DOOSAN Gallery New York is pleased to present Hayoun Kwonʹs Solo Exhibition, Then, Fly Away, from November 7th to December 19th. Kwon, who is the 2017 recipient of the 8th DOOSAN Yonkang Arts Awards, lives and works between France and South Korea. The artist has exhibited and received awards at numerous venues and institutions including: the Ars Electronica Festival(2018) in Austria; Doc Fortnight(2017) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, U.S.A.; the 62nd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen(2016) in Germany; and Palais de Tokyo(2015) in France. Kwon, whose new media-based work has taken on several forms including 3D animation, documentaries, Virtual Reality(VR) projects and installations, has consistently addressed geopolitical questions surrounding borders and territoriality, migration, immigration and the construction of historical and individual memories. The Bird Lady(2019) and the artistʹs newest work, Peach Garden(2019), will be presented at DOOSAN Gallery New York, and 489 Years(2015-2016), a VR piece, will also be presented at DOOSAN Residency New York over the first two weeks of the exhibition.
The Bird Lady, which was originally presented as a VR piece during Kwonʹs Solo Exhibition at DOOSAN Gallery, is screened as a film throughout this exhibition. This piece recreates a story that was told to Kwon by Daniel Nadaud – Kwonʹs drawing teacher during her time as a student in France. Faced with the task of drawing up a plan of an old building in Paris, the young Nadaud encounters an unexpected space: a bird-filled room that so greatly enchants him that he comes to forget the reason he had visited. The sound of flapping wings moves Nadaud into a realm of memory; and as he begins narrating, the viewer is led into a transcendent, fairy tale-like space rendered through 3D animation. Inspired by early Joseon dynasty painter An Gyeonʹs Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land 1)(1447), Kwonʹs newest work, Peach Garden, exists as a thematic extension of The Bird Lady. In discussing the process of creating The Bird Lady using VR, Kwon explains her fascination with the movement of walking figures and her desire to virtually build the cinematic experience of roaming a fantastical, imagined environment. Presented in five separate VR areas in the gallery space, Peach Garden invites viewers to visually and aurally experience the pieceʹs metaphysical spacetime.

489 Years, which remains on view for two weeks at DOOSAN Residency New York from November 7th to 23rd, is the outcome of Kwonʹs first venture into Virtual Reality. The workʹs title, 489 Years, refers to the time required to remove all of the landmines that are planted in the border between North and South Korea. Narrated by a border patrol agent who recounts his experience of the DMZ, the work weaves the viewer in and out of multiple dimensions located at the cusp of reality and fantasy. Through Then, Fly Away, Kwon underscores the fallacious and ever-changing nature of memory as it relates to both the individual and collective lived experience; and encourages viewers to examine the frontiers of objective truth and fictional interpretation.

1. A traditional landscape painting depicting a utopian world filled with peach blossoms

Hayoun Kwon(b. 1981) received a B.F.A and an M.F.A from Franceʹs National Center for Visual Arts(CNAP) and an M.F.A from National des Arts Contemporains Le Fresnoy. She has held Solo Exhibitions at DOOSAN Gallery(Seoul, KR, 2018), Galerie Sator(Paris, FR, 2018), Palais de Tokyo(Paris, FR, 2017), Le Centre dʹArt et Photographie de Lectoure(Lectoure, FR, 2016), and the Municipal School of Fine Arts(Chateauroux, FR, 2015). She has also participated in group exhibitions at Paradise City(2019, Incheon, KR), 2018 Busan Biennale(2018, Busan, KR), Alternative Space LOOP(2018, Seoul, KR), Arario Gallery Seoul RYSE Hotel(2018, Seoul, KR), the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea(2017, Seoul, KR), Nam June Paik Art Center(2017, Yongin, KR), the Museum of Modern Art(2017, New York, US), Le Centre dʹArt Contemporain de Maymac(2016, Maymac, FR), the Seoul Museum of Art(2015, Seoul, KR), Art Sonje Center(2015, Seoul, KR), Gyeonggi Creation Center(2015, Ansan, KR), the 1st Vendome Triennale(2015, Vendome, FR), the 2014 Busan Biennale(2014, Busan, KR), and Jeu de Paume(2014, Paris, FR).