Have any questions?
+44 1234 567 890
Jeonghoon Shin - Vivarium
Location: EMDE GALLERY - Mainz
Jeonghoon Shin - Vivarium
Emde Gallery is very pleased to present a solo exhibition by South Korean artist Jeonghoon Shin. On display is a selection of both existing works and new productions.
In his room-filling – or smaller – installations and sculptural objects, Jeonghoon Shin has long been concerned with the world of furnishings, people, and their imagination. This includes above all pieces of furniture because they are part of our everyday use, a life without them is inconceivable, says the artist, thus addressing one of the focal points of the exhibition, in which numerous references to furniture and lighting can be found. His sculptures often have not only an aesthetic but also a functional character and play with the boundaries between art and design products or pieces of furniture. Another focus is on heterogeneous mixed creatures, in which human and non-human elements are combined to create something new.
Jeonghoon Shin was born in 1998 in Ahnseong-Si (South Korea), he lives and works in Mainz. He began his art studies at the Kunsthochschule Mainz in 2018 in the sculpture class with Prof. Sabine Groß.
In his exhibition at the Emde Gallery, the artist has developed an expansive installation of more than twenty sculptural works, combining them with moss and branches, thus transforming the exhibition space into a vivarium. A "vivarium" is a container or glass box, in which living animals are kept. Jeonghoon Shin's protagonists are figures modelled in clay, which, arranged individually or in groups, are loosely distributed in the room. Some of the objects placed on the floor appear familiar, but many are alien, ranging from abstract to figurative via representations of animals and humans – including individual body parts such as heads, feet and paws or bizarre-looking, surreal mixed creatures of humans and animals – to furniture-like objects such as lamp installations, tables or vases.
The grey, shiny surface of the glazed clay sculptures, through which cracks run, is characteristic. They are also striking for their unusual combinations of materials. Clay, one of the classic sculptural materials par excellence, is combined in them with rather cheap bric-a-brac that the artist orders on the internet, such as artificial moss cushions, glass eyes, artificial fur and wigs, or sometimes with second-hand articles to create ambiguous sculptures. An ambivalence that also includes the design, when the works are abstract and representational at the same time, or when they mix human and animal, and thus nature and culture. Futuristic, fantastic and a little eerie, they lead the viewer into another possible or impossible, surreal, alien fantasy world.
The three exhibition rooms of the gallery are roughly thematically conceived, corresponding to the different impressions and effects expressed in Jeonghoon Shin's sculptures: Some appear fairytale-like and surreal, seeming to have sprung from another world, others appear more drastic and grotesque, still others more classical and atmospheric. The result is mostly humorous, playful, and technically sophisticated.
The front, large room is dominated by two groups of figures inspired by the form language of nature, such as the work "Teetisch" (tea table), which is an oversized, upright paw with paw pads and claws, in front of which stands a comparatively small, roughly life-size raven. The bird appears very lifelike, even though the characteristic animal form has been reduced to its essential features. Influenced by the animal world, the work "Pflanzenablage" (plant deposit) is also reminiscent of a stylised (predatory) cat in terms of its posture and the rounded shape with the spikes. As with the raven, the formal language is reduced here, which leaves room for associations. The titles, on the other hand, refer directly to the – at least potential – use as pieces of furniture.
The two groupings are each complemented by two lamps: two egg-shaped sculptures entitled "Himmel- und Höllenlampe“ (heaven and hell lamp), which enclose a hollow space, in which an incandescent lamp that makes the sculpture glow is embedded in each case, as well as two column-like or totem-like lamp sculptures modelled on South Korean village guards – the so-called Jangseungs – whose "face" is formed by an oval, curved, diffusely illuminated glass.
In contrast, the sculpture "Gelenkige Blume“ (lissome flower) refers to organically grown forms. With its long stem and large, bell-shaped head, it is reminiscent of a flower on the one hand, while on the other hand the stem simultaneously evokes associations with a human leg with joints bent in several directions.
The flower and animal sculptures, together with the branches and fresh moss taken from the forest floor, transform the room into a fairytale or jungle-like scenario, to which the indirect lighting of the lamp sculptures and the incandescent lamps also contribute, hanging from the ceiling on black cables like fluorescent lianas and lying on the floor rolled up into moss nests.
