허진 Hurjin

1. Forward 

Our eyes are quite unable to see this world correctly. Furthermore, we cannot see well the feature of men living in it. However, it is quite certain that this is not due to the fact that our eyes are presbyopic or short-sighted. To put it in a more correct word, we wilfully disregard the true reality just because we inevitably or greedily share the circle of corrupted custom and system. The fetishistic desire of this post-industrial society makes difficult the distinct process of art. It assumes to give some passage to treat the communion between art and being by attracting art into the life and scene of reality. But art has always been denied of its communication and consensus in that it, Knowingly or unknowingly, has been running on the forcible inertia of capitalistic pursuit of interest. The process of all things are, in reality, on too excessive speed and inertia. This kind of excess plays its decisive role in interfering the right flow of communication. Masscommunication, in its process of analyzing and transmitting overabundant information, also produces the unfortunate phenomenon of anti-communication. Excess is, in the long run, the major problem here. The excess of communication, of art, of expression, of conscious-ness, of ideology, etc... This kind of excess is, as indicated above, the interfering element in the name of develop-ment and culture. Just as excess is one problem on the one hand, so deficiency, on the other hand, is another problem which also makes the process of art difficult. Art history has witnessed artistic achievement of the latter generation only when artistic achievement of the former generation has been presented as some tough height to overcome. Of curse, no plant can grow up under the shadow of towering tree: To our regret, however, artistic achievement of the former generation has been too much deficient. The painful struggling of young artist, in such a loss as being both in too much excess and too much deficiency, is so good to look at in a sense, because it shows the abundant vigor of our time.

2. The Dialectic of the Centrifugal and the Centripetal 

Hur Jin’s artworld, which began from the series of Revelation in 1988to the series of Transmigration in early 1990s, had the consistent flow in its painterly form and content. His consistent flow in painterly form and content shows well his spiritu-al orientation. The artist himself regards as the role of the artist “the effort to realize the fundamental problem form the daily by reflecting the spiritual circumstance of the period”. He also defines the wold of art as something “no mere representation of object nor playful experiment of plastic elements, but continuous effort to find out the fundamental problems of the period and to present some alternatives”. From this utterance of his, he gives sugges-tion that he will actively accommodate experimental forms that correspond well with the contents he wants to express. Hur’s works up till now has been expressed by intermingling opposing elements such as past and present, reality and inreality, the sacred and the profane. This, however, has come into existence not because he has been interested in division of opposing and contrasting elements, but because his desire for historial cons-ciousness, reality and openness of dialogue has been abundant. He has often used the method of unfolding crumpled Korean drawing paper; he has also spread the paper on the floor damp-ening it with water, and dripped pigment and Korean ink on it. In this case, the structure of the picture appears as deconstruc-tional. And he likes to present as one picture by combining many pieces of smaller pictures. In another word, he is brilliant in con-structing into one plastic language many opposing and heter-ogeneous elements. Furthermore, he is also very capable in deconstructing various movements and meaning of human and history into layers of picture. His plastic language, which comes and goes beyond construction and deconstruction, has some peculiar perspective. That is to say, in defining certain historical situation, he does not divide that situation from other historical situations, but regard it as their contrasting variable. He has wanted to view the group of people in his works of various forms in simultaneous tense consisted of recycling system of past and present, present and future and past. This verifies the fact that the artist is tended toward inquiring the becoming and unending of powerful energy in endless movement of history. This is what he give as message through his works of ‘narrative of figure’ in his terms. His inquiry into history makes some strange tension between the power of centrifugal and centripetal. His plastic language, which comes and goes beyond construction and deconstruction, has some peculiar perspective. That is to say, in defining certain historical situation, he does not divide that situation from other historical situations, but regard it as their contrasting variable. He has wanted to view the group of people in his works of various forms in simultaneous tense consisted of recycling system of past and present, present and future and past. This verifies the fact that the artist is tended toward inquiring the becoming and unending of powerful energy in endless movement of history. This is what he give as message through his works of ‘narrative of figure’ in his terms. His inquiry into history makes some strange tension between the power of centrifugal and centripetal.

