Sogyeok-dong, Jongno-gu
2nd July- 5th August
Opening hours: Monday- Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday and national holidays 10am-5pm
Admission: free
www.kukjegallery.com
Aaron Young has been making quite a name for himself recently in the art world. Heralded as a modern day Jackson Pollock, his style, like Pollock’s, is urgent, dynamic and alluring in it’s rebellious nature. Like the Action Painters of the 1950′s, his works emphasize the physical act of their making as an essential aspect. Watercolour Challenge this is not. His works are big, macho and ambitious. Pop into Kukje Gallery to see for yourself in the latest exhibition, Repeat Offender.
Aaron Young, 'Untitled (Barricade),' 2010 (Installation view)
Upon stepping into the gallery, the viewer is transported into a scene of beautified trauma. Thick, black tiremarks cover the floor and three 24kt gold plated concertinaed barricades, ‘Untitled, (Barricade),’ 2010, stand in no particular position. They look as if they’re the sad remnants of a riot which I would be inclined to feel concerned about if they weren’t so beautiful! Upon two opposing walls lean two large glass plates. They have been permanently disfigured by hot, shredded rubber which mar the surface. Everything is still, but the space bears the scars of violent actions which once occurred within it.
Aaron Young, 'Untitled,' 2010
A series of Young’s infamous tire track works are displayed in the second gallery; ‘Untitled (12 Gold Panels),’ 2010. Twelve 24 kt gold plated brass panels hang, bearing curved tire tracks of motorbikes which once sped across them, driven by hired riders. The marks in burnt rubber and motor oil are concentrated and have the appearance of the messy internal workings of a robot. I imagine the making of these pieces would have been quite a spectacle, much like Pollock’s action paintings. Also in line with the Action Painters’ philosophy is the fact that the marks are compulsive and care nothing for any pre-determined notions of composition and borders. The use of tire treads pays respect to another Action painter, Robert Rauschenberg, and his work, ‘Automobile Tire Print,’ 1953.
Robert Rauschenberg, 'Automobile Tire Print,' 1953
Upstairs, a spotlit paradoxical glass wrecking ball, ‘Untitled (Wrecking Ball),’ 2010, hangs elegantly in front of a video projection called ‘Good Boy,’ 2001. The audio of this piece can also be heard in the first gallery. It shows a dog dangling from the same chain which the wrecking ball is attached, it’s jaws adamantly clamped around it as it’s body thrashes wildly in a hopeless and frustrating battle which never comes to any satisfying conclusion, as it is played on a loop.
These are EXACTLY the kinds of artworks that I adore. They are big, brash, terrible and beautiful all at the same time. He has taken the extremely influential language of the Action Painters and brought it up to date, weaving in references to subcultures and creating his own unique, dark yet tantalising style. Who knew crushed up, gold plated barricades could be so dreamy? Aaron Young, please continue to repeat this offending behaviour.
