Organized by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, as part of the 'Globalization of Korean Art Project', Peppermint Candy was a touring exhibition which was shown in Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago, Chile, and National Art Museum of Argentina in Buenos Aires in 2007 and 2008 and respectively.
Peppermint Candy was the first official exhibition ever presenting Korean contemporary art to Central and South America. The exhibition received a passionate response from the locals, and elicited much interest in Korea and its art community. Although Central and South American audience are not familiar with Korean history and culture, there is an increasing interest in Korea as an extension of economic exchange, and also as a country that shares the similar historical and emotional experiences as Central and South America as a country that has gone through a history of military dictatorship and struggle for democracy. La Segunda, the most prominent newspaper in Chile, has selected this exhibition as 'The Best Exhibition of 2007' praising the "Completely original and sensational Korean contemporary art".
The exhibition began by questioning how art in Korea transformed in the period after 1980s. In other words, the main focus of the exhibition questioned the social political and cultural context that influenced Korean art in the period after 1980s, how art was shaped by the relationship of collective Korean history and the artists' personal experiences and memories.
The exhibition title 'Peppermint Candy' was taken from the name of a 1999 film directed by the Korean film director Lee Chang-Dong. The moment the word 'peppermint' is uttered, the ingrained memory associated with the mint candy is revived. The sweet cool taste that is refreshing at first symbolizes tenderness, youth and innocence that can at any time be overturned later. The 23 participating artists are contemporaries of the main character Kim Young-ho from the film Peppermint Candy. Born in 1960s and 70s, these artists grew up in the 80s, in the most intensely turbulent period in the modern history of Korea. They spent 80s marked by economic abundance in the clash between political elements and ideologies, and the consumerist culture of 90s in a democratic environment with ideological issues resolved. They wrapped up the turbulent 20th century, and welcomed the new century in the world of capital, information and culture.
The exhibition has been organized into three critical themes from the modern history of Korea
Made in Korea focuses on the changes in the various approaches to ideologies in the turnover from the 'age of ideologies' in 80s to the age of pluralism in 90s. The works in this theme demonstrate the loosening in the attitude towards ideologies, from before 1980s — marked by the division of the North and South Korea, militarism, nationalism, ethnicity, democracy and capitalism - to the age of globalization in 1990s.
New Town Ghost presents a visual experience on the social structure, change in way of life and everyday life in the city that changed with advanced urbanization which followed rapid economic growth. Works in this theme show interest in the widespread social absurdities — such as problems relating to feminist issues, minorities, human rights and environment protection — which have been concealed behind the urban gentrification and development that took place in late 1980s. The works concentrate on more microscopic and fragmentary realms rather than immense discourses, and observe the regeneration of urban culture which accommodates the individual life.
Plastic Paradise observes the visual culture as a derivative of a new sensibility formed in the explosion of mass consumerist culture in the materialistically abundant period of 1990s.Works in this section looks at the issues of cultural production and distribution, problems in consumption mechanism, and diversity formed in the interaction between Korea and other cultures in the unique age of globalization and hybridization of Korean popular culture where tradition, modern and postmodern coexist in multiple layers.
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June-Bum Park, Puzzle 2-02
Single channel digital video, 2006 |
Gimhongsok, G5
Single channel video (17mins 14 sec), 2004
Collection of National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea |
Jung-Hwa Choi, Ladies and Gentlemen
FRP, 2007 |
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Sung-Soo Koo, Magic Reality - Time Machine
C-print, 2005 |
Do-ho Suh, Uniform
Uniforms, plastic, stainless steel and wheels, 1996
Collection of the artist and Lehmann Maupin Gallery |
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Inhwan Oh, Place Where Man Meets Man in Seoul
Incense sticks, 2009 |
Kyung-tack hong, Funkestra (detail view)
Acrylic and oil on canvas, 2001-2005
Collection of National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea |
