ART CITIES:Hong Kong-Gimhongsok

Focusing on the inevitable consequences of culture translation within the globalized capitalist system, the Korean artist Gimhongsok has consistently explored the issues of translation and appropriation, as well as the public and private, through a wide variety of medium. Constantly shifting between the boundaries of reality and fiction, Gimhongsok, attempts to emphasize the “in-between” existence, as it is reflected in his work.

By Efi Mihalarou
Photo: Galerie Perrotin Archive

Gimhongsok in “Subsidiary Construction”, his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong presents eleven artworks at Perrotin Gallery. His series “A Study on Slanted and Hyperbolic Constitution” displays an unstable stack of corrugated cardboard boxes. The stack of cheap boxes is reminiscent of a pile of waste that can be found in the backstreets of any city. The viewer may become confused upon seeing the tape and rips on the surfaces of these boxes as these insignificant byproducts are placed in the context of art. In another work, the artist has stacked the boxes and wrapped them in a protective outer layer. However, the boxes and the wrappings are not actually real. The stacked oblong objects are hyper-realistic resin fabrications. Like many other gimhongsok’s works, this series requires extreme effort and craftsmanship, but it simultaneously seems futile and silly. The artist invites the viewer to engage in this viewing experience in a traditional art viewing sense. In the case of sculpture wrapped in aluminum foil, what the viewer sees is the work’s wrapping. Because the wrapping is the artwork itself, the viewer goes back and forth between questioning the content inside the wrapping and realizing the futility of such unavailing deliberation. Gimhongsok has created many works that walk a fine line between appropriation and plagiarism. By intentionally referencing other artists’ works, he has presented works that reversely pose skepticism on the viewer’s faith in artistic identity. “A Study on Slanted and Hyperbolic Constitution” series is a delicate appropriation of works by David Smith and Robert Indiana. The literal meaning of the title emphasizes the Modernist sculptural forms that David Smith has pursued in his work. Simultaneously, the meaning of Slanted and Hyperbolic Constitution can be read as a dual expression. From the sides, the stack of boxes reads “Love,” an explicit reference to Robert Indiana’s most prominent work. By incorporating renowned American sculptors from mainstream art history in his work, he hints at the obscurity of an artwork while simultaneously dealing with several subjects.

Info: Galerie Perrotin, 50 Connaught road Central, 17^th Floor, Hong Kong, Duration: 17/11-22/12/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-19:00, www.perrotin.com