Sarangbang, Korean contemporary jewelry

May 8, 2019

SARANGBANG

사랑방

Korean contemporary jewelry

Artists : Choonsun Moon, Dongchun Lee, Eunmi Chun, Heejoo Kim, Heeseung Koh, Jihee Hong, Joo Hyung Park, Junwon Jung, Miwha Oh, Sang-deok Han, Seulgi Kwon, Shin-Ryeong Kim, Sooyeon Kim, Sungho Cho, Wan Hee Cho, Yojae Lee, Yong Joo Kim

& Mi-Jeong Lee, visual artist.

To discover their work, click on Sarangbang

Curator : Noel Guyomarc’h

Opening reception on May 30th, 2019, from 5-8 pm.

Montreal, April 30th, 2019 – From May 30th to July 14th, 2019, Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h presents Sarangbang, an exhibition bringing together 17 Korean contemporary jewelers and Mi-Jeong Lee, a visual and media artist of Korean origin working and living in Montreal.

A Sarangbang is a polyvalent room in Korean houses, used to receive visitors, but also to write, discuss and study. Such a title stands as an invitation by Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h to engage with the exhibition, as if we were in a real Sarangbang. Sometimes referring their environment, sometimes the traditional culture or the modern society they live in, all featured artists use jewellery as a means of expressing their own aesthetics and vision.

Sarangbang is also a major opportunity to discover the current artistic production in South Korea where contemporary jewellery, an art form still relatively unknown to the general public, is blooming. Korean artists never tire of reinventing and renewing the way to think and make jewellery. As the first exhibition in North America to feature such a large number of Korean artists, Sarangbang is truly an impressive gathering.

South Korea as a country holds a long tradition of crafts and silversmithing. Its traditional jewellery is usually made of precious metals adorned with gemstones and mother-of-pearl, and includes motifs inspired by nature or traditional symbols. Several Korean goldsmiths and jewelers were introduced to new aesthetics and technical approaches while training abroad for several years. In the 1980’s, when they returned to their homeland, they started teaching and exhibited in galleries more accustomed to sculptures and paintings. A few years later, contemporary art jewellery was being recognized as a discipline in its own right, and jewellery programs began to be integrated into university curricula.

The pieces in Sarangbang are merely a glimpse into Korea’s exceptional creativity. Even though their organic compositions are often intricate, all the pieces display a rare sense of harmony, working intuitively with materials that are carefully chosen, both for their inherent qualities and artistic meaning. Those complex works of art can confuse the viewer, as they may appear sometimes narrative, sometimes more simple and geometric. Their beauty lies in the quality of the making and in what they stand for. Many references to Korean culture are to be found: repetitive assemblage referring to Korean traditional architecture, the use of natural and animal symbols to portray the inner self or the object’s soul, the duality, the care for harmony and purity in everything.

For this exhibition, Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h also invited Mi-Jeong Lee, a visual and media artist who has been working in Montreal for more than 20 years. Entitled “Passage Seoul-Montréal”, her installation captures cityscapes of both cities in a video that is projected next to a display of typical Korean textiles.

A mesmerizing exhibition, Sarangbang is a unique opportunity to acquire original works by inspiring artists.