Introduction
Esther Schipper is pleased to present Dui Jip Ki, a two-part exhibition of contemporary Korean art presented this summer at our Berlin and Seoul galleries.
With works by Haneyl Choi, Hyunsun Jeon, Hong Joo Kim, Suyeon Kim, Lee Bae*, Taek Sang Kim, Jin Meyerson, and Donghyun Son.
Curated in close cooperation with Esther Schipper, Seoul, Dui Jip Ki brings together artists across five generations who work in a variety of media. The exhibition is a celebration of the gallery’s long-standing relationship with Korea, coming just shy of the first anniversary of the opening of our location in Seoul.
The work of all eight artists (seven in Seoul) connects in specific ways to the rich history of Korean contemporary art. Engaging critically with social and political ideas, employing alternative conceptual strategies, addressing subverted identities and parallel histories, or renewing traditional techniques and materiality, the works in Dui Jip Ki can be taken as an aesthetic journey of origin, development, and emergence.
The exhibition’s title, Dui Jip Ki, a term taken from an action and its corresponding associations, relates to the heterogeneity of artistic practices on view. In Korean the act of flipping something over to the other side is referred to as 뒤집기, Dui Jip Ki, and has multiple applications; it can be said of something domestic, such as turning over a pancake, but may also refer to a change of mind, an opening to alternative ideas. It is also the term used in traditional Korean wrestling for turning and pinning down an opponent through back-breaking strength to claim victory.
The established narrative of the development of Korean culture during the last fifty years has been characterized by dichotomies. The social-political origin of contemporary Korea and contemporary art within Korea is formed by oppositional contrasts such as North vs. South and Abstraction (Dansaekhwa) vs. Social Realism (Minjung).
The artists exhibited in Dui Jip Ki have found ways to work within long established media of painting and sculpture in highly original and alternative ways. Four conceptual groupings structure the exhibition: 1. Alternative origins, artists that found ways to work outside of the two established schools of Minjung and Dansaekwha: Hong Joo Kim. 2. Transformative materiality, artists that allow nature and natural processes to create work: Lee Bae and Taek Sang Kim. 3. Subverted Histories, artists whose personal histories and identities have been purposefully lost or hidden: Jin Meyerson and Haneyl Choi. 4. Young artists who are using the Korean Idea of New Tro or New Retro to create innovative work with traditional methods: Donghyun Son, Hyunsun Jeon, and Suyeon Kim.
뒤집기 / Dui Jip Ki
With works by Haneyl Choi, Hyunsun Jeon, Hong Joo Kim, Suyeon Kim, Taek Sang Kim, Jin Meyerson, and Donghyun Son
July 7 – August 19, 2023
Esther Schipper, Seoul
Dui Jip Ki / 뒤집기
With works by Haneyl Choi, Hyunsun Jeon, Hong Joo Kim, Suyeon Kim, Taek Sang Kim, Lee Bae, Jin Meyerson, and Donghyun Son
July 14 – August 26, 2023
Esther Schipper, Berlin
*Please note Lee Bae is not feature in the Seoul exhibition.