Mr. Dog Goes to Utopia by Kwak Su-yeon

Mr. Dog Goes to Utopia by Kwak Su-yeon

One of my favorite artists, Korean painter Kwak Su-yeon just opened a new show at Gallery Erl in Seoul.  She uses minwha, the traditional Korean folk style, to create a metaphor for her own life.  She told JoongAng Daily:

“My past works featuring dogs with luxury goods had a satirical tone.
They showed people who were driven to work outside the home in order to
make enough money to purchase luxury goods, while their dogs were left
at home to enjoy them,” Kwak said.

“On the other hand, the works
for this exhibition have more lyricism,” she continued. “The dogs
resting amidst the books or journeying to a Taoist paradise reflect my
desire to escape my own reality, in which I work for eight hours per
day alone in my studio, and leave for a utopia.”

I think anyone who works anywhere can relate.  See her earlier depiction of luxury and satire from her Dog Days exhibition here.

Mr. Dog Goes to Utopia runs until July 1, 2010.