Lot 1007: BAE JOONSUNG

BAE JOONSUNG
(Born in 1967)
The Costume of Painter - C. Lacroix
oil on vinyl, vinyl over photograph
154 x 252 cm. (60 1/2 x 99 in.)

Bae is an important Korean contemporary photographic artist. His completely new type of work combines photography with painting. The work is interactive and requires the viewer's participation. Bee paints Western style costumes on a transparent vinyl film, which is then attached to a photograph. The photograph is usually of a Korean nude model standing in different settings and the vinyl costumes are positioned to clothe the model, but can be lifted from the bottom to expose the nude model underneath. In The Costume of Painter - C. Lacroix (Lot 1007), Bae invites a voyeuristic involvement of the viewer, with an aptly-themed nude subject beneath. Based on 19th Century European painting subject matter, the artist blurs the importance of clothing, inviting the audience to debate whether to "wear", or "not to wear." Bae hypothesizes that a dress, no matter what form, is only as beautiful as the body it covers. The role of clothing has swayed from once decorative objects, to shrouds of society's self consciousness. In The Costume of Painter - A Tadema (Lot 1008), Bae has taken the effect of one dichotomy and tripled the drama. A small town scene hovers in the background, with a trio of Scottish bagpipes in the distance. Both groups vie for attention in the scene, with the women clearly overpowering the simplicity of the town square. Dressed in elegant Greek regalia, the women are torn out of the pages of Roman public entertainment harking back to the days of simplistic entertainment and romance. Cymbals, and fire clash against the quaint scene. This enhances the duality of Bae's work and the constant irony that is expressed in his art. Objects with completely different characteristics coexist within Bae's work. Moreover, the viewer can enjoy his works like a "peep" show by lifting the vinyl sheet.