kim tae soon NY solo exhibition

"the spirit of chosun"

조선의 얼_6010x1700cm_2008

The Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Art Gallery

2011. 7. 1(Fri) ▶ 2011. 7. 16(Sat)

417 lafayette st.4fl  New yook.Ny 10003 | Phone : 212-598-1155

Cell : 646-334-7184 | Fax: 212-598-1842

Email | waldkimgallery@gmail.com

조선의 얼_1150x1650cm_2005

The face of the overlapped time

The term, face, derived from the "spirit's shape." Mindset of the human being is shown with the morphology, which is the face. Depending on which mindset, facial expression, which is the human beings' most representative expression medium, is bound to change. Thus, diverse facial expression results since there are diverse mindsets. Now, our body is the embodiment of the mind, and becomes the guidance of life. When this perception is seen from the Western context, it is possible to conjure up the image of Aristoteles claiming that the essence of art is the unification between the form and substance, that is the unification of contents and format. Hegel claiming that the art and history are the disclosure of the absolute mind and Da Vinci pursuing after the archetype of the good and evil, and aesthetics and ugliness depending on the formative proportion of the human beings' face.

In Asia too that has other paradigm, the fact that some kind of statistical fatalism is unfolded through all types of books on physiognomy such as 《Maeusangseo》in fact signifies orientation towards mental interpretation and valuation through distinguishing characteristic form. Comments such as "living up to the way one looks," and "playing just one's face" stem from the judgment based on our experiences as we experienced the unification of the spirit(mind) and shape(form) in the reality.

황진이_120.2x1700cm_2009

Kim Tae-Soon refers to the theme of this exhibition as the "Spirit of Chosun." Why did he add on another concept which is Chosun whereas the themes of the past exhibitions were simply "spirit" Is there differentiation for emphasizing the identity of the time, Chosun in the recent exhibition? If so, when was it that the Chosun assumed unique color while getting distinguished with other historical backgrounds?

As is well known, Kim Tae-Soon's past works use traditional Korean paper as basic material, and his work that is comprised as collage made of its majority as the ancient books and handwritten documents are used as they are. This stems from the artist's intention to inject the historical aura of the time, the personal sentiment of the author that is engraved onto the ancient letters on the screen directly. The fact that the handwriting can be translated as body of writing shall be defined as the writer's spirit is manifested through all types of styles of penmanship. There, even the brushing and habits are unmissably recorded by it. The fact that the four criteria for selecting government officials are cited as a condition for the noble class during the Chosun era is because the people of that time knew that only the flow of the structured motion embodied in body can create high aesthetic value. In other words, he uses the traces of performances for the comprehensive set of artistic activities pertaining to the era, unique characteristics and movement to prove "art as an experience" as mentioned by John Dewey. He considers artistic experience that entails making his body comprehensive and unique as very important.

조선의 얼_1600x800cm_2002

Thus, Kim Tae-Soon's works do not exist merely as output. They can be considered as the performance in which his thoughts and the body are combined as one and picture as a process. Just like we can trace the advance and retreat of his movement and thinking through the brushing of the artist, we try hard to reach up to his imagination while observing Kim Tae-Soon's work. The handwritings that overlap one by one are heterogeneous amidst the clash of each others' meaning, but at the end, we discover the union of the in-depth level amidst his work that they already turned out to be the synonym of the same ambience.

Not so long ago, Kim Tae-Soon refers to this type of paper cloth of the actual size that is behind the mise en sc'ne of the stage artistic level as Assemblage. Rather papier colle that Braque or Picasso worked on would be satisfactory explanation for it. Mostly, another change and movement are endowed on the screen through the overlapping of the traditional Korean clothing. Abstract forms are placed on the screen through the harmony of the subtle green and the fiercely passionate red that can be considered the colors of Chosun, and through the mix and match of the deep ink black and warm white. The harmony of the transparent, sorrowful color from that is conveyed by is hidden in his work. The sound of the moon container that is placed on top of the black cabinet without intention is embraced in the screen.

훈민정음_120.2x120.2cm_2011

Traditional Korean clothes are characterized by the flat feel. Whereas the clothes of the West uphold cubic and sense of volume, the clothes are made from the cubic clothing frame right from the beginning, and the completed clothes are hung on the cubic hanger. However, our traditional clothes are folded like paper, and they are placed inside the closet drawer one on top of the other.

Kim Tae-Soon leverages this flat characteristics of our clothes to arrange them on the screen, creating Korean style of cubism that traverses the boundary of the 2D and 3D and the boundary for the surface and the cubic. At the end, Spirit of Chosun is expressed through the Chosun-like color and form composition that are different from the Western standard, and this is geared towards naturalism.

This is the modern that borrowed the body of the tradition, and it is new dialectic through the recontextualization of the ready-made once again. However, it would be great for the Spirit of Chosun to be absorbed by the paper instead of getting covered by it. Likewise, we hope that the ideology of our era will remain as the object that is absorbed into Kim Tae-Soon's book. If so, his work will take on most luster.

Lee Geon-Su, Art Critic / Editor-in-Chief, Monthly Art

경현록_120.2x120.2cm_2011

vol.20110701-kim tae soon NY solo exhibition