Must See - Korean Eye @ Arts House

Korean Eye: Fantastic Ordinary, a showcase of Korean contemporary art featuring mainly upcoming artists, first opened at the Saatchi Gallery in London earlier this year. The works are currently at the Arts House in Singapore until Oct 21, before moving to Korea in November. The collection is relatively small, only 30 works from 10 artists, and not completely equal in strength. I loved the cheeky videos White House by Jeon Joon-ho (he recreated the back of a dollar bill, and then inserted the “scenery” a painter moving around, slowly sprucing up the White House); Bae Joon-sung’s photographs cum paintings which create shifting pictures depending on the viewing angle (the artist loves to undress his female model using a lenticular technique which creates multi-dimensional photographs ). I also very much like the painterly quality of Bae Chan-hyo’s photographs (Photo below). You’re just not quite sure what you’re looking at. The male artist photographs himself dressed up as a lady from the English aristocracy as a way to reflect on the feelings of cultural estrangement he felt while living in the UK.