ART CITIES:London-Jang-Oh Hong
Jang-Oh Hong is a Conceptual Korean artist who recently completed his MFA at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2009. Much of his work is concerned with the ambiguity of set boundaries and the assumptions of perception. He creates stunning multi-media work that has been shown Internationally, including exhibitions throughout the UK and Korea.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Tenderpixel Gallery Archive
In his solo exhibition “Outer Space Embassy”, Jang-Oh Hong takes over the gallery space for Tenderpixel’s Summer Residency. Expanding the ideas of his solo exhibition at 17-717 in Seoul, the residency culminates in a solo project, that address some contemporary global concerns around citizenship, mobility and coexistence of diverse groups of people, through “Embassy for Parea*”. Turning the gallery space into a bureau-like architecture, the installation “Outer Space Embassy”, is presented as a limbic space connected to another world. In fact, the embassy extends its jurisdiction outside our globe, towards the rest of the universe. By becoming an arena of negotiations and a space potential, it is revealing that another world is possible. Framing the space with symbols of officiality, and hence carrying certain clichés that can be instantaneously recognized, the exhibition bring visitors to acknowledge it as the diplomatic force acting on behalf of its home government. Hong speculates that even an otherworldly embassy, in order to be recognised as a legitimate entity, will have to take on the respected forms of our world. Evoking the vague image of a distant world, without fully giving away what this place and its inhabitants may be like, the “Embassy for Parea” highlights our ways of exoticising other cultures.
Info: Tenderpixel Gallery, 8 Cecil Court, London, Duration2-24/9/16, Days & Hours: Wed-Sat 14:00-18:00, www.tenderpixel.com
* The name “Parea” derives from the word “Pareidolia”, a psychological phenomenon involving a stimulus (an image or a sound) wherein the mind perceives a familiar pattern of something where none actually exists.
