Video: Korean artist Kim Joon and his show 'Tattoo and Taboo'
Using animation photography, Joon creates three-dimensional human figures over which he meticulously grafts human, animal and artifically-created skin. These figures are then covered in bright patterns of "tattoos" made from logos of designer labels and traditional Asian imagery. His work explores the idea of the tattoo -- a major taboo in Korea -- as an expression of secret desires and hidden pain.
The pictures are also just really cool. Joon is the type of dude who will put a hairy man's leg and butt onto a curvy, Botticelli-esque female figure, and who draws inspiration from pop, such as in "Neverland," a pile of zombie-like limbs for his Thriller-inspired homage to Michael Jackson.
Joon says, "The visual aesthetic elements of Eastern culture are ingrained in my consciousness and naturally comes out when I'm working with this 20th century, very modern, hip, technology. So there's always this fusion of Western and Eastern in my work. The meeting, conflict, and struggle of the two cultures just comes out very naturally."
We caught Kim Joon at Sudaram Tagore Gallery, before he left Hong Kong, and asked him a few questions about his work with translation help from his curator Inhee Iris Moon.
Kim Joon's "Tattoo and Taboo"
November 18-December 13
57-59 Hollywood Road, Central
Tel: +852 2581 9678
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