[Gallery Walk] A 'Meteorite' Fell Through the Exhibition Hall Ceiling

Kim Hong-seok 'A Normal Order Aimed at Failure' Exhibition
'Entanglement' Created by Cheerful yet Sharp Wit
At International Gallery K2·K3 Until March 3

"I hope the space where my work exists is no different from an underground shopping mall or a quiet subway station. In other words, I wish it to be an experience that cracks the minds of viewers who feel that art is special or extraordinary."

[Gallery Walk] A 'Meteorite' Fell Through the Exhibition Hall Ceiling

Installation view of Kim Hong-seok's solo exhibition 'Normal Order Aimed at Failure'.
[Photo courtesy of Kukje Gallery]

In the center of the exhibition space where a massive meteorite chunk has fallen, two crushed stars sparkle between the split meteorite fragments in a dimly lit gallery. Beneath a hole-punched ceiling, in front of the meteorite chunk lying on the carpet, a desk and chair are placed. Every visitor, though knowing it is fake, hesitates with "Is this real?" and repeatedly examines the work, impressed by the realistic staging.

"It is the artist's responsibility to express, by any means necessary, the definitions of justice we take for granted and have believed without doubt, in order to change that perception." The artist defines the audience’s confusion over the work that oscillates between fake and real as an 'error of belief.' Through works that twist standardized existing perceptions, the artist entangles socially agreed realities with the viewer’s interpretive concepts.

Crossing various forms and media categories, Kim Hongseok, who has critically addressed the ambiguous cognitive orders arising between Western modernity in society, culture, politics, and art, and the independent resistance of the non-Western world against it, is holding a solo exhibition titled "Normal Order Aimed at Failure" from the 1st at Kukje Gallery. Through this exhibition, the artist talks about ‘entanglement.’

Kim Hong-seok, 'A Pair of High Heels', 2012, Bronze, cement. ⓒAhn Cheon-ho [Photo by Kukje Gallery]

"If it weren’t for a professor during my studies in Germany who opened my eyes by asking, 'You must show Korean contemporary art,' I would still be deeply immersed in Western art."

He said he began to question why Western art was perceived as the norm. "This work started from the question of how the word 'normal' was created and how it was implanted in the public consciousness," the artist said. "Contrary to popular perception, contemporary art has developed and progressed considerably, but who can understand this? Can they accept dichotomous thinking? How will they accept it? Challenging questions like these kept coming one after another," he added.

The works on the first floor of K2, where the exhibition begins, show how commonly learned obvious information does not normally operate. The state of familiar concepts being dismantled and entangled offers the audience a scene that is both familiar and strange.

Installation view of Kim Hong-seok's solo exhibition 'Normal Order Aimed at Failure'.
[Photo by Kukje Gallery]

Going up to the second floor, a completely different atmosphere is created. Starting with the Four Gentlemen, paintings of lotus flowers, miscellaneous trees, and more capture the viewers’ attention. Rather than the ink-scented Four Gentlemen, the prominent thick mati?re Four Gentlemen erase the spirit and attitude of the Eastern gentleman (君子) with Western modernist concepts, while suggesting the schizophrenic materiality of modern East Asians. Inspired by works of Qi Baishi, a Chinese national painter, the artist reinterprets the most Eastern images through the expression of Western modern painting.

Qi Baishi defined "the charm of painting lies between likeness (似) and unlikeness (不似)." Here, likeness (似) refers to structure, form, and formal meaning, while unlikeness (不似) means the marvelous (妙) filled with vitality and spirit. The 'between' he mentioned ultimately refers to the artistic realm and aesthetic ideal that the creator can reach. Kim Hongseok applies entirely new materiality to the mental foundation constituting that stratum in 'the between,' accurately pinpointing the fragmented reality. The artist emphasized, "Ultimately, what the artist considers most important is 'what art does.' In that sense, I want to change the existing perception system?that of beauty, perfection, and correctness."

Once a star but now merely a stone, the main body and the star glimpsed inside it, and the harmony between their representations, allow the audience to continuously encounter the experience of entanglement between the concepts of real existence and interpretive existence throughout the exhibition.

Regarding this, the artist said, "We must recognize where the society of this era I live in originated and where the problems began. Without this recognition, it is difficult to resolve through art. Ultimately, the artist is someone who strives to change existing perceptions."

The exhibition runs until March 3rd at Kukje Gallery, Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Who is Kim Hongseok?

Born in Seoul in 1964, he graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Seoul National University in 1987 and studied at Kunstakademie D?sseldorf in Germany. He is currently a professor in the Department of Stage Design at Sangmyung University. His works are held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (USA), National Gallery of Canada, Queensland Art Gallery (Australia), Le Consortium Contemporary Art Center (France), Kumamoto Museum of Art and 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Japan), as well as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul Museum of Art, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Busan Museum of Modern Art, and POSCO Art Museum in Korea.