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| Jeong Jin-ju | |
|---|---|
| Name | Jeong Jin-ju |
| Birth date | 1960s |
| Birth place | South Korea |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Field | Painting, Installation |
| Training | Seoul National University, Royal College of Art |
| Notable works | Mourning Flowers series, River of Names |
| Awards | Korean Fine Arts Association Prize |
Jeong Jin-ju is a South Korean visual artist known for large-scale paintings and installations that explore memory, identity, and historical trauma through layered surfaces and fragmented imagery. Working across canvas, paper, and mixed-media installations, Jeong has exhibited in museums and biennials and has been included in publications on contemporary Korean art, Asian contemporary art, and postwar visual cultures. Her practice engages with themes resonant in discussions about modernism in Korea, postcolonial theory, and transnational exhibition networks involving institutions like the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea and the Tate Modern.
Born in South Korea in the 1960s, Jeong studied art during a period of rapid social change paralleling events such as the Gwangju Uprising and the democratization movement of the 1980s. She completed undergraduate studies at Seoul National University before pursuing postgraduate training at the Royal College of Art in London, where contact with artists linked to Young British Artists and debates around neo-expressionism influenced her techniques. Her formative years intersected with exhibitions at venues such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea and the Busan Biennale, which shaped her awareness of curatorial practice and international networks like the Venice Biennale and the Asia Art Archive.
Jeong's early career involved collaborative projects with artist-run spaces in Seoul and participation in group exhibitions organized by the Korean Fine Arts Association and the Korean Art Research Institute. She held teaching posts at institutions including Korea National University of Arts and delivered lectures at universities such as Yonsei University and Korea University. Over time she moved from studio-based painting to immersive installation work shown at venues like the Seoul Museum of Art, the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, and international forums including the Gwangju Biennale, the Shanghai Biennale, and regional exhibitions across Tokyo, Beijing, and New York City.
Jeong's career is marked by residencies at programs such as the Sotheby's Institute of Art residency and exchanges with centers like the British Council and the Korean Cultural Center in London, facilitating solo shows at galleries linked to the Asia Society circuit. Her curatorial collaborations connected her with curators from the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, integrating her work into dialogues about feminist art and memory studies.
Jeong's notable series include the Mourning Flowers series and River of Names, characterized by layered pigments, collage, and archival fragments drawn from newspapers, family photographs, and government documents. Her aesthetic evokes parallels with Anselm Kiefer, Cindy Sherman, and Gerhard Richter through textured surfaces and the use of erasure as method. Critics have compared thematic concerns in her work to projects by Mieke Bal, Hito Steyerl, and Marina Abramović for their engagement with history and performative remembrance.
Her approach frequently incorporates materials associated with everyday life in Korean urban and rural contexts, linking to visual vocabularies seen in works by Nam June Paik, Lee Ufan, and contemporaries such as Do Ho Suh. Jeong often juxtaposes figurative fragments with abstract fields, echoing debates around postwar abstraction and narrative painting found in exhibitions at institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and the Pompidou Centre. She has experimented with time-based installations and sound elements in collaboration with composers who have worked at venues including the Korea National Opera and experimental music collectives in Seoul.
Jeong has mounted solo exhibitions at regional venues and participated in international group shows, including presentations at the Gwangju Biennale, the Busan Biennale, and collateral events at the Venice Biennale. Her work has been collected by museums such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea and private collections associated with corporate museums like the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art. She has received awards from organizations including the Korean Fine Arts Association and grants from the Arts Council Korea and the Asian Cultural Council.
Critical responses have appeared in journals such as Artforum, ArtAsiaPacific, and Frieze, and her pieces have been discussed in catalogues produced by curatorial teams linked to the Tate Modern, the Brooklyn Museum, and the National Gallery of Australia. She has been invited to lecture at symposia organized by the Asia Art Archive, Centre Pompidou, and university forums at Harvard University and Columbia University.
Jeong resides in Seoul and maintains a studio practice that balances teaching, research, and production. She has collaborated with family members as subjects in photographic works and has engaged in community-based projects with local arts organizations such as the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and grassroots collectives in districts like Hongdae and Itaewon. Her partnerships include long-term relationships with curators and artists from networks including the Korean Artists Association and international peers from London and Berlin.
Jeong's work contributes to discussions about memory, trauma, and identity within South Korean contemporary art and the broader field of Asian contemporary art. Her practice has influenced younger artists working at the intersection of painting and installation, visible in programs at institutions like the Korea National University of Arts and curatorial initiatives by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Scholars of postwar visual culture reference her work alongside peers featured in retrospectives at the Gwangju Biennale and thematic shows at the Tate Modern and MoMA PS1, situating her within transnational dialogues about art, history, and representation.
Category:South Korean painters Category:Contemporary artists