Installation view of 《The Roots of Coincidence》 © Shinsegae

The Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival is an open-call exhibition established in 1996 with the aim of discovering and supporting artists from the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions, thereby contributing to the development of art and culture. The festival has continuously supported award-winning artists by providing opportunities for solo exhibitions and promoting their work. 《Certain Meanings》 is an invited solo exhibition by Jeong Kyungja, who received the Grand Prize at the 23rd Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival in 2022.
 
Jeong Kyungja has captured a wide range of subjects through photography, presenting diverse narratives in her work. She has photographed the suites of a disappearing hotel to explore themes of space and memory; captured artificial landscapes in the city that appear more real than reality, evoking a sense of drifting; and photographed taxidermied animals made from real specimens, continuing her inquiry into the boundary between the real and the artificial. While themes such as memory and boundaries have evolved across her practice, her method of expression—leaving out the decisive moment rather than presenting it directly—has remained consistent. This approach, together with her sustained interest in what disappears, creates a distinctive sensibility unique to the artist.
 
《Certain Meanings》 seeks to generate new narratives through both the harmony and collision of works, each carrying its own expression and story. To this end, the exhibition presents not only the new work Dimension but also representative earlier series such as So, Suite, Drifting, Uncanny, and Surface. 《Certain Meanings》 functions as a site where multiple layers of meaning are continuously produced: the original meaning inherent in the objects depicted in the photographs, the meaning intended by the artist, the meaning generated through installation and presentation in the exhibition space, and finally, the meanings formed by viewers through their own interpretations.
 
In the jury statement from the previous festival, Jeong Kyungja’s work was described as “capturing everyday still lifes and places through photography from a subjective perspective, thereby generating new visual experiences,” which led to her selection as the Grand Prize winner. In an era when photography has become more accessible than ever due to the widespread use of smartphones—yet paradoxically its meaning has become increasingly ambiguous—this exhibition 《Certain Meanings》 offers an opportunity to rediscover the unique appeal of photography and to create one’s own narratives and meanings.

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