『Prix Whanki』 2017 - Yunkyung Kim solo exhibition, Wearing Space

The dark narrow staircase leads us into a deeper darkness, and at the end of the dark passage, there is a door. The door, which is too dark and narrow to pass through, and contains uncomfortable feeling in twisted diagonal lines, is the first frontier of the exhibition which requires us to make a ‘choice’, either ‘walk further and enter the space’ or ‘check a glimpse of the exhibition and return our steps.’

In this strange space where a viewer could encounter various scenes according to what he/she selects to view, Kim Yun-kyung visualizes Dante’s Divine Comedy, a pilgrim song to the brightest light in the deepest darkness, through her installation. Clothing is a motif leading the overall narrative of the exhibition and reifying space.

Just as a human life, which always faces a desire and choice, every conversation in the exhibition originates from the boundaries that we can meet at every corner of our journey. The clothes, which represent the private objects that connect/disconnect us to the world, blurring the boundaries between human desire and joy, physical death and eternity, and sin and judgment, deliver the core narrative of the exhibition.

Kim Yun-kyung's Wearing Space leads us to a rhythmical space, which is filled with a high pitch, low pitch, and sharp and dull flow, just as a symphony performance by a huge orchestra. The exhibition reminds us of the value of life and time that we must preserve amidst all of gloom and doom.

『Prix Whanki』 is the Whanki Foundation’s annual art contest which has supported emerging contemporary artists around the world. Whanki Foundation and Whanki Museum selected Kim Yun-kyung's Wearing Space as the winner of the 『Prix Whanki』 2017.