The ARKO Art Center in Seoul is currently hosting a thought-provoking group exhibition titled "Undoing Oneself," featuring five mid-career artists and collectives who explore the fundamental question of identity through their distinctive artistic mediums. The exhibition, which runs through October 26, presents works by Kang Hong-goo, Nayoungim & Gregory Maass, Kim Ok-sun, Kim Ji-pyeong, and Ha Cha-youn, each offering unique perspectives on self-examination and critique.
Visitors to the exhibition are immediately greeted by Kang Hong-goo's striking black-and-white photograph "Who am I 10" from 1998, which presents an iconic still from Quentin Tarantino's 1992 cult thriller "Reservoir Dogs." However, upon closer inspection, the image reveals an unsettling twist: each of the five suited men bears the same face - Kang's own likeness, digitally inserted through Photoshop onto the band of thieves who are nameless, materialistic, and destined for ruin.
"There's a certain cinematic fantasy we all carry - that petty, shallow desire to live as the hero of a film," the 69-year-old artist explained to The Korea Times. "That temptation exists in everyone. I wanted to see how it takes shape in me." This work exemplifies Kang's artistic philosophy, transforming the cinematic frame into a mirror that reflects both personal contradictions and the artist's place in society. The gesture functions simultaneously as both parody and confession, challenging viewers to confront their own desires for cinematic heroism.
Kang's approach represents a deliberate departure from what he considers the rigid grammar of straight photography, which he describes as overly formulaic. Instead, he employs intentional interventions through digital manipulation, hand-coloring, and image compositing to disrupt photography's traditional promise of unmediated truth. These techniques allow his images to develop into critical examinations that expose realities lying concealed beneath surface appearances.
The exhibition's other featured artists each bring their own distinctive approaches to exploring identity and selfhood. Kim Ok-sun's work begins with intimate examinations of her own family before gradually expanding her focus to encompass marriage migrants, multicultural youth, and other displaced communities. Her photographs create what can be described as a constellation of personal and collective narratives, where the concept of home is not viewed as a fixed destination to return to, but rather as an origin point that undergoes continuous reshaping.
Meanwhile, artist Ha Cha-youn directs her attention toward the struggles faced by immigrants, homeless individuals, and refugees within Europe's shifting political landscape. Her artistic perspective is deeply informed by her own experience of constant motion and displacement, having moved to France in 1983 and lived an artistic life characterized by perpetual movement and adaptation.
The collaborative duo Nayoungim & Gregory Maass, along with Kim Ji-pyeong, round out the exhibition's diverse roster of artists, each contributing their own interpretations of the central theme. Together, these five artistic voices create a comprehensive exploration of identity that invites viewers to trace the complex dynamics of self-statement and self-critique through works that are simultaneously intimate, whimsical, and unflinchingly honest.
"Undoing Oneself" challenges traditional notions of fixed identity by presenting works that embrace contradiction, multiplicity, and the ongoing process of self-discovery. The exhibition demonstrates how contemporary artists are using various mediums to question not just who they are, but how identity itself is constructed, performed, and continuously reimagined in an increasingly complex world.
