[Gallery Walk] Art Shining Through Labor and Dedication 'Labor of Love'

Gallery MIM 10th Anniversary Special Exhibition
Featuring Jeong Jeongyeop, Jeong Jikseong, Kim Deulnae, Noh Kyunghee, and Lee Jiyoung
"Art is Born Through Repetitive Labor and Dedication"

Gallery MIM celebrates its 10th anniversary with a special exhibition. Running until March 14, the 'Labor of Love' exhibition highlights the labor-intensive creative processes of five prominent Korean artists in their 40s to 60s: Jeong Jeong-yeop, Jeong Jik-seong, Kim Deul-nae, Noh Kyung-hee, and Lee Ji-young.

Noh Kyung-hee, 2025_01. [Photo by Gallery MIM]

'Labor of Love' is an idiom referring to work done without expecting any reward or compensation. This exhibition examines the artistic dedication of artists who have quietly continued their labor-intensive practices. The exhibition centers on their stories of enduring physical pain from long hours and repetitive motions, anxiety and obsession, and voluntary isolation from the world as they persist in their creative work.

Jeong Jeong-yeop, a leading feminist artist, presented works composed of massive accumulations of red adzuki beans. The insignificant and countless beans fill barren fields or become lights illuminating the vast night sky on the canvas with a solid vitality. The artist’s words, "This slow and long process is also the time life lives," symbolically reveal the value of women's labor, which has "always existed but is not easily seen," through her work.

Honesty, 202002. [Photo by Gallery MIM]

Jeong Jik-seong, who presents contemporary mother-of-pearl paintings using the thousand-year-old Najeonchilgi technique, reportedly developed a cervical disc herniation from this work. Using the materiality of colorful mother-of-pearl contrasting with jet-black lacquer, he expressed the dynamics of wind and machinery in an abstract language. Although sometimes feeling this arduous process was in vain, the artist never lost faith that this labor of engraving the mind could deeply resonate with others.

Noh Kyung-hee’s forest landscapes stand out for their extreme precision. Even the smallest blade of grass at the edge of the canvas seems to sway in the wind, creating an illusion. The vividness capturing the mysterious moment where the fleeting and the eternal coexist is the fruit of labor and offers a glimpse into the harmony between nature and humans.

Kim Deul-nae, who mainly uses hearts as a motif, surprisingly devoted effort to inscribing the meaning of emptiness. The splendor represented by the sweetness of chocolate and the brilliance of pearls ultimately melts away or fades, symbolizing vanity. The intense energy of desire conveys a poignant and sorrowful romance through the contrast between beauty and emptiness.

Lee Ji-young, top running.
Photo by Gallery MIM

Lee Ji-young adhered to the practice of drawing infinite overlapping lines with the simplest tool in the world, the pencil. Capturing everything from subtle tremors of existence to the depths of the abyss through graphite traces, he fills the canvas like embroidery with delicate wildflowers and the people neighboring them, capturing the tremors and depths of existence. The black lines sometimes become a mysterious flower field, and sometimes an endless ocean in the darkness, offering profound resonance through simple materials.

Curator Kim Hyun-jin, who planned the exhibition, said, "Facing canvases filled with sincerity and effort is awe-inspiring," and explained, "Each artist’s unique rhythm and texture reveal the exhausting rhythm of cultivating long periods with skilled fingertips."

He emphasized that this exhibition aims to break the prejudice of viewing artists solely as beings who complete works through genius inspiration. "Art is not born from immortal inspiration but through repetitive labor and dedication," he added.

Labor of Love exhibition hall view. [Photo by Gallery MIM]

Curator Kim stressed, "Art gains its meaning of existence precisely through the futility and uselessness of the time and labor dedication accumulated in the work," and "Because anxiety toward oneself and the world is the essence of the artist, art constantly wanders and explores the boundary between the two existences of human and world."

The exhibition invites reflection on the meaning of labor in the special form of art and the essential value of life. Even amid endless repetition of futile acts, art is born, and the dedication and time contained within evoke a sense of reverence in the audience.