Hanok gallery houses works of seven different artists in 'Relationship log'

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Hanok gallery houses works of seven different artists in 'Relationship log'

A view of the ″Relationship log″ exhibition at Hohojae in Jongno District, central Seoul. Left is Bahk Seon-ghi's ″An Aggregation 20231112″ and right is Lee Hea-mi's silverware pieces. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

A view of the ″Relationship log″ exhibition at Hohojae in Jongno District, central Seoul. Left is Bahk Seon-ghi's ″An Aggregation 20231112″ and right is Lee Hea-mi's silverware pieces. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

 
Seven contemporary artists with seemingly different styles have gathered their works for a group exhibition in the hanok (traditional Korean home) neighborhood of Jongno District in central Seoul.
 
From a geometric aluminum structure to glossy ceramic donuts, all 30 artworks for “Relationship log” may be foreign to each other but as a whole, but they come together in harmony inside of Hohojae, a modern hanok exhibition space in Palpan-dong.
 
The participating artists do have one thing in common: They are all personally adored by the director of the exhibit, Han Jung-hyun, a furniture designer who is also one of the seven artists.
 
Han Jung-hyun, furniture designer and curator of ″Relationship log,″ stands next to her bookshelf piece “Unordinary series - S” on Thursday. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

Han Jung-hyun, furniture designer and curator of ″Relationship log,″ stands next to her bookshelf piece “Unordinary series - S” on Thursday. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

 
Han is also the CEO of Chairs on the Hill, a local furniture design company.
 
The other six include Kim Young-ock, Jackson Hong, Kim Jae-yong, Bahk Seon-ghi, Lee Hea-mi and Jeong Young-do.
 
Han cared so much for them that she really went out of her way to especially create wooden shelves on which to arrange the artworks, like for Lee’s silver ceramic plates and bowls.
 
“Even the artists know that I love their works so much that they willingly listened to my requests for the exhibition,” Han told the press during the exhibition preview on Thursday.
 
As for why Han chose these particular artists — she says that it’s based on being “art within everyday lives.”
 
“Heimlich” (2008) by Jackson Hong [CHAIRS ON THE HILL]

“Heimlich” (2008) by Jackson Hong [CHAIRS ON THE HILL]

 
Hong’s “Heimlich” (2008), for example, “is one that I bought for myself to place in my home,” Han said. “I see it all the time, every single day, and it still makes me so happy.”
 
An installation in the form of a cartoonish character’s head, the face is detachable by its large round nose that can be used as a tool to perform the Heimlich maneuver on yourself when no one else is around to help.
 
″Tiger and Magpie with Donut A012″ by Kim Jae-yong [CHAIRS ON THE HILL]

″Tiger and Magpie with Donut A012″ by Kim Jae-yong [CHAIRS ON THE HILL]

 
Kim Jae-yong’s famed donut ceramics are on view as well, in two versions: his usual colorfully glazed and glittery “Donut fear” series and a cobalt blue assortment painted with traditional imagery of the tiger and magpie.
 
Through different genres and styles, each likened to “a color of the rainbow,” the hanok environment is the glue that links the contemporary art and traditional art together.
 
It was reflected in Han’s “Unordinary series – S” bookshelf, with trendy, slanted, unsymmetrical shelves, but gives ode to the past with its side covered in mother-of-pearl.
 
“Unordinary series - S” by Han Jung-hyun [CHAIRS ON THE HILL]

“Unordinary series - S” by Han Jung-hyun [CHAIRS ON THE HILL]

 
“Relationship log” marks the opening of Hohojae, and Han, who also owns it, plans to continue using it as an art space.
 
“Relationship log” continues until Dec. 30. Hohojae, which is tucked inside the alley of a Photoism Box store, is open every day except Sundays and Mondays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The exhibition is free.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]
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