Artist Yumi Chung exhibition at the Korean Hanmi Gallery, London.

By David Franchi – Monday, 27th January 2014.

“Attention: 1” by Korean artist Yumi Chung is an interesting exhibition, at the Hanmi Gallery, London.

Working with painting and mixed media, Yumi Chung presents her new works which is an exploration of social environment through the language of space, by using installations and paintings with everyday materials.

The exhibition explores the way of classification between personal and public space as well as cultural differences in Seoul and London, in particular, artist’s personal experiences of cultural differences dividing, London and Seoul, areas to which she belongs.

Her interest in creating emotional territories comes from the use of blind installations.

Yumi Chung displays her new piece, Untitled (2013). The installations at “Attention: 1” consist of the semitransparent vertical blinds remind of functional aspect of the curtain or blind to make a boundary between the outside and inner-side. The semitransparent vertical blinds are juxtaposed with fabrics, plastic bags and cleaning papers. The colours and the material properties of the works indicate the functional aspect of the curtain or blind.

The basic idea of “Attention: 1” is the transparency of the materials, which is linked to the concept of defensiveness coming from the need of privacy. In our daily life, in fact, we are subject to a lot of noise and intrusions, due to media, internet, etc. The works of Yumi Chung transform various kinds of everyday transparent materials to catch and hold the idea of the intangibility of the privacy perception.

Korean contemporary art is having a flourishing period, inside the nation itself but also internationally. The Korean Hanmi Gallery, located in Fitzrovia, London, aims to promote contemporary art from its country. The location, unfortunately, is still in an ongoing refurbishment situation. It is unclear if the exhibition is organised with purpose in an untidy venue or it just happens. However, this is the 30th interim exhibition, as the refurbishment is delayed by burocracy.

This exhibition is curated by independent curator, Yovi Jisun Song (in collaboration with Alpha Art Association).

Yumi Chung, born 1982 in Seoul, South Korea, lives and works in London, UK. She received her BFA and MFA in Dept of Koreanpainting at Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea. She is undertaking a MFA course at Goldsmiths College. Chung is awarded Soma Drawing Center Archive artist, Soma Museum of Art, Seoul in 2009 and SeMA Young Artist, Seoul Museum of Art in 2008. Recently, she exhibited Reflection of Society on Contemporary Art, Telecom Paristech, Paris, France (2013). She have featured her works including Korean Painting Fantasy – Sensuous Reinterpretations of Korean Painting, Seoul Museum of Art Nam Seoul (2010), Nanji Air Project2, Nanji Art Studio (2008), Impudent, Ssamzie Space 602 (2004), Thick-Skinned, Rooseum Test-Site, Malmö, Sweden (2004). Her work is included in many prominent South Korean public collections such as Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, and Kolon, Gyeonggi-do.

“Attention: 1” by Korean Yumi Chung is at the Hanmi Gallery, Fitzrovia, London, from the 25th January until 2nd February 2014.