Oriental VisArt 2nd Exhibition Opening Reception: 28 Oct 2010

The opening reception of Heena Kim‘s Solo Show was held in the Nest Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland on Thur 28 Oct, 2010. It was the first time Heena Kim’s work was exhibited in Switzerland and the Guests seemed to appreciate her concept and ideas which are different to what they have seen before. The feedback has been great and I hope she will show her next series in Switzerland again.

Enjoy some pics taken on the opening!

Nest Gallery in Geneva

 

Guests

 

Guests

 

Left: Guest, Right: Artist Heena Kim

 

Left: Guest, Right: Artist Heena Kim

 

Guests

 

Guests

 

Guests

 

Guests and the Artist Heena Kim

 

Guest

 

Guests

 

Guests

Oriental VisArt – 2nd Exhibition in Geneva

We are pleased to announce the 2^nd exhibition of Oriental VisArt in Geneva. The ‘Visible vs. Invisible’, Heena Kim’s solo exhibition, runs from Tue 26 Oct until Sat 6 Nov 2010 in the Nest Gallery in Old Town. The opening reception is Thur 28 Oct 2010 from 6 – 10pm. We hope to see you there. Many thanks!

‘Visible vs. Invisible’

The visible and invisible refers to a special meaning involving the artist’s gaze, not merely describing visibility. It connotes an Artist’s intention to express differences within society, culture, ideology, and self-consciousness. The Artist pays more attention to a concealed ‘difference’ than revealed ‘difference’, referring to it as ‘the invisible world’.

Each subject may not recognise the existence of this world, but it is a significant piece of equipment, which makes the subject’s consciousness move, and makes a huge impact on expressing life. This equipment includes trauma, for example, as a type of damage to the psyche, caused by physical injury or psychological shock. The invisible world has a broader meaning in that it has no specific cause, and it, being unspecified, is significant. From the eye of an Artist, a visible world is just an illusion of unknown, indefinable devices. The Artist testifies through imagery that outward, superficial behavior and relationships constitute a membrane covering ‘an actual, essential element’. The property of the Artist’s work and the theme of this exhibition is penetrating the concealed behind the revealed to dig up the hidden.

Heena Kim’s work puts this imaginary world at the center of her narrative. She uses her imagination to transform the invisible into the visible world. She builds up an imaginary world by reconstructing and modifying images she saw in her dream and interesting elements in her life, with her imagination. The Artist however, could not clarify the source of her work’s form and narrative, because her imagination is ‘an emission of her consciousnesses. The physical and spiritual experiences, including a play making an imaginary world as a child, and the psychological oppression she experienced in London among heterogeneous cultures and various races, transform into a visual language through her imagination.

Interestingly, this new world and narrative made with her experience and imagination appears awkward, even to the Artist herself, and provokes her curiosity, which she explains as, “To do work means to explore my concealed self; to witness my self disclosed through work.”

Examining her work, common elements she often adopts appear. Pink Human, featuring severed pink body images, seems detached from surrounding objects, or appear in a small group. Alongside Pink Human, broccoli and penguins in diverse colors help her exploration of the inner world, conveying a narrative. Another significant element is pink-masses in every corner of her work. These are liquid masses that appear bright and splendid but flow heavily. This fluid assumes the role of a basis sustaining or covering other elements. These pink liquid masses appear as ever-changing characters, which signify the Artist’s intention to stress that the world is not an eternal space but a temporary imaginary place.

Oriental VisArt presents this exhibition to introduce her weird, uncanny, humorous art-world. It is hoped viewers will experience her invisible world visually and sympathise with her imagination.

Enjoy her work images!

A peaceful town in Telena / 120cm x 95cm / Acrylic and collage on canvas / 2010

 

Memory of the house / 100cm x 100cm / Acrylic on canvas / 2010

 

Dear M. C. Escher / 122cm x 122cm / Acrylic and collage on canvas / 2010

 

Shadow of the creatures / 30cm x 30cm x 18cm / Mixed media / 2008

 

Hard choice with the stairs / 102cm x 76cm / Acrylic and collage on canvas / 2010

 

Visible vs. Invisible / 60cm x 60cm / Acrylic on canvas / 2010

Korean Artist ‘Heena Kim’

Heena Kim was born in 1979, Kimcheon, Korea and she is currently living and working in London, UK. She was given a M.F.A. from Central Saint Martins of Art and Design, University of Arts London, London, UK, 2008, and another M.F.A from Hongik University Graduate School, Seoul, Korea in 2005. She is specialised in painting and sculpture.

She has shown her works globally as below;

2010 ‘Ways of Seeing’, I-Myu Projects Gallery, London, UK

2009 ‘The Sneeze Art Flair’, Westbourne Studios, London, UK

‘Platform’, DegreeArt.com, London, UK

‘The Tomorrow People’, Elevator Gallery, London, UK

‘Inside Out’, The Fire Station Gallery, Windsor, UK

’20/21 International Art Fair’, Royal College of Art, London, UK

‘Overview’, Elysium Artspace, Swansea, Wales, UK

2008 ‘Entry Forms’, Korean Cultural Centre, London, UK

‘System & Patterns 2′, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK

‘CSM Interim Show’, Barge House, London, UK

2007 ‘Wimbledon Studio Summer Open Show’, Wimbledon Studio, London

She says,

“I stimulate my imagination and make characters which are part human, part creature. I look to the human body, everyday scenes and space. In particular, I dismantle the human body and join it with parts of non-humans such as insects and animals. ‘Pink Human’, which are human bodies joined with other creatures, do not look like an organic human which can live in the world. Fragmented body, ‘Pink Human’, shows itself in dreams when the analytic movement confronts a certain level of aggressive collapse in the individual. It then emerges in the form of disjointed limbs, or of those organs growing wings and taking up arms for physical abuse, like Hieronymus Bosch’s painting climbing to the imaginary peak of the human being. This form tangles the lines of fragility which defines the anatomy of fantasy.

The word ‘practice’ is clearly defined as ‘play’ in my work. The word ‘play’ is used for children’s acts in many ways because play does not mean ‘doing something seriously’ or ‘doing logically with intelligent knowledge’ and also is close to nature which adults could often miss. Therefore, play is the more believable evidence of symbolic thought in the child, but it is not identical with it because we need to examine the unconscious symbols in order to complete the picture of the mental image”.

Enjoy her work images!

‘Chameleons’, 50 x 40cm, acrylic on canvas, 2009

‘Magic box’,  76 x 102cm, acrylic on canvas, 2009

‘Hometown’, acrylic on canvas,80 x 60cm, 2009

‘Mr. Pink’,  60 x 60cm, acrylic and collage on canvas, 2009