Paris, France —An intriguing exhibition of peaceful and pink works will be unfolding at the Almine Rech gallery in Paris featuring the works of Korean-born artist Minjung Kim. She studied calligraphy and watercolor from an early age and then trained in art in Seoul and abroad, notably at the l’Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera à Milan. The poetic abstract works on display in Paris are a result of her work with Korean Mulberry Hanji paper, a robust paper she discovered as a child that is used for practical purposes like insulation and archiving. It is an old material and can trace its roots back to at least the 3rd century. It is one of Korea’s Kozo papers and like all Kozo papers Hanji uses the inner bark of the mulberry tree but what sets it apart is the addition of Hibiscus meniot which strengthens the fibers. It is often used in collage making.

But back to the artist and her lovely works of art. She works with remnants of the mulberry paper that she had in her studio combining them with remnants of watercolors, thus creating beauty out of materials that would otherwise have been thrown away, a gesture that Kim refers to as « violent » according to the writer Maria Vogel in a preface to the exhibition which is entitled, fittingly, Regeneration. The works were created just before winter metamorphosed into spring. And a new shiny life, a regeneration, was given to the paper bringing together the old with the new.  Some of her works are created through the process of burning in addition to her innovative use of the paper. 

Minjung Kim’s works have been exhibited in both east and west and can be found in prestigious collections, notably The Leeum Samsung Museum in Seoul, South Korea, the British Museum and the Tate Modern in London and the Metropolitan Museum of New York. The Paris exhibition is running from April 26th until May 25th, 2024. Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. Aline Rech Matignon, 18 avenue Matignon 75008 Paris, France. https://www.alminerech.com/