Korean Artist Project: Kim, Chang Kyum is one of 21 outstanding artists selected by the Korean Artist Project. The Korean Artist Project is a global online website which aims to promote Korean contemporary artists hosted by the Ministy of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Korea and organized by the Korean Art Museum Association. KAP has launched with a three-year plan spanning from 2011 to 2013. At the first step in 2011, art professionals and critics selected 21 artists, and curators from 13 private art museums organized their virtual solo exhibitions. KAP would love to introduce a diverse spectrum of Korean contemporary art to the global audience. Through these efforts, KAP will play a significant role in the promotion and development of Korean contemporary art. Also, the KAP will become a useful platform, which will serve as a stepping-stone to create cultural exchange and global networks with diverse art people. Please visit www.koreanartistproject.com
Critic's Note: Fissures between Reality and Illusion
The main viewing experience of his work is this sudden awakening that follow moments of pleasurable contemplation. The fissures of reality, which are revealed through timing and spatial differences, seem rather real. If reality is something alive, it should not be a closed structure but an open one.
Representation, a mechanism which operates with precision in Kim’s artworks, is related to deconstructing representation. This is a strategy of denying representation by means of representation. The obtrusion of a black hole into the real in Kim’s work declares that reality itself is fabricated. Meaning may not reside in the thing itself in an artwork, but it certainly resides within the mind (Alain Robbe-Grillet). The bleak models that appear when the lights go out constitute the viewers experiencing of the object, different from a simplistic projection or reflection of the object. The main viewing experience of his work is this sudden awakening that follow moments of pleasurable contemplation. The fissures of reality, which are revealed through timing and spatial differences, seem rather real. If reality is something alive, it should not be a closed structure but an open one. According to Suzi Gablik, “the more stereotyped these labels and their usage, the more likely it is that the represented will be confused with the representation. The resulting confusion is generally called ‘realism’: when it is present to the highest degree, the two are indistinguishable.” The grammar of “fissure” and “gap” works assertively in Kim’s art, yet it is another form of chaos that exposes the chaos inherent in artlessness. It is a kind of homeopathy independent from a binary conception of reality and fiction.
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Artist's Education: Sejong University. Seoul, Korea. B.F.A., Painting.Accademia de Belle Arti di Carrara. Carrara, Italy, Sculpture.