Hyon Gyon

This is a Korean name; the family name is Park.
Hyon Gyon
Residence New York City
Alma mater Mokwon University
Kyoto City University of Arts
Korean name
Hangul 박현경
Revised Romanization Bak Hyeon-gyeong
McCune–Reischauer Pak Hyŏn'gyŏng

Hyon Gyon (born Hyun Kyoung Park,[1] June 16, 1979), is a painter who received her doctorate from the Kyoto City University of Arts. She is best known for her use of traditional Korean shamanistic imagery in her large-scale paintings.[2] Before she earned her masters and doctorate, Hyon Gyon earned her BFA from Mokwon University in Daejeon, South Korea. She now resides in New York.[3]

Early life

Hyon Gyon[4] became involved in the world of fine arts late in life. Post-graduation, the artist moved to Japan, where she enrolled in the Kyoto City University of Arts. Gyon noted in an interview with Kyoto Art Box, "While in university, I got more interested in creating art works."[5] In an interview with Guernica Magazine, the artist described her early relationship with colorful, shiny fabrics. As a child, she drew on them and burned holes in them with a lighter. Hyon Gyon's fascination with melting textiles was later reflected in the sculptural elements of her painted works, which collage textiles like satin and sateen that are melded with an iron.[6]

Hyon Gyon's work engaging with shamanistic ideas and imagery began after her grandmother’s death. A family member called a shaman to perform a gut ritual at their home to exorcise the remnants of her grandmother’s life and recent funeral. In an interview, Gyon described her interest in purification, as well as the manifestation of negative emotions such as sadness, grief, and agony after the event, saying, "What I experienced was the process of purification of the negative emotions that accompany human tragedies, a topic I had been consistently interested in. The ritual was an endless cycle of creation and extinction in which everything—sadness, joy, anger, attachment, love, hatred, obsession with life, fear of death, desire, pain—was swallowed up. The experience had a profound effect on me as both an individual and an artist. I felt that I had at last found my subject matter."[6]

Artistic themes and imagery

Several re-occurring themes and images are visible in Hyon Gyon's shamanistic painting:[6]

Incarnations: Referred to as 'incarnations', the figures in Hyon Gyon’s paintings represent metaphorical or otherworldly beings that take a temporary form. As manifestations of the intangible, the artist also relates them to the role of the shaman in gut who intercedes in a liminal space.

Hair: The artist uses hair as a signifier of life, citing it as a part of the body which continues to grow after death that was considered to hold spiritual power. The messy black hair which dominated her painting series in 2013 reflects struggle and turbulence, as the color indicates the possibility of rebirth in death.

Stigma: Hyon Gyon’s interest in shamanism also lies in the social conflict around shamans. The artist has commented on her interest in the ordinary lives of shamans, who are often shunned but are called upon during climactic events, such as funerals. The artist describes the shamanistic role as providing solace through suffering, which creates empathy.

Catharsis: The artist has also referred to the catharsis she experienced after a shamanistic ceremony. Two elements that she refers to in her work are chaos, as well as the ripping apart of barriers and limitations, which are also echoed by the imagery of tearing clothing in her 'Untitled'.[7]

Selected works

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Public collections

References

  1. ↑ Shin Gallery. "Hyon Gyon Park". Shin Gallery, New York, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2014
  2. ↑ Francesca Gavin. "'Despite moments of clarity, there is no 'ism' in this book". Laurence King Pub. 2011. p. 98 - 99. ISBN 978-1-85669-734-7
  3. ↑ Allison Harding, Mami Kataoka. "Phantoms of Asia, Contemporary Awakens the Past." San Francisco. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. 2012. p. 190–191. ISBN 978-0-939117-59-8
  4. ↑ "Hyon Gyon". artnet. 2013. March 9, 2014
  5. ↑ Kiyosawa, Satoko. "Kyoto Art Box". http://kyoto-artbox.jp/. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Yu, Sara. "Images from an Unfathomable Place". Guernica Magazine.
  7. ↑ "Juztapoz". http://www.juxtapoz.com. Retrieved 5 March 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  8. ↑ http://www.takahashi-collection.com/artists/en/aida-3/#/artists/en/hyon-gyon-3/. “Hyon Gyon.” Takahashi Collection. 2008. March 9, 2014
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