Mark your calendars! Very early on, Galerie Loft presents the exhibition of Mun-Gi Yang, which will take place in May 2017. This exhibition will showcase his new works.
Mun-Gi Yang was born in 1970 in Gwangju, in the southwest of South Korea. He graduated from the College of Fine Arts at Chosun University, one of the oldest in the country. In 2012, the sculptor presented "Story of Luxury Stone" at the Okgwa Art Museum in South Korea. This exhibition revealed the particular attention he pays to the meaning and symbolism of luxury handbags by exploring the aesthetic potential of stone.
In this exhibition, 45 works invited viewers to reflect on the nature of objects and human beings, as well as on the structure of social mechanisms involved in shaping contemporary desires. These Luxury Stones, although they may initially appear as parodic works referencing Chinese counterfeit versions of luxury bags from major brands such as Louis Vuitton or Chanel, go far beyond simple imitation or representation.
Through the very characteristics of these stone objects, the practical function of the bag disappears. By losing all functionality, the object is transformed into an icon. Only the desire for possession—linked to the unique visual identity of each brand remains. This desire is further sublimated through stone, which is both polished and engraved like a piece of jewelry, while also retaining its raw and timeless nature rooted in sculptural tradition.
The diversion, therefore, applies both to the modern luxury object and to the material itself. The weight of these Luxury Stones suggests not only the massive and fetishistic nature of luxury consumption in Asia, but also the human sacrifices involved in the production and acquisition of luxury goods. These works question the quiet persistence, within the modern market economy, of longstanding traditions of constraints and imperatives tied to social success.
To learn more about the artist, click here.
