KCR WINTER 24:25 Magazine FINAL 1 - Flipbook - Page 20
Youngju Joung:
WAY BACK HOME
14 November – 20 December 2024
Almine Rech London
Grosvenor Hill, Broadbent House, London W1K 3JH
Joung Youngju’s paintings of Korean shanty towns are imbued with elements of the country’s history and society, down to their very 昀椀bre. The
artist has developed her own technique of applying small pieces of the traditionally and locally made hanji paper onto the surface of the canvas to
provide depth and texture to her subjects. The tradition of hanji paper, made from the bark of the indigenous paper mulberry tree, dates to around
the third century; it absorbs sunlight, giving the material a warm hue. Due to its durability, water resistance, and permeability, hanji paper is used in
traditional Korean houses—covering 昀氀oors, walls, ceilings, windows, and doors—to help control temperatures and protect from the elements. There
is a satisfying resonance in Joung’s use of the paper that makes up traditional Korean houses as a mode to depict them in her contemporary art. The
artist has worked with hanji paper since 2007, starting her works with a pencil sketch and then adding small pieces of cut hanji paper, wrinkling
them with a knife and layering them from the bottom up before applying acrylic paint. The crumpled e昀昀ect re昀氀ects the materiality of the old, worn
buildings and their vulnerability in the modern world.
Joung began painting Korea’s old buildings and village slums from memory and photographs in 2008. This choice of subject was both a re昀氀ection
of her own upbringing in a shanty town but also an allegorical re昀氀ection on her life—she could relate to the small, traditional houses that were
increasingly towered over by modern buildings. As Korean towns and cities are growing, these tightly packed, old houses are being demolished to
make way for skyscrapers and condos. Joung’s early works used to include these formidable forms overpowering the older buildings, but over time
she has made the slums the focal point to show their importance and peril. Titled Way Back Home, this exhibition is a personal one for Joung; the
new works on show are more emotional in approach, re昀氀ecting on the artist’s process of reconciliation and reminiscence of her humble roots with
her new life in Seoul.
While inherently Korean in subject and material, Joung’s work speaks to transnational and transcendent themes. Every major city in the world is
home to a ramshackle shanty town—whether it be the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the gecekondu of Istanbul, or the slums of Detroit—and Joung’s
indiscriminate collages of rooftops echo them all. Her focus on traditional buildings, landscapes and nature, eschewing the onslaught of modern
development and infrastructure, speaks to a growing social desire globally to return to simpler times and lifestyles. Joung’s muted palette, glowing
ambience. and meditative repetition respond to a heightened sense of nostalgia in our modern age.
www.alminerech.com
Caption:
Youngju Joung, Way back home 917, 2024. Acrylic and hanji paper on canvas, 181.8 x 227.3 cm, 71 1/2 x 89 1/2 in © Youngju Joung - Courtesy of
the Artist and Almine Rech. Photo: Hongsuk Kim
