[Gallery Walk] Ukikyoe Pado Neomeo Chajeun Ugukwon 'Naui Uju'

Tang Contemporary Ukokwon Solo Exhibition 'My Universe'
Over 30 New Works Series Featuring Star Wars and Disney Themes

Artist Ugukwon (48), who made a sold-out legend in the auction market, is holding a solo exhibition for the first time in three years. It is titled ‘My Universe; My Universe’. It will be held at Tang Contemporary Art in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul until the 24th of next month.

Artist Ugukwon standing in front of his new work "Big Fish," inspired by Japanese painter Katsushika Hokusai.
[Photo by Tang Contemporary]

He will unveil about thirty colorful new works combining pop art and portraits, including the Walden and Pippi series full of innocent wit, and the Hokusai series inspired by the Japanese ukiyo-e (浮世繪) background.

The exhibition title ‘My Universe’ is both the theme showing artist Woo’s worldview and the name of his daughter (Uju). Most of the works feature a character of his daughter wearing a diaper, capturing the audience’s attention. He said in 2021 after having a daughter, "The birth of my daughter is the greatest and most mysterious event in my life."

The exhibition space is breathtaking. It mainly consists of large-scale works averaging over size 100. Each piece boasts a thick texture and three-dimensionality that is hard to gauge, adding depth to Woo’s unique expression technique.

Walden
Photo by Tang Contemporary Art

The representative Hokusai series is inspired by the works of Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760?1849). On the background of the famous ukiyo-e ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa,’ Woo added his trademark short sentences that look like doodles. The series work ‘Big Wave’ even includes Acts 27:25 from the Bible.

A representative from Tang Contemporary explained, "Just as Katsushika’s work played an important role in encompassing Eastern and Western art, this expresses the will to break down differences between East and West and generations through art."

The ‘Princess series’ features portraits of Disney princesses such as Elsa from ‘Frozen’ and Jasmine from ‘Aladdin.’ At the bottom, it depicts his daughter reading a book titled ‘Princess.’ This series adopts a painting-within-a-painting style, allowing viewers to see Woo’s early painting style, who is called the ‘Basquiat of Korea.’

Lake of Galilee
Photo by Tang Contemporary Art

The ‘Walden’ series is inspired by ‘Walden’ by American thinker and poet Henry David Thoreau. It features a small cabin in a forested background with sentences from Walden written in a script mimicking Thoreau’s handwriting.

Most of the works have a fairy-tale-like atmosphere with cute characters and vivid colors. However, upon closer look, the content is close to a chilling dark fairy tale. Using his own style, he comprehensively covers themes of ‘exploration of the human inner self,’ ‘reflection on life,’ and ‘relationships between generations.’