Excerpts from Press Release for Jun June Mo—”CHICKEN”
by Galerie Ora-Ora on November 24, 2010
Revising Shan Shui—the kickoff exhibition of Galerie Ora-Ora’s 2010-2011 Cross-year New Ink and Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition Series was a great success in the sense that it helped further promote New Ink to a wider community. Ora-Ora is proud to present the second part of its exhibition series, “CHICKEN ”—the solo New Ink installation exhibition by Korean artist Jun June Mo from 26 November to 6 December, 2010.
From gallery to an experimental theatre
To take Henrietta’s belief to a further step, Ora-Ora is making a new attempt by lending the gallery spaces to young Korean artist Jun June Mo, who will transform the spaces into an experimental theatre with cutting edge New Ink installations.
Creating a striking visual impact to the audience because of his concept and presentation. Jun June Mo’s latest work combining New Ink and installation relates to social and environmental issues, with a sensitivity and concern for the relationship between human beings and animals. Using the chicken as an example, he illustrates and highlights how the incessant craving and desires of human beings impose violence and objectify our fellow animal species.
Jun June Mo recognizes that chicken has two identities: in its original and natural state it is a creature on the earth; then, as it becomes a part of the human society, it was an animal that was raised and treated as possession, and now it is an object of consumption.
Jun June Mo explained about his work, ‘My art reflects on the being of chickens as an example of the violence human beings inflict on other creatures. Our society sees people and things in a fixed way – where the worth of people and things depends on their relevance to people’s desires and needs. The violence created is not necessarily recognized, and it’s not only directed to animals. It’s also present in the possessive nature of human beings.’
For instance, the value of chicken to people lies in its flesh and its edibility. Jun’s extensive use of chicken bones in his art poses a question to the chicken’s value, and indeed, recalls the existential value of the animal as life but not an object (food). It highlights the reality of symbiotic relationships: where relationships are created and sustained only by the possibility of satisfying the desires and needs of human beings.
This exhibition focuses on chicken bones and gives the chicken a status that is like a totem: as we are forced to see these normally discarded objects as art, which is something we highly appreciate, we are prompted to think about where these bones come from, thus reflect on our consumption of and relationship with chicken, and hopefully recognize the violence of our desires and demands.
About Jun June Mo
An actively exhibited Korean artist, Jun June Mo is fast establishing himself as an artist to be watched out for in Asia. He has shown in the Guangju Biennale in South Korea; represented Korea at the Korean Pavilion at the Songzhuang Culture and Art Festival in China; exhibited in many group as well as solo shows in Beijing and Korea, and had been selected for artist residency in Guangju and Busan. His art is very inspired by Asian art and eastern concepts, which was why he went on to research in Chinese Painting. For him, the significance of ink art is the major background against which his creativity is nurtured and his art is developed. His groundbreaking presentation of what New Ink art is now and how far it is from traditional ink art will have a transformative effect on our perception of ink art.
