'Aporia' Art Exhibit by Artist Lee Jung

Nobody goes to art galleries. People typically prefer to stay at home on the week-ends. Even at gunpoint, the very thought of leaving the comfort of TV and Internet and getting out there for a cultural experience is anathema to most people.
However, today that trend was officially bucked.

Today, your noble Cee invited the incomparable Vee to get up and go out…to visit an art
gallery. Vee did a bang-up job of finding a small, art gallery in a ritzy part of Seoul and we both went out to make a day of it.

 The art gallery was tucked out of the way from the main drag. Took us a few false turns to find the place yet find it we did. The place was small but we had it all virtually to ourselves. Freedom of movement was not an issue and we could comment on the exhibits openly without fear of disturbing anybody.

The art on display had a consistent running theme of neon-lit phrases lying isolated and out-of-place in bleak and deserted natural landscapes.

Odd.

Not the sort of thing I commonly expect to see. However, commonly
expected sights I can get at home any time. I came to see something new. This indeed was new.

The phrases embedded within the exhibits were banal. Banal declarations of love that insipid lovers are culturally straight-jacketed to whisper to each other. Declarations of love that are repeated a thousand times a day in the lyrics of fuzzy warbles on your radio and Internet play-lists. Traditional, short, saccharin sweet phrases that, once swallowed, leave only a slight bitter after-taste.

These phrases were taken from their natural environment and dumped somewhere bleak, cold and lonely in the wilderness-in glaring neon no less. The effect was puzzling and at first, both myself and Vee were at a loss to understand the point of it all. Had we reached a dead-end here? Chosen a bad gallery for our first, tentative foray in the art world? Should we leave the gallery in puzzlement and disappointment? No, there was no need for such drastic measures.

As we quickly learned, all good culture vultures should feel free to leaf through the
handout that is given freely at reception to help visitors understand the motivation and background of the artist in question. In this case, the handout proved to be the key to it all. It may feel a little bit like cheating but going to an art gallery shouldn’t be treated like an exam. If somebody gives you a guide on what you will see then take it. Read it! Valuable information may well lie within.

Both I and Vee left the gallery with satisfaction and enjoyment. What at first glance
appeared to be something rather mundane and strange turned out to be thought-
provoking and novel. It was something new to see. A chance to get out of the house and
engage with the out-of-the-ordinary.

Check out the photos and comments by the artist. If you are in town, grab a friend and see it for yourself.

Status: Recommended.
Website and directions: One&J Gallery