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Transparent ReflectionsPresented by Gana Art June 25, 2009- July 25, 2009Reception: June 25, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmSung Ha An, Jenny ChoNEW YORK - Gana Art New York is pleased to present a joint exhibition of two Korean artists Sung-Ha An and Jenny Cho. Sung-Ha An: On view from June 25- July 25, the show will consist of ten still-life works on canvas. This will be the artist’s debut solo exhibition in the U.S. Sung-Ha An’s still-life oil paintings seem to capture quiet moments in time that highlight the unexpected beauty of small, everyday objects. Guilty indulgences such as candy and cigarettes are portrayed in a seemingly hyper-realistic fashion. Yet there is a distinct sense of fantasy and illusion that pervades her work. An adds another layer onto this duality by venturing into an exploration of the good and the bad. Although candy and cigarettes are generally regarded as trivial and perhaps even sinful items, they provide pleasure and comfort because of the very nature of their unhealthy contents. While concretely portraying the shapes of vibrantly colored candy and cigarettes, An conveys their latent abstractness through the reflection, refraction and varied transparency of the glass bowls in which they are encased. By merging the real with the illusory, An skillfully maintains her objects within the confines of painting, while deftly avoiding perfect representation. Using several painstakingly applied layers and blurring techniques, An refers to the popularity of hyperrealism and pop art in Korea, critiquing the rushed production of art during market booms. She strives to transcend mere representation by tapping into our deeper emotional connections to these mundane objects and what they have come to symbolize. An attributes much of her inspiration to close-up scenes in movies, where the viewer’s attention is drawn to important details that may otherwise easily be overlooked. In fact, her paintings call into question the very definition of significance. An's work bridges both photography and painting, with a dual appeal that is at once realistic and idealized. As with the camera lens, certain areas of the still-life are blurred while others are brought into razor-sharp focus. We soon realize that with An’s work, what initially appears to be a mere representation of simple objects is laden with a deeper and multi-faceted meaning. In Between Jenny Cho Jenny Cho: On view from June 25 – July 25, the show will be held on the second floor of the gallery and will be comprised of seven works on canvas and linen. Each work will be shown with a photo-relief sketch. This exhibition will be of particular interest as it is this young artist’s very first gallery exhibition. The concept of “in between” is central to Jenny Cho’s exhibition as she explores realms of the visible and the invisible. Influenced by pioneers from various art historical movements who have focused on perspective, Cho attempts to take their study of the complexity of human visual perception and perspectives one step further -- by bridging what is actually seen with our eyes and what exists in our mind. She begins this process with the modern tool of the camera, which acts as her eye in capturing, from various angles, her subject matter that exists in three dimensions. These shifts in perspective are essential to Cho’s works, as she relies on her intuition to optimize the visual experience of her artistic narration. Using photo cut-outs of these settings and floating them on various planes with wire, Jenny Cho constructs sculptural photo-relief sketches which serve in guiding her as she paints them back onto a two-dimensional surface, which represents the mind. It is the intangible world, illustrated with her photo-reliefs and existing between dimensions, that most fascinates Cho. When viewing her paintings, one soon realizes that what initially appears to be a mere representation of an ordinary setting is transformed into a warped reality – a skewed play between actuality and abstraction. This ambiguity of space and time creates a heightened tension in Cho’s staged settings, further exaggerated with the use of dramatic lighting and diagonal lines that fragment her spaces. Like David Hockney’s “joiners” series, Cho’s disjointed spaces are complex labyrinths which are extended, reflected and divided with the repeated motifs of curtains, mirrors and windows. Cho’s multi-perspective view is a reflection of “chaos within harmony” and symbolizes the complex intermingling of what our eyes actually see and what our minds perceive. In so doing, Cho successfully captures a personal space that is based on her own perspectives and creates a dimension that is uniquely hers. About Gana Art: Since 1983, Gana Art Gallery has been a pioneer in the rapidly developing art market in Korea. Gana has established an international presence as a result of its efforts to promote Korean art internationally. Gana is a major cultural institution in Korea and is well known for its exhibitions and art related activities including the launching of the Gana Art Center in Seoul in 1998. Gana Art Gallery currently supports several artist-in-residency programs in Korea and abroad. Gana opened its first international branch, the Galerie Gana Beaubourg, in Paris in 1995 and opened its Chelsea gallery in the spring of 2008. From its inception, Gana has held firm to its mission of creating a strong presence for Korean artists abroad and for introducing important work from around the world to Korean art enthusiasts. With the rapidly growing global interest in contemporary Asian Art, Gana Art New York is also committed to showcasing talented young and emerging artists from other countries in Asia, including India, China and Japan.
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