Artists portray hope for post-boomer generation
According to a verse in the “The Analects of Confucius,” 40 is the age when one is no longer swayed nor deluded by everyday temptations, and has instead established a solid foundation in life. But for Korea’s generation born from the late 1970s to mid-1980s who have now reached that very age, the feelings of anxiety and hesitation are regular visitors in the face of an unstable reality.
Born in a period of rapid national economic growth, these people were the direct beneficiaries of rich cultural influx since a young age. Many received higher education and became the first generation to be an active part of the Internet and PC boom, which naturally led to the appearance of various subcultures. But at the age of 40, their fluctuating lives have been hit by a series of woes including an economic downturn, worsening unemployment rate, soaring housing prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Against this backdrop, Arario Gallery Cheonan offers a consoling message to those standing at a crossroads through the works of 13 contemporary artists in their late 30s and 40s in the new exhibition “The 13th Hesitation.”
Jwa Hae-sun’s “The Most Ordinary
Stories” series depicts the fragments of a tedious life required for a sustainable livelihood that is combined to form a 20-meter-long panorama. The dark charcoal drawing, smudged on Korean paper turns a familiar scene into a window looking
into loneliness and alienation. But instead of trapping the individual in the endless void, the artist adds a single source of light on the canvas, representing an inkling of hope.
The artist Baek Heaven concentrates on the ways individuals’ thoughts and actions influence and in turn are affected by the collective logic of society in her media works and performances. Her 16-minute clip “The Agency” is inspired by her project where she set up a private investigation agency in Itaewon, Seoul, for five months to listen to and solve a wide range of clients’ problems. By placing herself directly into the complex human relationships that exist within the community, Baek provides a glimpse of the mundane yet universal story that resonates with those even outside the region.
The exhibition’s theme “The 13th Hesitation” comes from Jang Jong-wan’s work of the same title, which depicts a donkey hesitantly approaching a bunch of carrots on the ground. Above the piece, the number 13 is written in tally marks, representing the number of moments of hesitation going through the donkey’s mind as well as the artist’s attempts made in his personal life that led to failures.
The viewer then naturally encounters the question whether the next attempt will prove to be a success and how meaningful the effort will be in case of another failure — common questions that the present-day generation of those in their 30s and 40s continue to bear.