Hence his black humor calls attention to social regulations and conventional notions which the general public unconsciously adheres to. Despite the fact that he is not judging values or taking a critical position, black humor produced in the process of maximizing the ‘contradiction between form and content’ makes the viewer question fundamental aspects of situations revealed as a result of discrepancy between perceived image and contents. In this sense, his practice is meta-contemporary and conceptual.Īnother important quality of Moon Hyungmin's practice is black humor.

A range of contents, unattainable by the mere surface look of the work, undergo a process of research and modular system that continuously collide with images behind images. According to the artist, he is not painting but ‘producing’a painting, each work captures disparate or unexpected stories rather than validating formal traits of each genre.

But the stories that each work contains is more demanding and complicated. Reflecting technical sophistication in each genre, the well painted pictures and sophisticated photographs with neat composition are elements drawing viewer’s attention. The theme of ‘contradiction between form and content’ is a basic element in his work.

Moon is one of those artists who keeps his balance, and this is possible as he works within a common pattern of ‘contradiction between form and content’ and ‘black humor'. Though it isn't new for an artist to work in different genres, retaining the characteristics of his own style throughout the whole practice is unusual. Critic's Note: The artistic practice of Moon Hyungmin cannot be defined by one genre as it encompasses painting, photograph, installation, sculpture, and video art.

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