An ice-cream store worker in Seoul wants to explore the Arctic. A Taiwanese nut-seller yearns for her happier days in primary school. In Beijing, a waiter dreams of becoming a chef and serving his grandmother a splendid meal.
In his poignant Bewitched (2001-ongoing) series, South Korean-born artist Jung Yeondoo, born in 1969, urges people around the world to envision their inner longings by photographing them as they are—and as they might be. Subjects strike the same pose, and yet are dressed differently, amid ornately staged scenes, to capture their real and fantasy selves. The often beguiling photographs are presented as a single channel video in Jung Yeondoo: Building Dreams, opening May 17 at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM).
Also on view is Yeondoo’s Evergreen Towers (2001) series. These 32 family portraits were taken at an apartment complex in Seoul. Although each unit in the generic high-rise buildings is identical, Yeondoo captures the idiosyncratic lives and hidden aspirations of those living behind closed doors as a way to explore the prevalence of social isolation and anonymity in urban settings.
Over the years, Yeondoo, who lives and works in his native city of Seoul, has established himself as a culturally sensitive observer. His photographs tenderly elevate the rich inner worlds of those around us—those whom we often don’t know or don’t think to get to know.
Shown internationally, his works are also held in private and public collections—including at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York. This exhibition coincides with a new installation of historic works and artifacts from the PEM’s acclaimed collection of Korean works in the Yu Kil-Chun Gallery of Korean Art and Culture. All told, the works highlight the evolution of Korean art and culture in surprisingly intimate ways.
