After Gogo: A New Era of Korean Art; Joonho Jeon, Statue of Brothers (2008) (front); Moon Hyungmin, By Numbers Series: Art in Culture A (2001–2008) (behind, from left); Lee Sea Hyun, Between Red – 84 (2009); Jang Min-seung & Kim Check, from The Series of Multi-culture (2008), 28th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, 2009, installation view of the exhibition of the Prize Winner Joonho Jeon at Cankarjev dom Gallery.
Photo: Bojan Velikonja. MGLC Archive.
Joonho Jeon, who was awarded by the jury of the 27th Biennial of Graphic Arts for his work in the medium of computer animation, renounced a solo exhibition at the next Biennial, proposing instead a selection of South Korean contemporary art. This is how the post-Gogo generation of South Korean artists presented themselves. Their work re-examines various issues in contemporary Korean society − a society divided between North and South in which the Cold War is still very much alive. These artists were born in the 1960s, when their parents were working hard to rebuild the country after the Korean War. They grew up in the 1970s, when American soldiers brought “gogo” music to Korea and the country was inundated with mass dance parties in “gogo clubs” (also known as “chicken coops”) and gogo became a synonym for the pleasure culture of the younger generation. They began making art in the 1980s. What especially distinguishes them from the previous generation is the fact that they are well aware of the world outside the chicken coop.
Artists: Kim Kira, Jang Minseung & Kim Check, Joonho Jeon, Lee Yongbaek, Moon Kyungwon, Lee Sea Hyun, Moon Hyungmin, Ligyung.
Curator: Jeongyeon Kim.