Squaring the ‘Circle’ of art, film

In the past century, movies and art have interacted, collaborated and meshed together in the form of pop art, a new type of culture that expresses the impact that media have in art and vice versa. Film and art share common features and they influence each other in many ways, as Marilyn Monroe did for Andy Warhol and Basquiat did for Julian Schnabel.
In that vein, five local artists in their 30s and 40s have gathered to experiment with the concept of producing art based on a film, in the exhibition “Circle for Circle.”
These painters, video and display artists are basing their work on the film “Circle,” a thriller set to open in August, starring Kang Su-yeon, about a public prosecutor in love with an accused serial killer.
“Circle for Circle” aims to show how commercial mass culture can provide inspiration for pure art. The five artists either followed the film crew during shooting of the movie or gathered information about the contents of the movie through the production company in order to create their works.
Lee Joong-keun’s digital printing and computer graphics posters show the movie actors in action, their poses forming patterns. Gwon O-sang’s life-size statue of actor Jeong Woong-in is a collage of photographs that have been pasted together.
Oil paintings by Kho Nak-beom depict scenes, or rather still shots, of actors in the movie. There’s a sense of murkiness in the paintings, alluding to the fact that the film “Circle” is far from a comedy. Kim Ki-ra’s DVD work shows bits and pieces of the film for a little over four minutes. Jung Yeon-doo chose actress Choi Jeong-yun as a motif for his two photographic works; one shows Ms. Choi attended by her coordinator, and one poses her standing with some children.
Suh Jin-suk, director of Alternative Space Loop and planner of this show, says, “These artists were chosen because they represent different genres, such as sculpture, painting and digital printing, and they are all capable of visually expressing the middle ground or link between mass media and fine art.”
So which came first, the film or the exhibition? “I came up with the concept of an exhibition that links mass culture with art, and then by chance I came upon the movie ‘Circle’ while it was in production, and I approached the producers,” said Mr. Suh.
The exhibition runs until July 11 at Gallery Fish in Insa-dong. For information, call (02) 730-3280 or visit www.galleryfish.com.

by Choi Jie-ho