Mona Young-eun KIM, lives and work in France
I have always been inspired by existentialism and sci-fi books. I immerse myself in the story and experience their lives. Authors don’t make everything obvious, so I like finding the many symbols and metaphors. I use literary devices in my work like satire, allegory, and double entendre to create layers of meaning.
I’ve researched medium or middle and what is considered normal throughout different cultures. This led me to become interested in the fundamental things we have around us, such as water, climate, the sun, sky, and even fields of grass. These things appear to be universal but are actually very different depending on our environment. This drove me to work with plastic as a research subject but also material. This is because plastic is the most common material in our lives and it allows many people to have an average quality of life.
Several works also question the notion of inside/outside and use windows as imaginary portals. Windows can be a symbol of boredom, and to help us imagine other places and times. I try to dissolve this boundary between real and imaginary spaces, and I’m naturally fascinated with mixed reality technology that blurs these borders between the real and virtual. When I make virtual reality videos, I mix real 360 footage and 3D animation in one scene. Recently I’ve been working on inserting augmented reality into public space by creating a mobile application.
I also work with language and signs and explore how they might evolve in the future. I transform the shape of letters and characters so that they are not easily recognisable. My work often contains different languages making it accessible to a larger audience but also leads to different interpretations each time. This ambiguity creates a poetic and humorous space that gives freedom to the spectator.
I would like my work to invite the viewer to make their own experience, seeing, discovering, evoking. I work with everyday objects - water bottles, street signs, fences, id cards… and public space. When things and spaces that we see regularly every day, appear unexpectedly, our perception is disrupted from our routines and apathy. Interested in artistic interventions in public space, I have done a permanent installation for the ceiling and windows of the regenerated Les Halles Laissac in Montpellier. I have also produced a site-specific 360° video as part of the artistic and cultural program of the Grand Paris Express with Le 104 Paris in front of Maison Blanche metro station.
SOLO EXHIBITION
2023 (Upcoming) La Centrale, Montréal (Canada)
2022 Plastic Age - Project space 10 & Zero uno, Venice (Italy)
2021 Doublage - Gallery AL/MA and city center of Montpellier (France)
2019 Too Much And Not Enough, curator Stilbé Schroeder - Casino Forum d'art contemporain, Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
GROUPE EXHIBITION
2022 Nuit Verte, curator Elise Girardot Biennale PanOrama 2022 - Cenon (France)
Mosaique des lexiques, Les Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers, Aubervilliers (France)
2021 Trois petits chats, curateur Antoine Champenois - Galerie du Lendemain - Paris
Arthlète, Atelier 2059, Cité internationale des arts, Paris (France)
Strangerhood, curator le collective SPAM - Kebab restaurant PT de St-Denis, Paris (France)
Croisement, curator Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, Villa Radet, Paris (France)
Humanimal - Gallery Grand Verre, Paris (France)
Exophony, curator Hyunjong Lee - Espace Euljiro OF, Séoul (South Korea)
2019 Touch-and-go, Gallery Bu - Istanbul (Turkey)
Grasping Water, S.a.L.E Docks - Venice (Italy)
Abstract mind, Cica museum, Gimpo (South Korea)
2018 30° Winter, Plage Fort Kochi and Malabar Silks store - Fort Kochi (India)
Kermesse, curateur Bernard Marcadé, La Panacée - Montpellier (France)
Stargate, Beaux-arts - Toulouse-Montpellier-Aix-en-Provence (France)
2017 Rendez-vous, Espace Saint-Ravy - Montpellier (France)
Elsewhere-Ailleurs, Gallery PCA - Plymouth (England)
Intérims, curator Nicolas Bourriaud, La Panacée - Montpellier (France)
2016 Buzz 07, Gallery Aperto - Montpellier (France)
Speakeasy, Galerie Chantiers Boîte Noire - Montpellier (France)
PRIZE / FELLOWSHIP
2021 Nominée par la curatrice Blanche de Lestrange for l’Opline Prize
Fellowship - Aide à la création : Œuvres d'art, Région Occitanie
Prix Protection des Océans par l'association Protection des Oréans
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION
2021 AR art installation with Doublage APP - Montpellier city center (France)
2020 Installation of VR video in collaboration with Timescope company - Gare de la Maison-Blanche, Paris (France)
2018 Permanent installation « Melon » - Les Halles Laissac Market (France)
ARTISTS RESIDENCY
2023 (Upcoming) La Centrale, Montréal (Canada)
2022 Artagon Maison, Vitry aux loges (France)
2020 - 2021 Cité internationale des arts, Paris (France)
2019 Le 104, Paris (France)
2018 - 2019 International residency Saison 6 - Venice Biennale (Italy), Istanbul Biennale (Turkey) and Kochi-Muziris
Biennale (India)
CURATORIAL PROJECT
2021 No Home Radius 20,000 km, Villa Radet, Paris (France)
2019 Si la nuit était claire, project space Saint-Ravy, Montpellier (France)
2018 Kimcheese, Le festival Corée d’ici, empty project space, Montpellier (France)
2018 Mi Re Do, Gallery ESBA-MO.CO., Montpellier (France)
CONFERENCE
2019 Talk, Mo.Co. Panacée, Montpellier (France)
2018 Conférence, Festival Corée d’Ici, Jean Monnet high school, Montpellier (France)
TEACHING
2021-now Professor of Fine Art, École Supérieure d'Art et de Design, Reims (France)
2020 Professor of Fine Art, High school Myungduk, Seoul, (South Korea)
2019 Assistant Simon Fujiwara, Biennale d’Istanbul (Turkey)
Assistant Marco Godinho, Biennale de Venise (Italy)
2018 Assistant Kausik Mukhopadhyay, Biennale de Kochi-Muziris (India)
Atelier pour jeune public, La Panacée - Montpellier (France)
2017 Tutor for Etching, secondary school The Red House, Plymouth (England)
EDUCATION
2019 Post-diplôme Saison 6 - Mo.Co.ESBA, Montpellier (France)
2018 DNSEP - Master’s degree in Art - Mo.Co.ESBA, Montpellier (France)
2017 ERASMUS - Plymouth College of Art (England)
2016 DNA Bachelor's degree in Art - Mo.Co.ESBA, Montpellier (France)
2012 Bachelor’s degree in Cinema & Audio-visual and in Philosophy - Dongguk University, Seoul (South Korea)