The Gates of Hell and The Burghers of Calais adorns the entrance of the museum.
Spectacle in Perspective does not bombard viewers with numerous artwork. The exhibition allows people to take a different approach to our reality, to wait for our own fairy god-mother and live our own fairy-tale. Our everyday lives are actually part of contemporary artwork when seen in an altered perspective.
You can go with your friend, lover or even by yourself. Spectacle in Perspective is a simple exhibition that gives a breath of fresh air to our everyday lives. The artwork are easy to approach, but holds significant meaning. There are not many pieces, but each piece sparks originality and a grand scale.
Basic Information:
-Duration: March 13 to June 8, 2014
-Hours: Tuesdays to Sundays. From 10:00 A.M to 18:00 P.M. Closed on Mondays.
-Docent: Weekdays 2:00 P.M., Weekends 2:00 P.M, 3:00 P.M, 4:00 P.M, 5:00 P.M
-Admission: Adults 3000 won, Ages seven to eight 2000 won.
-Location: Line 1 or 2 to the City Hall station, exit number eight
-Website: www.plateau.or.kr