KOREA FOUNDATION

Artist Kim Hyun-Jung creates 21st-century Korean genre paintings

1. You are considered a trendsetter in Korean painting. What is the secret behind your success?

I think I am called a trendsetter and icon in Korean painting because I am relatively young in contrast to the stereotypical image of middle-aged painters and have a great number of fans. I happen to have 200,000 followers on social media. Another reason may be that I communicate with the public while active as an artist. One of my mottos is “communication with the public through arts”; I value such communication above all else.

2. Your Coy Story series and Marriage: A Bride Lesson exhibition caused quite the stir. Please tell us a little more about them.

I started the Coy Story series to paint caricatures of two-faced people. I used to be quite sensitive about how others perceived me and found that many smile to my face but not behind my back. It felt despicable, so I decided to portray the two-faced nature of these people. As I was working on this series, however, I came to realize that I am not that different from them and began to depict my ever-changing self in various works. Marriage: A Bride Lesson is a portrayal of the women of today. Most women deal with multifaceted problems such as obstacles to one’s career and changes in feelings of femininity that come with marriage and childbirth; I tried to embody these in the paintings. I have lots of stories I would like to put into paintings and I am always wracking my brain as to what I will do with them and how.

3. Your works are witty and creative. Do you consider yourself a humorous person?

It’s not up to me to say if I am humorous or not, but I like being witty. I love dad jokes, too. (laughs) When I hear something funny, I usually write it down so I can share it with others. When people tell me funny jokes, I respond with something similar. If I continue to seek fun and laughter as I do now, I think I can become a humorous person someday. And I am rather honest about myself. When I paint a person in hanbok, I usually start with a nude figure and then add the clothes. I do this because I want to express frankness. Whatever I do, I try to show my thoughts as candidly as possible and include some humor in my paintings’ subjects or titles. One example is my work titled Oops, which is 아차 in Korean and 我差 in Chinese. The Chinese letter 我 means “I” and 差 refers to “what remains after a number is subtracted from another.” So, I interpreted 差 as something missing and used the word 我差 as a metaphor for a character with points of weakness. “아차!” is an exclamation such a character may utter in embarrassing situations. In the painting, the character is so engrossed in eating ramyeon that she does not notice her coffee spilling in her bag. The moment she realizes her mistake, she will naturally utter “아차!” or “oops!” I tried to simultaneously expose her lack of attention and describe her embarrassment in a witty way. Among my Marriage series is Marriage: Heaven and Earth which parodies Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. I painted this to show the difference between a woman’s life before and after marriage. In order to emphasize this huge divide, I titled the painting Heaven and Earth. I may not be a humorous person but it seems I tend to seek fun and laughter and wield candor.

Coy : Oops

Marriage: Heaven and Earth from Kim Hyun-Jung’s Marriage series parodies Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam.

4. Do you have a specific message you want to deliver to your audience?

I would like to talk about naesung, which means coyness and feigning and forms the dominant theme of my works. I think of it as a sort of a lie that differs from a speaker’s true feelings, something that people say to look good in front of others or because they care what others think of them. Hegel introduced the idea of the “struggle for recognition” to describe people’s desire to be seen by others. I think naesung is an instinctive and universal phenomenon that arises as a part of this struggle for recognition that affects all people regardless of age or sexuality. So, I cannot hate it.
My works are self-portraits. By expressing everyday moments through unrefined young women clad in highly refined hanbok in a humorous and satirical manner, I want to ask the question: “I am like this. Are you, too?” I also wanted to loosen up our rigid society by sending a message of sympathy: “Why don’t we love people like her? We are meant to, aren’t we?” Nothing would make me happier than if people see my paintings and take a moment out of their hectic life to exclaim, “Wow, she is utterly outrageous!”

5. You have attracted public attention not only through exhibitions but also collaborations. Although all your works are surely meaningful, are any of your projects particularly memorable?

Yes, the project I did for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, where the Coca-Cola Company was the main sponsor. I painted a coy woman in hanbok doing winter sports which I had selected based on contracts and consultations related to the collaboration. The sports were curling, short track speed skating, and bobsleigh. In the same manner as my other works, I put in my full effort and, through endless discussions and exchanges of drafts, came up with my character, a woman who enjoys sports and Coca-Cola at the global festival of the Olympics. The result was wonderful.
Artists can reach the public by collaborating with popular brands and products, bringing their work to the everyday lives of viewers. If companies carry out more diverse promotional activities involving artists, combined with extensive marketing strategies, we will see the earlier arrival of a world in which there is harmony between people and the arts. I think what I do now contributes to this positive movement and so I appreciate all offers for collaboration.

6. Tell us about your future plans and dreams.

The power of Hallyu is enormous these days. Korean culture as represented by K-pop, K-dramas, and Korean films is widely known and enjoyed around the world. Compared to music, fine art has limited appeal to the public, and Eastern painting, particularly Korean painting, suffers from a lack of attention. Therefore, I plan to engage in more vigorous activities to bring Korean painting to a global audience while creating my own work. Specifically, I would like to let the world know that there are many artists who dedicate themselves to producing paintings with unique Korean sentiments. I hope that the Korean art market will continue to grow in a way that allows more people to enjoy art. I myself will work harder in this regard, trying to reach more people through lectures and social media in addition to my creative work. I look forward to your support as I work to become a better artist and a more powerful advocate for Korean painting.