3. Parody on Corrupted World of Anonymity The series of Multiple Man in this particular exhibition is similar to his past works of Revelation and Transmigration in its form and content. There are, however, some differences: with this differ-ences come the change of viewpoint overlooking this world. Whereas his past works depended on narrative of historial recycling, his present works are faced against inquiring more in-stinctive figure and essence of man and hus image. Sometimes this change shocks the viewer. Even though the figures in his past works were expressed in somewhat deconstructional way, they were nevertheless some reformed image in realistic category. Figures in his present exhi-bition, to the contrary, are expressed in a anti-realistic viewpoint. Emphasis on sense of relief, denial of painterly depth, and the desire to express the figure of man as something very material are the most characteristic feature of man as something very material are the most characteristic feature in this exhibition. To transform the figures materially, he tries to make the black ground paint look like outline; this serves as inspiring tension between various objects in the picture. The fiture of human body, drawn with the natural diffusion of Korean ink after the dampered paper in half-solid state is attached onto the black plane with glue, can be associated with the projected appearance of human body or the appearance of body developed on negative film. Hur’s peculiar interpretation of human body is realized through the denial of liner depiction and restriction of spatial composition in the picture, along with the restricted use of color. Human body expressed in a shocking way shows the image of corruption, and through the sense of relief, some olfactory image is aroused. As it is well known, olfactory sense is the most primitive one and the strongest one in arousing instant excitement among human senses. However, there is some danger to be criticized that this judgment is too much an emphasis on pseudo-perception. And especially to people who stand on rationalistic point of view, this kind of perception can be regarded as very irrational and immature. Nevertheless, if the act of drawing could be accepted on the part of the artist as a total concept of comprising the whole human mental activity, we who view and iudge his artworks should also grant active meaning to his created images. This can be solved by imagination on the part of the viewer. Activating imagination in viewing art does not function unrealistically isolated from reality principles; but gives us the active power to investigate the basic traces of artist’s suggestion that “reality can only be achieved through intuitive experience expressed individually in artwork”. Certain image forms strong magnetic force and lead people to transform and it. That image of ‘grass’ in the literature of 1970s and 1980s was the case. In this way, Hur Jin’s human figure in this exhibition may be retaining the image to form strong magnetic force. This is because his image that he has succeeded in hauling in a net from this corrupted world of anti-civilization is not a common case in letting us to decipher the present situation of the world.

4. In Substitution of an Epilogue 

A fixed plastic thought and method might not be easily over-thrown like changing old clothes into new one. Through this par-ticular exhibition, he has tried his best to change his artworld into a new one: nevertheless, there are elements that cannot be differentiated from his past works. He has still left his picture com-posed consciously or unconsciously in a symmetrical or propor-tionate way, and through this composition he still reveals his desire to express narrativeness. it is quite natural that the young artist who has to face the rituals of both living in this world and overcoming the limitations of reality, should have much to say to this world. This world and man living in it are darkness, but the brave act of calling them darkness leads us to some wise recognition that they are not altogether darkness. His dependence on narrativeness might assume the danger of giving the sense of desultoriness in painterly composition. But it can be safely excused in this ti is largely dependent on self-introspection. It is more likely that Hur Jin’s works are not yet derived of its pes-simistic strings. It is more likely that through his olfactory sense can-not bear that disgusting smell. His pessimism appears as an ominous parody on this corrupted world of anonymity. So we wish that the artist might depend not only on medical surgery of reality anatomizing the corrupted world of anonymity, but also on the ideal to suffer together and to embrace this world. Some effort to find the unity of reality and the ideal plays the role of keeping the balance of superabundant desire of reality. This is both an in-struction and wisdom that our generation has learned. However, it might turn out to be as what a certain poet has told us when he said that “wisdom before desire is what ice is before fire.” This is an ominous thought of the writer. Anyway, I like the artist’s audacity to laugh out before his never-beautiful picture, who enjoy using frequently the phrase “beautifully’ in conversation with people. So there is a great anticipation for the young artist’s careful groping for a new image in painting.