“Goblin Mode” at Art Space Hohwa ©Art Space HohwaArt Space Hohwa, operated by the Hoban Cultural Foundation, will present the neo-pop art exhibition Goblin Mode from May 19 to June 18.
The exhibition is a group show featuring four artists whose work conveys a message of hybridity through thin, colorful visual spectacles. Lee Yunsung (b. 1985), Artnom (b. 1973), Lee Eun (b. 1995), and Miguel Angel Funez (b. 1988) use cartoon characters as the formative language of their work.
Lee Yunsung combines myths and narratives from Western culture with subcultures such as anime, manga, and games to create paintings and sculptures. The artist freely connects and disconnects elements considered opposite and disparate, such as East and West, high and low, immutable and variable in his paintings, creating a unique artistic world that makes a multi-layered network of meaning.
Artnom reflects his life and beliefs through character paintings that blend opposing elements with the characters he creates. The artist, who majored in Korean painting, is heavily influenced by pop art and animation and combines imaginary characters with the iconography of modern capitalism to create a playful mix.
Lee Eun talks about her painterly translation of the digital movement of ‘GIF’ For her, GIF is a projection of desire and an honest representation that can take without thinking and censorship. Capturing the Disney character’s movements who are constantly on the move in the digital space, the artist bridges the gap between the virtual and the real on canvas.
Miguel Angel Funez deconstructs and reconstructs familiar cartoon characters known through animation into his original images. Patterned and infinitely multiplied on canvas, the characters symbolize the age of digital technology, where they are easily transformed and replicated. They hint at specific characters but never appear in their form.
The title of the exhibition, Goblin Mode, which refers to ‘Attitudes and behaviors that are shameless, lazy, and selfish in a way that rejects common social norms or expectations’ comes from the artist’s unwillingness to return to ordinary life after the easing of coronavirus restrictions. Today, the definition has expanded to include the zeitgeist of creating new standards through subversive thinking. This exhibition aims to examine artists who are with this contemporary movement and have established their unique working world through character paintings that hybridize disparate elements.
