Gwangju News

Art, Reviews

This month an amazing second exhibit at the GAIA Gallery in the GIC will bring together 14 artists and two public art projects in a show called “East Meets West.”
The new “classroom” and “GIC Talk” room is now also the Gwangju Association of International Artists (GAIA) Gallery, which, in itself is a collaboration of GAIA [...]

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This month an amazing second exhibit at the GAIA Gallery in the GIC will bring together 14 artists and two public art projects in a show called “East Meets West.”

The new “classroom” and “GIC Talk” room is now also the Gwangju Association of International Artists (GAIA) Gallery, which, in itself is a collaboration of GAIA and GIC International Artists Collective.

Before even one more acronym appears, let’s just say that 14 dedicated artists will show their work, seven international artists and seven Korean artists, and that an awful lot of work by many people brought these artists together.

The main purpose of this gallery is as an outlet for artists. That means that with no pressure to “sell,” no limits on the style, no demand for marketability, and yet still publically funded, the space can welcome artistic expression without boundaries. A printmaker, four painters, two photographers, three sculptors, a performance artist/animator, a graphic artist, a mixed media concept artist, and a textile artist who is drawing these days, make up the first show.

A few of the native English speakers who are artists and English teachers have had a lot of experience exhibiting art, most have been trained as art majors at university, and some have been in their country’s top echelon of fine art universities. What makes this show interesting is not just the cultural diversity, but the angles at which these artists have come to art, and the reasons why they won’t ever stop creating.

It was tempting to interview a lot of the artists for this story, but you should come to the reception and talk to them yourself, because there is nothing like talking to an artist at a reception. Huh? It’s true. Art is one of the rare fields in which you can work you whole life, achieve quite a bit, and still only have one evening per year (if that) to present your work. Even a movie star could have six cities to attend opening night at, and three talk shows to go on to hawk the latest film, and who knows how many print and tv interviews to do. Very few artists ever get that kind of publicity tour, so receptions are the equivalent of the publicity tour, opening night and the movie itself all in a brief period.

Ironically, the person who tied together a great hunk of the Korean artists, and who paints herself, isn’t in the show (talk about modest) but might be at the opening. Park Kwang Suk, who spent ten years painting in the United States, opened a studio back in her home of Gwangju this year, and got the rest of the artists in her building to contribute to this markedly multi-cultural exhibit. Included in her group of friends are two adjunct professors Bae Hyun Ho, (Chonnam University and Kim Do Gi (Chosun University) who both paint, and sculptors Choi Man Soo and Bae Heun whose work is well known around Asia, and watercolor abstract surrealist Kim Hyo Sam.

Kim Na Young is a member of the artists collective, and has a new take on the wooden mask motif for this exhibit. She’s one of two mothers-to-be in the exhibit. Choi Bong Ik is a fellow downtown worker who makes prints. His Gwangju Photosynthesis prints, whether framed or on fans, have been previously spotted on the cover of a Gwangju Biennale catalogue.

The lead-off batter for the western squad is consistent Tamlyn Young, who has made many stories pop as a graphic artist volunteer for the Gwangju News. She is also a concept artist who has made daily postcards with art on the front and a running daily journal on the back (365 cards per year). Victoria H. Jung, our other pregnant artist, has been part of the duo that are the driving force and initiators of the Artist Collective. She lives in Mokpo, and makes the trek with Sarah Helen Epp to keep the group moving toward new creative public art. Jung is drawing now, and Epp has a series of animal sticker photos that remind me of Jeff Koontz.

Batting clean-up is Simon Bond, the British photographer who seems to be published everywhere, but produces high-quality images consistently, often “home runs.” (How does the baseball allegory work for a man who has cricket as a home sport? Maybe I should say he bats a “six and out” via his camera?)

Energetic Leroy Kucia brings a touch of humor to the show. His graphic art expertise was refined at the Savannah College of Art and Design, which is a group of 6000 or so emerging artists – meaning, wow, there are a lot of artists out there. He’s been solidifying his English teaching with pictures, stories, dvds, animated lesson plans, and with what will soon be an entire book of ESL illustrated lessons.

Caroline Huf, who wowed a Saturday Talk audience with her animated movies, is going to lace herself in the gallery and use time lapse photography to make another of her unique stories. Thus her work will be ongoing, and supplemented by a film at the reception. Performance art is still all the rage, but to be a part of a great work like this in Gwangju is an unexpected pleasure, as a lot of the galleries in town lean toward more traditional modes, with the notable exception of Shinsegae Gallery.

Doug Stuber will show abstract expressionist work. He is also audacious in his continued stupidity of being an artist and an art critic at the same time. Can’t this guy get enough of the art world?

Stuber’s problem is that on top of painting one painting per week for the past 30 years, he finds artists (musicians, writers, professors, athletes, actors and others) to be so interesting that he is always wanting to attend their parties, and what better way than as a journalist who can help them promote their work?

Thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and its Global Village project for its support of the gallery, and the Gwangju International Center and its staff, space and support, this exhibit and future shows will provide a place for cultures to come together.

East Meets West is a decent title, as it is really a condensed version of Korea meets Australia, Canada, South Africa, The United Kingdom and the United States, which would have been awkward to squeeze on to a postcard. Speaking of which, cheers to Leroy Kucia, Kim Minsu and Kim Ji-hyun for all the work on the publicity material.

This Sunday, September 6, from 3-6pm is that little window these 14 artists will have to strut their stuff. There are many good reasons to join us in addition to the artwork, including wine and cheese.

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