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PURPOSE
Hyperrealism refers to a new trend that first appeared in the US-mainly in New York-and European countries, particularly Germany, in the late 1960s. It is a type of art that describes today’s actual appearance and modern people’s psychology more exquisitely using photographs as a medium, and transcending the limit of human vision. This art starts from an esthetic view that looks at reality calmly, and beyond the biases against modern culture and beauty, explores meaning beyond such biases with a sharp insight that penetrates through the particular times. These days, it has started to be given attention along with pop art and has succeeded the lineage of realism. It boldly adopts photography owing to the features inherent to its technique of expression, breaking away from traditional skills, and pioneers unique areas that are not found in other art genres. On the other hand, the most important key point of realism, reproduction, is the essential problem of art that has been endlessly discussed throughout all times. Unlike attempts by other art genres over the centuries, hyperrealism of the 21st century digs into the inside details of the world, paying attention to the constantly and subtly shaken borders in the cultural environment of this era (that is, pop culture) and in the consciousnesses of modern people.
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CONTENT
The exhibition held by Daejeon Museum of Art, “21st Century Hyperrealism: Breathing,” has the subtitle ‘Breathing’, based on the meaning in which the paintings and sculpture displayed make the viewer mistakenly believe they are living, and radiate the wonder and sublimity of disappearing human souls. The view of hyperrealism on humans brings out the irony that the disappearance of humans-the origin of reproduction-and the beings derived from such disappearance create more meaning than the original. The world where hyperrealism breathes is the world of such a hyperreality. This exhibition divides the response of hyperrealist art to such a hyperreality into three sections: the public, reality, and the ideal.
‘Breath with the Public’ consists of artists who, in the 1960s, described the then popular figures and items in new attempts at hyperrealism, adopting the features of pop art: a feeling of presence and everydayness. They also bravely introduced new techniques and pioneered the area of extreme expression. ‘Breath with Reality’ is comprised of artists who broke away from the method in which early hyperrealist artists depended on photography and focused on painting’s own unique features as a medium that can surpass the limit of hyperrealism. As bold artists who went against the era, they accessed the dignity of humans by describing the human body realistically at the level of transcending our imagination. And ‘Breath with Ideal’ is composed of works that reanalyzed reality in the late 20th century that could not be caught with photographs in the spirit of the era. They were very exquisitely expressed and needed long hours of labor. The artists in this section are generally those who, along with a stunning impression, convey messages regarding problems related with human survival, such as the destruction of nature, global warming, war, and so forth in their artistic views.
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ARTIST INFO
Breath with the public
Breath with the public consists of the works of artists who, as a new attempt of superrealism that surpassed the present sense and mundane everyday imagery in pop art in the 1960s, have adopted contemporary popular figures and icons, and expanded into new mediums and technologies to further maximize reality.(Marc Sijan / Marc Dennis / Adam Beane / François Chartier)
Breath with Reality
Breath with Reality consists of works by artists who have developed focusing on the unique pictorial elements of painting, surpassing the limit of hyperrealism, and differing from the method that has depended on photography. They are defiant artists who have adopted a reverse method in which they access the solemn human mind by depicting the human body realistically beyond the imagination of hyperrealism.(Carole A. Feuerman / Diego Koi / Sam Jinks / Robin Eley / Jeff Bartels / Marta Penter)
Breath with Ideal
Breath with Ideal is composed of works that, based on the spirit of the age, reinterpret reality that could not be caught in photos during the late 20th century. These pieces were created with labor over a long period of time and show a more elaborate pictorial expression. The viewer will be touched in that they convey various messages of this age.(Eloy Morales Ramiro / Pablo Jurado Ruiz / Christopher David White / Juan Ford / Sam Leach)