Jin Joo Chae “The Choco Pie-ization of North Korea”
Julie Meneret Contemporary Art
This event has ended.
Julie Meneret Contemporary Art presents a solo show by Jin Joo Chae. The artist is inspired by her experience as a Korean living abroad and the way that American news represents international events, especially the tense dynamics between North and South Korea. Her current project references the consequential Choco Pie, a popular South Korean dessert. Choco Pies are given out in lieu of forbidden cash bonuses to North Korean workers in the demilitarized Kaesong Industrial Complex, the only place where the two countries have any contact. The cookies are sold on the black market for prices that can exceed $10 each, despite an average monthly income of $150, effectively introducing capitalism into a society closed off from the world. Women play a major role in this market, which constitutes civil disobedience in a country where resistance is rarely possible. Using fragile and fragrant media such as newspaper and screen-printed chocolate, Chae manipulates dominant political narratives to suggest more complex and physically embodied realities. Playful modes and materials are subverted to suggest a certain despair and helplessness, a desire for transformation.
[Image: Jin Joo Chae “Choco Pie with Communist Cream” (2013) Milk chocolate and chocolate syrup on North Korean newspaper. 60 x 48 in.]
Media
Schedule
from January 08, 2014 to February 23, 2014
Opening Reception on 2014-01-08 from 18:00 to 20:00