LIM YOUNG KYUN |  Artist's Eyes

Exhibition Period: From 18th September to 7th October, 2021

Exhibition Venue: 2GIL29 GALLERY  |  2GIL29 Bldg. 35, Gangnam-daero 158-gil, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul 06034 Korea | 82 2 6203 2015 

Viewing time: 10am - 7pm  Tuesdays to Saturdays (closed on Mondays, Sundays and National holidays)

2GIL29 GALLERY will hold Youngkyun Lim's photography exhibition <Artist's Eyes> from September 18 to October 7. The 15 works that will be introduced in the upcoming exhibition show Youngkyun Lim's trajectory of following jewelry-like cultural heritages from the world, which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage. He filmed international libraries such as the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, which is considered to be a embodiment of culture and art, and the National Library of France(BNF), which was recorded in Korea's visionary Giljun Yu's record called Seo-Yu-Gyun-Moon (西遊見聞) (1885), and the Long Room Library in Trinity College, which is famous for the Harry Potter library. In addition, visitors can enjoy the intellectual achievements of Korea's leading historical sites such as Janggyeonggak of Haeinsa Temple, which was forged in hopes of overcoming the national crisis, Dosanseodang of Toegye Yi Hwang, which Neo-Confucianism bloomed, Byeongsanseowon, where visitors can feel the valiant spirit of Yu Seong-ryong, who overcame the Japanese Invasion of Korea.
 
In fact, there have been works that have captured the splendid architectural beauty of historical places such as libraries, but the works he captured are unique because they focused on their own cultural characteristics. For example, the Duchess Anna Amalia Library is the birthplace of German classicalism, where Goethe, who is one of the great German figures in literature, worked for 50 years and wrote Faust, and has rare books and materials, including Mozart's sheet music, and Schiller the intellect during the time, Nietzsche, and Mozart, who were visiting to literary to give lectures and perform concerts. And to the present, these cultural figures have inspired visitors by being produced in a form of bust. The National Library of France(BNF), which opened in 1868, is 150 years old but boasts the world's best beauty. It was opened before the invention of electricity in the 19th century, so the ceiling was decorated with transparent hemispherical glass to use daylight as much as possible, and murals were decorated with tropical plants like a botanical garden on the left and right walls to provide a refreshing feeling to the tired eyes. There were already 2 million books at the time of its opening in the 19th century, which surprised Giljoon Yoo, the first international state-funded student in Korea, with its grandeur and vast scale. Cultural heritages hidden in this magnificent passage of time have become history in themselves.
 
To convey more vividly the historical scene, Youngkyun Lim filmed early in the morning when there were no people, reducing the visual distance between the audience and the subject by capturing at a point where the vanishing point disappeared. This summons the scene, which was captured along the artist's gaze, and leads to vivid experience that transcends time and space. It feels as if you were walking into it and facing the fascinating scene. Youngkyun Lim's unique calm and meditative energy of contemplation is fully shown, and even if it is the same space, it is space recreated with subjects that project the artist's perspective, mind, and flow of consciousness. Professor Youngtaek Park, an art critic, commented that Youngkyun Lim's library work ‘has a unique meditative perspective on expressing everything in space and trying to maximize its existence.’ ‘It is also the power of Youngkyun Lim's photography, which fully emphasizes natural light and color and values the mind and sense of those who look at the subject.’ At a time when it is difficult to physically move due to COVID-19, Youngkyun Lim's photography exhibition, <Artist's Eye>, will allow visitors to enjoy UNESCO World Heritage and be a gift-like exhibition to those who want cultural and artistic recharging.

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Artist Biography

Photographer Youngkyun Lim (B.1955) was born in Daegu, graduated from Chung-Ang University's Department of Photography and New York University's Graduate School of Arts and studied at the New York International Photography Center (I.C.P). Starting with the Minister of Culture and Publication Award in 1973, he won the Smithsonian Museum curator Mary Forrester's 10th American Photographer Award in 1985, won the U.S. State Department Full Bright Research Fund in 2000, and held an invitation exhibition at the British Museum in 2005. Recently, he was honored to be the first Korean to be invited to the ‘20th Century Photo History Exhibition’ at the George Eastman Museum of Photography, called the Kodak Museum in New York. As a reporter for the JoongAng Ilbo's New York branch, he published articles and photographs in the New York Times and domestic and international daily and magazines, and served as a professor of photography at New York University and a professor of photography at Chung-Ang University. His works are owned by major museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the New York International Photography Center, the Kodak Museum of Photography, the city of Münster and Oldenburg, Germany, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Among the collections are Destiny (Münster Museum of Art), Daily Landscape (Youlhwadang), Youngkyun Lim's collection of figures (Ahn Graphics), Youngkyun Lim's collection of photographs (Sigongsa), Nam June Paik, Now Here (2GIL29 GALLERY).