The back room, on the other hand, propagates a completely different mood. In this part of the exhibition, there are objects that sometimes seem bizarre at first glance, such as the life-size sculpture "Tigermensch" (tiger human), one of the central works in the exhibition. As the title suggests, it is a human-animal hybrid that combines both human and animal body parts, much like Egyptian deities or Greek centaurs or Asian mythology. The tiger human is an upright, naked, male figure with a very aesthetic body, which – apart from the two hands and feet, which are broad, claw-like paws, the tail, and the erect ears – is of human shape. His face, on the other hand, framed by a kind of mane, is half tiger, half human. While the left half of the face is covered with a striped artificial fur – only the cat's eye is visible – the right half, with the exception of the tiger striped eyebrow, shows human features instead. The tiger-man is positioned with his back to the window and looks vigilantly forward, giving the impression that he is actually overlooking the exhibition rooms. His posture is static and firm, he appears determined, almost heroic. With his hybrid character and alert gaze, the tiger human seems to enter into an active dialogue with the other sculptures scattered around the room, which have parallels to him in terms of form or content and are also reminiscent of cross-species hybrid beings.
This is also the case with the work "Bunny", a futuristic-looking hybrid subject, in which organism and machine are intermingled. In contrast to the other sculptures, here the artist has combined an old bicycle frame with parts of a shopping trolley and fixed a human head with rabbit ears modelled in clay on the head tube at the front, and two buttocks on the seat tube at the back – a humorous reference to our increasingly technologically permeated world.
The life-size heads placed on pedestals or lying on the floor, two with human, a third with cat-like physiognomy, also appear funny and playful. The cat has yellow eyes, two upwardly protruding ears that rather resemble a mixture of cat and rabbit ears, and a snub nose with whiskers on each side. The heads are adorned with wigs or headscarves and absurd accessories, the cat, for example, with a cigarette whose smoke is formed from feathers.
Things are a little more drastic with the sculpture "Sementa", a female torso with voluptuous breasts and buttocks, complemented by a head on which sits a pink long-hair wig. She has strangely twisted eyes and a tongue sticking out. It is the "ahegao" facial expression. This refers to the exaggerated facial expression, especially of female manga or anime characters during sex. Here, the artist uses references from high and contemporary pop culture, everyday life, and art history by bringing together a torso that is considered serious with an internet phenomenon that has gone viral.
Jeonghoon Shin's sculptural work between abstraction and figuration, between traditional meaning and imaginative hybrid beings, between the familiar and the absurd, springs from the artist's imagination and at the same time bears references to the real world. Encountering his installations and sculptures is as if we were immersed in an alien world whose meaning at times seems wondrous and enigmatic to us, but creates a reverberation and thus, against the backdrop of the intensification of ecological crises, simultaneously makes us question and reflect on connections in the real world, such as the assumption of a solely man-made history. Furthermore, Jeonghoon Shin's sculptures always raise questions about the status of sculpture as a contemporary medium or about the general status of artworks.
Interview between Jeonghoon Shin and Theresa Lawrenz (artist)
Theresa Lawrenz: There are many works in your exhibition "Vivarium" that differ in form but are connected through their grey colour and surface. The work "Tigermensch" (tiger human) quickly stands out because of its size and detail. It is also characterised by its muscular physique. What role do body ideals play in your work?
Jeonghoon Shin: I think about bodies a lot, the subject preoccupies me. Personally, an aesthetic body is important to me; I also do a lot of fitness. When I started fitness training for health reasons, I developed a distinct discipline. Since then, I have continued to work on training my body according to my ideal image. Thus, I'm getting closer and closer to my standards of a healthy lifestyle. During this time I also produced the Tigermensch. Ideal body images play a big role in the work: I wanted to build a human being who looks powerful and strong, who is tall and has a perfect figure, like a statue.
TL: Did you use references or a model when making the Tigermensch? What did you base your work on?
JhS: I have found that even if I build a body or torso without a model, the work will always have similarities to my own body. The tiger man may have more muscles, but the legs and the face look like me, at least that's what many visitors have told me.
TL: What is the importance of the tiger human for you?
JhS: The tiger human is important to me because the work was a turning point. Before that, I spent a long time on the subject of furniture. At some point I wanted to do something different and bring my personality into the work more strongly. And so I produced the Tigermensch. After that, other human forms, for example the heads, came into being. It is important for me to say that I produce works. I like to say the word "produce" because the making is in the foreground. Even though the works have similarities to me, I still don't have an emotional connection to them. They are important to me because producing is my work. I put a lot of pressure on myself to work a lot, but I also enjoy it.
TL: How do you build your work? What is the process like?
JhS: First I build a construction with wooden slats that is stable. Then I form a plastic basis with a lot of building foam. Then I cut parts out of the large mass, sometimes I take something away and add something again in another place, that's how I find the shape. And then I work with wood glue and clay. When it dries, the clay cracks and that results in the surface.
TL: A very striking surface: shiny and cracked. Rather an unpleasant idea to have cracks in the skin.
