SeMA Bukseoul Museum of Art: Gum Nuri vs Hong Jungpyo “Title Match” + “Festival of Hands” + “The Secret Kingdom _ Wonderland”

Seoul, September 8 – November 8, 2015 (December 13, 2015 for The Secret Kingdom_Wonderland) http://sema.seoul.go.kr

Two artists of two different generations were confronted in “Title Match”. Gum Nuri is an artist in his 50’s or 60’s, a sculptor working in a kind of post-minimalist tradition. He makes use of found objects, or simple materials that are sculpted into curved forms, sometimes using natural forces like gravity, sometimes bent according to the artist’s vision. In Gum Nuri’s works, the selection of materials embodies the question of what is or what can be art: How can an everyday object like a book or a rusted metal part of an instrument take on a new life within a new signification chain?

Hong Jungpyo is an emerging artist in his 30’s, and his work also raises the question what is or what can be art, but times have changed: The range of his creative possibilities seem to have been narrowed down by the further development of the art education as well as art market. The question of materials has been resolved by the previous generation, now materials are simply materials and anything goes. The new formulation of the eternal what-is-art question is being formulated through language instead of materials. Huge polystyrene lettering spelling out ‘contemporary art’ in Korean, or a small golden “ART” lettering on a pedestal shows a concern for language that language is used to frame and talk about art. At a moment when art has been freed of all constraints, it is the naming of things that becomes main concern. The show is not overly complicated, but it provides a range of artworks from both artists that provide enough material to ponder over the changing views of ‘what is art’ over time. At first sight, the show looks a bit simple, and it indeed doesn’t take much time to walk around and take in the artworks. But that is not necessarily a shortcoming. It creates a feeling of being welcome, without asking the audience for a too big attention and time commitment upfront.

“Festival of Hands” is a group show on the second floor of the museum. Art works and design objects intermingle. Most of the objects on display were large in size, installed in a big open space that allows to oversee most of the exhibition at once and a free movement of visitors between artworks. The downside of this installation was that I could not figure out much of a narrative or key according to which the artworks were selected or arranged. This in turn made me sometimes hesitate whether this exhibition doesn’t look too much like a designer furniture store installation. But again, the lightness of the show can be interpreted as an advantage or shortcoming according to the visitor’s interest. And it is obvious that the SeMA exhibits are geared towards the general public of Nowon district rather than a specialist art audience, so I believe this show was just right in its place.

Artists: Seo Jeonghwa, Yuh Sunkoo, Lee Geunse, Lee Youngsoon, JUJU U, Chang Hwa-Jin, Yi Yoonshin, Chang Eung-Bok, Huh Myoungwook

“The Secret Kingdom_Wonderland” was a fairy-tale themed children’s exhibition. The artworks were real artworks, by artists, but the selection stressed both the theme (fairy tales) and also a form that will supposedly by well-received by children: Bright psychedelic colors and strong contrast, all in large sizes. I think the show was reasonably successful, and my only question was regarding the assumed preferences of children. Do all children really like big, bright, colorful, exaggerated characters and landscapes? I sometimes wonder whether this is not more of an adult projection of artist than the actual reality of a child’s perceptual world. It may be the adult’s dream of escaping the real world via the children’s world rather than the children’s own preference. A much more toned down and calm version of this exhibit may be much better for inducing self-reflection and understanding that this kind of exaggerated candy-shop art geared towards creating sensory excitement. But maybe the boundary has been crossed and the presented style is the only way how to engage with cartoon TV-educated generation for whom over-saturated colors and ultra-fast editing is more natural than what they see through the window.