PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art is pleased to present a solo exhibition of Yeondoo Jung entitled Spectacle in Perspective. Considered as one of the most acclaimed Korean contemporary artists, Jung has been selected as ‘Artist of the Year’ by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea in 2007 and since then has exhibited in major institutions and biennale events abroad including PERFORMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Mito Art Tower in Japan. As the artist’s first museum survey in Korea in six years, this exhibition presents the diverse spectrum of Jung’s oeuvre ranging from early photograph and video works to his most recent experiments in new media and performance.

Focusing on the everyday lives of ordinary people, Jung’s work reveals his sincere interest and empathy for society. His work explores the possibilities of social engagement through art by emphasizing the long process of collaboration involving people of diverse social backgrounds, more than the artistic outcome revealed in the image itself. Presenting over forty works including his early series Hero, Evergreen Tower, Tokyo Brand City and Six Points, this exhibition introduces two new major projects, Virgil’s Path, recreating Rodin’s masterpiece The Gates of Hell in 3D media, as well as Crayon Pop Special, a collaborative project with the fans of the well-known girl band ‘Crayon Pop’. While exploring the different realms of virtual reality and pop music, the two works commonly reveal the artist’s in-depth examination of the relationship between individual and the society by way of realizing and sharing the dreams of others.

Jung’s work highlighting people’s dreams, wishes and passion, ironically convinces us to view the world through those that we cannot see. It is not for mere representation of ‘fantasy’, but rather his unique methodology of approaching our reality with new perspective and attitude. As the title implies, this exhibition hopes to propose new insight on contemporary art by closely examining its relation to our everyday lives.

*image (left)
Crayon Pop Special, 2014
Media installation with performance and sound
courtesy of the artist