JhS: Yes, that's true. In the Sementa work, it's very visible and important. I think it's a bit kitschy, what I do. I found it interesting back then to use clay, because clay is a classic material of sculpture for which I have found my own use, which creates exactly the surface I want to have. I use the colour grey, which gives the feeling that something is heavy and stable. The surface contrasts with human skin.
TL: Exactly, this is a strong alienation and makes the figures look even more rigid and artificial. Besides the works depicting human bodies and body parts, there is also a dog work. How did you come to do that?
JhS: This work has a personal reference. It is called "Wary" because that is the name of my dog in South Korea. He was the model for the work. My dog is very relaxed, soft and cuddly. He looks sweet, but he was also really cheeky when he was young. He was always biting back then. I thought it would be funny if his willy lit up. This idea was at the beginning of the work.
TL: Humour is definitely an important component in your work! But there are other works that glow. For example, the sculptures "Himmel- und Höllenlampe" (heaven and hell lamp) or "Totempfahl" (totem pole) in the front room.
JhS: Yes, the "Totempfahl" works are inspired by South Korean totem poles. They are usually made of a wooden trunk and stand in front of the front door or the driveway, even today. They have a protective function, like a guardian fairy. They can be used to protect the home or the whole village. They look really creepy, with carved faces. In my work, I added the light, which is the furniture part. The light in the oval shape can be reminiscent of a head or a face. I also thought of No-Face.
[Note: The No-Face is a character from the Japanese animated film "Spirited Away" that has no face of its own and adapts the emotions of others].
TL: Do you always know at the beginning what a work will look like at the end? For example, how did you proceed with the work "V"?
JhS: At that time I had the idea to build a drying rack. I thought that you don't need to hang a lot of clothes on it, maybe just one or two important clothes. Then I thought about what the shape for it could be. At first I thought of the V you can make with your fingers [note: forms a curved V with index and middle fingers], but then a snail also came into my head. So it became a mixture of snail and V-sign.
TL: This work is part of your preoccupation with furniture. What interests you about furniture?
JhS: I was investigating how artistic works are looked at and wanted to make a work that would be closer to the viewers. I was interested in the everyday. Furniture can be found in all homes, people also want to have beautiful furnishings. For me there is a similarity to artistic work, but furniture pieces are friendly objects and always a part of life. The plant tray was the first work I which I mixed a piece of furniture with my sculptural ideas.
TL: Would you say that you invent furniture?
JhS: For me these works are mixtures, some works are more like furniture, others are less concrete.
TL: I'm just thinking about the fact that contemporary art often mixes and combines things that were not thought of together before, challenging the habits of seeing. Is this mixing and matching always part of your artistic work?
JhS: Yes, it's like a rule. I choose which things are interesting, i.e. furniture from the everyday world or people and fantasy creatures that have never been seen like this before. Usually these three things come together: Furniture, people, fantasy. By fantasy, I mainly mean creatures like monsters or mythical animals that don't exist in reality.
TL: What do you feed your imagination with? What do you read or listen to or watch?
JHS: There is nothing specific that I draw my ideas from. But when I'm alone, I spend a lot of time with Korean manga. I don't derive work from that directly, but I have it in the back of my mind. The mangas are about all sorts of things. What I'm reading at the moment is about games. The world turns into a game and the characters get a new body. The world becomes a fantasy world, for example, holes suddenly appear in the sky and out of them come dragons or monsters that kill people. The characters, the chosen ones, try to become stronger, they are fighters. Mangas with fantasy worlds interest me the most, I read them for entertainment or before going to bed on my mobile.
TL: How did you go about designing the exhibition in the rooms of the Emde Gallery?
JhS: The three rooms of the gallery are different: I wanted to have a fairy-tale atmosphere in the front room, where there are various sculptural works with furniture references. In the back room, it becomes more concrete and creepy with the human works. The hallway with the wooden floor is again staged differently, among other things with a lamp work, a mixture between a sculptural idea and a vintage lamp. Overall, I wanted to create an imaginative landscape that contrasts with the tidy gallery spaces. There is a pleasant, warm light, visitors are allowed to feel at ease.
TL: Is this large series of furniture-related works finished?
JhS: No, I think I'll do several more pieces because I'm keen to develop this further. When I make new works, I also think about the older works. I find it exciting to form different bodies; also in this exhibition, full-body works, enlargements and body fragments come together.
Artist
Newsletter Sign up
Please send me your newsletter about events/exhibitions of the EMDE Gallery regularly and revocably according to your privacy policy by email. (After subscribing, you will receive an email with a confirmation link.)