Solo RomanceAutohypnosis
G Gallery (Seoul)
2023
Dew KIM’s work explores the paradoxical intersection of hypocrisy and desire on various layers, including BDSM culture, queer language, religion, shamanism, and K-pop—cultural phenomena that cannot function without sentiments rooted in the essence of human nature, such as willpower and desire. He traverses cultural identities, channeling from personal experience, and pushes the boundaries of taboo, engaging with the contradictory points of hypocrisy and desire.
In this exhibition, the artist views a body that manifests hedonistic acts as a physical entity. By condensing and dissipating the power that resists and embraces the self, in other words, the internal instead of the external, the artist presents a new sculpture titled Solo Romance (2023), which celebrates bodily acts through the consolidation and resolution of the power that goes against oneself and provides self-comfort.
The entire body of work in the exhibition focuses on skin color, utilizing the surfaces of soft materials such as transparent skin-toned latex and resin. Through the physical repetition of contraction and expansion caused by a mechanical device, Kim actively reveals and conceals the gestures imposed on one’s own body. In particular, the “breathing” sculpture installed on a low pedestal embodies a commemorative attitude that enhances the physical act of “self-fisting.”
Rhythmical Gangbang (2023) is a decorative structure that highlights dynamism through an aggressive form referencing the shape of a dildo, contrasting the soft texture of skin-colored latex with cold and solid metallic materials. The combination of contrasting properties in the materials symbolically reproduces the contradictory phenomenon of the body defending and engulfing the subject, represented by the shape of the object.
Midnight Sun (2023), which can be seen as an extension of Kim’s previous works, places material emphasis on the skin’s barrier, intertwining the body’s inversion with elements of physical madness, while the highly peculiar ornamentation that operates as the structure may represent the artist’s cynical attitude towards human desire.
Rhythmical Gangbang, 2023, Acrylic painting on iron, Dimensions variable
Midnight Sun, 2023, Mixed media with metal, chains, silicon, led light, 43 x 43 x 150 cm
Solo Romance, 2023, Mixed media with latex, CNC styrofoam, vacuum machine, time control machine, human body detection sensor, stainless steel, and mdf, 128 x 128 x 62 cm
Curated by Sungah Serena Choo
Photo by Lee Seungheon
Courtesy of the artist and G Gallery