A photography exhibition by Jeong Kyungja, inviting viewers to reflect on the self amid the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held from July 2 to 22 at Gallery Jinseon on Samcheong-ro in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
 
In this exhibition, Jeong Kyungja presents her gaze upon the confusion of the present under the title 《Serene Days》. It is both an ironic reflection on the days when the world held its breath in fear and a question directed at the “quiet days” that have unfolded for humanity in the aftermath of a global pandemic.
 
The exhibition consists of two series: ‘So, Suite’, which examines our reality through space, and ‘Nevertheless’, which reflects on nature in the era of COVID-19.

‘So, Suite’ reveals the suffocating emotions, distorted feelings, and constrained sensibilities of our present condition—marked by restriction, enforced distance, and limited movement—through images that are concealed, confined, bent, and obstructed within a hotel that disappears after 25 years of memory.

‘Nevertheless’ expresses the artist’s sensitive intuition and response to an unfamiliar and abnormal reality through images such as plants frozen through winter and melting on the verge of death, and cherry blossoms that appear drained of color, as though spring has lost its essence. Yet distant rocks and the lights of factories suggest a lingering hope for an unchanging, ordinary life that persists despite everything.
 
Through this exhibition, the artist does not seek to deliver a grand message. Rather, by quietly capturing the present moment, she creates an opportunity for viewers to naturally encounter themselves. Ultimately, it suggests that the unfamiliarity and discomfort of the present may, in time, become a new normal—transforming into “quiet days” where nothing seems to happen at all.

References

• 《조용한 날들 (Serene Days)》