(Busan, South Korea)
Until April 23rd, the Museum of Contemporary Art Busan presents the group show The Postmodern Child, featuring Yuli Yamagata. The exhibition argues that the reasons why the state of existence of being a child is inevitably defined as that of being subject to discipline stem from modern rationales based on a belief in universal validity, and explores the crisis with which this once enlightened attitude is now confronted. The exhibition proposes a conscious separation and liberation, seeking to free ourselves from the moderndualistic order.
The first part of the exhibition attempts to demonstrate that the concept of the child as set by modern rationales developed in a way that denied and suppressed the uniqueness of individual children, therefore necessitating a separation from modern attitudes. The second part, which will continue in May 2023, posits that diverse forms of existence will only be able to coexist when knowledge, which has until now been considered universally valid, is denied, thereby supporting the theme of liberation from the modern.
The exhibition casts doubt on the fact that universally valid knowledge is, infact, natural, right, and good knowledge. Thus, we can only deduce that even the weaknesses in systems of discipline which consistently produce specific forms of existence are deliberately intended. Is the reality, in fact, that knowledge has not been accepted because it is natural, right, and good, but rather simply because we have allowed ourselves to follow it unconditionally? Are those of us who are accepting of authority, based upon knowledge representing universal truth and valid principles, in actuality the ones who have caused the problem?
We are consciously reluctant to define the rather strange title of the exhibition, “The Postmodern Child”, out of anxiety that it will, yet again, compel others into a specific form of existence and generate the contradiction that doing so would inevitably lead to assumptions being repeated. Clearly the title encourages a fundamental questioning of the modern concept of universal validity, but the demand that you, I and others must agree is equally considered a forced demand brought about by the universal validity of modern times. Therefore, we refer audiences to the fundamental framework prepared for the exhibition, but hope that as diverse a range of ideas and opinions as possible regarding its fundamental questions will be generated and discussed through the exhibition.
As shared by Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel Gallery, Yuli Yamagata participates in the show “with six new works, four wall-based textile assemblages and two free-standing sculptures, produced especially for the exhibition curated by Sangho Choi. In Yamagata’s works, domestic scenes are turned into eerie dreamscapes. The vibrant, tie-dye atmospheres and lysergic color schemes are offset by somewhat repulsive intestine-like stuffed forms that wind and circle around her compositions. Dead glued-on starfish and bamboo stalks add an unsettling, skeletal quality to the plush textures of the fabrics the artist employs.”
Yuli Yamagata, “Regular Chair”, 2022
Artists on show:
Ahn Tae Won; Alistair Nicholls; Ardhira Putra; Band Bower; Bonsoir Lune; Byun Soon Choel; DAMO; Eun Lee; Hague Yang; Hein-Kuhn Oh; Jung Jae Hyung; Kasper Bosmans; Kim Jiyong; Kim Jooyoung; Kim Jungeun; Lee Kimberly; Lee Myungmi; Najee Kim; Nam June Paik; Nik Kosmas; Noh Hansol; Park Yeojoo; Tomoya Sakai; Urs Fischer; vacsom; Yehwan Song; Yoon Choong-geun, Yuli Yamagata.
“The Postmodern Child”, group show featuring Yuli Yamagata
From December 17, 2022, until April 23, 2023
Museum of Contemporary Art Busan
1191, Nakdongnam-ro, Saha-gu, Busan, South Korea 49300
Tel. +82 (0)51 220 7400