Bon Gallery hosts the solo exhibition by Chan Jung Kim from June 22nd to July 15th. Chan Jung Kim's works begin with a multidimensional observation and exploration of life. The pieces, categorized under two themes, 'Landscape' and 'Portrait,' share a thematic connection related to life, but exhibit completely different styles in conceptual approach and expression. While 'Landscape' abstractly unfolds the fundamental element of time, a source that moves life, the 'Portrait' series visualizes the forms of individual lives within contemporary society. Chan Jung Kim, navigating between formal and informal, abstract and non-abstract, rejects confinement to any fixed framework in both conceptualization and visual expression. This exhibition provides a glimpse into Chan Jung Kim's diverse world of art characterized by formal freedom and uniqueness through these two themes.

Existence in life follows the flow of time, be it a river, a sea, or human life. However, the flow of time is imperceptible, and we can only grasp it as a vague concept. Life is perceived not as the flow of time itself but as a synthesis of subjective events and moments related to it. Each person's life gains individuality by weaving specific events and moments into the seemingly meaningless flow of time. The artist describes life as the sedimentation of events occurring within the flow of time. Time simply passes, but the deposition of specific events and moments intervening in it completes the unique landscape of life. Events referred to as the objects of the landscape lend meaning and vitality to the vague and ambiguous time flowing without direction. Chan Jung Kim visualizes this abstract concept of the continuity of time and the sedimentation of events, expressing the form of life. The dynamic and fluid actions of time and events are depicted with organic curves and surfaces, creating shapes reminiscent of clouds, seas, or mountain ranges. The landscape of life, endlessly flowing, continuing, and depositing, is expressed in non-figurative forms and various colors.

While the 'Landscape' series comprehensively and macroscopically deals with the forms of life, the 'Portrait' series approaches the real world of living individuals from a microscopic perspective. Kim Chan Jung Kim is interested in the 'self' in modern society, with particular attention to the keyword 'fake.' With the development of SNS and online platforms, modern individuals can edit or hide their selves. The image of the self exposed on SNS is partially consumed and exchanged, and this fragmented self is inconsistent or unified, unlike the real self. In a world where the mismatch between the online self and the real self is prevalent, modern individuals can live a fake life like wearing a mask. The artist poses questions about how one can define which self is the real self in such a modern society and expresses societal phenomena such as the diversification of the self, multi-personas, etc., in various visual forms.

The complexity of the self experienced by modern individuals and inner chaos are implemented through images arranged in an omnibus-style composition. Different images are juxtaposed within frame-like devices. Images of crowds, emoticons, bodies, etc., exist individually without a fixed form or consistency, yet simultaneously exist as a comprehensive whole. The images within another frame inside the frame are newly combined, synthesized, and the combination of images creates an unfamiliar and surreal landscape. The mysterious and enigmatic painting, created through the combination of various images, establishes new contexts and relationships. Chan Jung Kim portrays the portrait of the multiplex and complex self experienced by modern individuals through not only the varied compositions of images but also through boundaryless expression, avoiding a fixed format and expressing the density and texture differently.