Gallery chosun will hold a solo exhibition titled Bye Bye Hye Kyoung by artist Kwon Hye-kyung from 1 to 21 June 2023. Kwon Hye-kyung, who has attempted to reproduce objects or create abstract works using symbols and codes, presents a series of paintings inspired by childcare products, toys, logos, characters, and icons in Bye Bye Hye Kyoung.
The exhibition also includes figurative paintings featuring individuals. The exhibition tells stories about pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare, sparking various conversations related to these topics within the social community. Bye Bye Hye Kyoung is a title inspired by practicing farewell greetings while waving hands to a child. The title not only conveys a cute impression but also serves as a farewell to Kwon Hye-kyung's past self, who was an 'awkward mother' initially struggling with childbirth and childcare. Pregnancy and childbirth are events that simultaneously bring forth a new life and disrupt the lives of parents. Particularly for women, due to the structure and systems of Korean society, it often entails giving up personal goals and ideals and enduring career interruptions.
The concept of 'mother' is usually portrayed through media as a fragile yet strong and noble martyr, or in the online space filled with hate, as a relentlessly selfish being towards their child. When depicting the subject, it is easy to fall into the trap of idealizing or negatively portraying the subject, losing sight of the voice the subject themselves expresses. We remain unaware of the experiences, emotions, worries, and concerns of 'mothers,' who are the closest subjects to us, until we become parents ourselves, and perhaps even after becoming parents. Despite the frequent news about population decline and low birth rates, there is a need for more voices, experiences, lives, emotions, and concerns of 'mothers hidden behind those statistics.
Kwon Hye-kyung translates personal life, social empathy with intersecting points, and reflection on paintings into paintings that metaphorically incorporate objects and language. As an artist who often finds her identity as a foreigner during her time studying abroad, she uses familiar objects in her surroundings as metaphors. She shares stories that resonate with her own experiences, emotions felt from the past, the Hong Kong democracy movement, and experiences of childbirth and childcare after returning home. These stories are translated and expanded through reflections on paintings and works that reproduce objects or utilise symbols.
Press release courtesy Gallery Chosun.
BF1, 2F
64, Buckchon-ro 5-gil
Jongno-gu
Seoul, 03053
South Korea
www.gallerychosun.com
+82 2 723 7133
Tuesday – Sunday
10:30am – 6:30pm