DENVER, CO (PNAN) – Now showing through Saturday, April 30, 2022 at the K Contemporary, “Wounded Man, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” is a solo exhibition by South Korean artist Ken Gun Min.
The show is both a nod to a book by acclaimed Japanese author Haruki Murakami that has a similar title and Min’s experience as an artist living multiple realities where his work transcends temporal and spatial boundaries allowing disparate images to co-exist and collide. Cartoon figures, birds and tigers share space with anatomical drawings, flowers, western drapery and lush Asian landscapes, creating a new universe with its own logic and language.
The show debuts more than 20 new works including mixed media paintings and drawings, artist books, found objects, garments and traditional Korean painted folding screens. Much of the work is on raw canvas and comingles Asian ink pigments with western oils, including work that is vivified with glass beads, scraps of faux fur and crystal.
Curator Doug Kacena says, “Ken’s work is mythic and open to interpretation. As an immigrant artist caught between eastern and western traditions his narrative is projected into the theme of ‘Wounded Man.’ The mixed media pieces are about a person between two worlds, two narratives, two landscapes and two cultures. In his work, cultural differences and misunderstandings can lead to both pain and healing. There’s beauty, humor and hope in Ken’s unexpected juxtapositions.”
For more information, see: www.kcomtemporary.com. Editor’s note: “Fragments” by Denver artist Mario Zoots runs concurrently with the Min’s exhibit through April 30.