Lot 1569: KIM JUNG SUN

KIM JUNG SUN
(B. 1972)
When We were Young - Hidden Fears
signed 'Jung Sun' in English; dated '2008-2009'; signed in Chinese (side of canvas)
oil on linen
130 x 194 cm. (51 1/8 x 76 3/8 in.)
Painted in 2008-2009

Seoul, Korea, Lee Hwaik Gallery, Kim Jung Sun, 11-24 September, 2009.

Lee Hwaik Gallery, Kim Jung Sun, exh. cat., Seoul, Korea, 2009 (illustrated, p. 5).

Stillness and motion is incredibly refined into a subdued realm of brown, black and grey, creating an aura of immense nostalgia. Strikingly obvious in its universal recognition of the warmth of sepia as an icon for the past and memory, Kim Jung Sun too revolves around the inexhaustible theme of the past and presence, capturing fragments of time to not only serve for technical inspiration but also to psychologically captivate Kim in that a photograph taken a long time ago, similarly existing as a part of Kim's life experience as it was the moment the photograph was taken.

The melancholic romanticism of the playground in When we were young-Hidden Fears (Lot 1569) is delivered based on Kim's personal monologue of a scene from her childhood. Flawless and tender, the paint of her canvas beautifully recreates the glossy texture of an old photograph with subtle insinuations of the sweet pinks and soft yellows of nature's beauty; the surreal yet gentle sensation of the playground; or perhaps to merely instill a sense of life to prevent from being typically read on the surface of impressing a photograph. The collage-like, clean contours aspire to an elegant yet unpleasant stillness; curiously exploiting its refined, flat abstraction to inscribe a pictorial sequence to be appear dream-like, successive, mixed with fascination, irony and ambiguity. Though petite, colorless, placed along the horizontal stream of flowers and children, the little boy in the centre seizes a surprising compositional attention, verifying its pivotal positioning in unlocking this scene in elevating the level of intimacy by gesturing the viewer with benign invitation into the privacy of Kim's emotional reminiscence of the past. Sympathetic to memory as a highly personal and subjective translation of imageries, Kim yearns to form trust between the viewers and the painting with her willingness to bare her vulnerability, as we find ourselves startled by our growing affection and fondness towards her paintings.