The Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art exhibition catalogue (APT2)

CHOI Jeong Hwa Lives and works in Seoul, South Korea 62 I A RT I s T s : EA s T A s I A Detail, Super flower plastic spring 1995 Fabric,air compressor, oil pressure equipment, movement timer,sensor 25Dx40Dx15Dcm Collection: The artist Choi Jeong Hwa, who has spearheaded the new visual expressionism of the 1990s, is recognised as an enfant terrible of Korean art. In today's world, where popular culture dominates our visual environment, it is simply a waste of time for Choi and his fellow new generation artists to discuss the influence of Western modernism in South Korea or argue for nationalism as a rebuttal-these were issues which preoccupied the art of the previous generation. Having lost the fierceness of the so– called 'avant-garde', today's high art faces problems of originality, and therefore its successor, the high art of the third wave, has swung towards being more or less 'kitsch'. Choi is a luminary artist of the kitsch generation who has ensured diversity in the visual culture. Recognising and identifying with the reality of kitsch, he has actively drawn reproductions of high culture, borne from Korean popular culture, into the domain of art. Since 1990, photography and the use of the object have been the main processes behind Choi's art. He is drawn to the decorative charm of cheap reproductions and re-presents them in his works using advertising techniques borrowed from consumer society. By confronting us with the familiar objects which we may never have considered worthy of appreciation, he allows us to find absurdity and visual enjoyment at the same time. Any satirical comment concerning 'criticism of society and the current time' which may be gained from this work, is, in fact, a mere by-product. Super flower plastic spring 1995 originates from the simple curiosity that prompted Choi to ask: 'Which is disposable-an artificial flower or a fresh one?' Presenting plausibility of the art work as its original component, Choi neutralises the commonly accepted social values of nature and artificiality through this work. This life-form, born from a mutation of industrial waste and reliant on a machine in order to breathe, impudently boasts its vivid colour and resilient vitality. It exists around us as a new kind of nature that will never wither. An artist, an interior designer of commercial spaces and the organiser of 'Alternative Exhibition', Choi Jeong Hwa is a cultural guerilla of our times, who calls himself an 'interferer' rather than an artist, disturbing the gap between the high and popular cultures. Soyeon Ahn, Curator, National Museum of Contemporary Art,Seoul, South Korea