Jimmy Tailor
“Vanishing” <사라지는 것들> by Jimmy Tailor
KOTE, Seoul
June 2023
Having spent six months embedded in a local suit-making factory in Seoul – just one of two of its kind left in city – Jimmy Tailor (a professional tailor himself) presents what is, miraculously, his first full art exhibition. Having picked up a paint brush for the first time in 2019 to create a unique birthday present for his “gay dad”, the artist Roland Gilles, Jimmy clearly had a natural flare for oil on canvas.
The exhibition mostly depicts the life and characters of the suit factory through figurative painting: from the boss Mr Kim and his US college-educated wife, to the lotto-playing optimist (who once spent time in prison) waiting for his luck to come in, and the highly skilled jacket-making Mr An, among many others. The show tells the human story of the artisans left behind in an industry in decline. As the once-thriving industry of suit-making is outsourced from Korea, the aged people left behind are hanging in there with heart and passion intact, supporting each other to the end.
As well as portraits of each of the workers, the exhibition shows the importance of community with paintings of the group gathered around eating and drinking soju in the factory, and another showing them playing card games together. There’s a landscape painting of what Jimmy saw outside the widow of the factory, depicting the changing landscape of the Euiljuro area of Seoul where the factory resides – an area constantly under threat of gentrification and redevelopment – just one kilometre from the exhibition space at KOTE. Also on display is an abstract painting of the factory floor depicting the energy of each of the individuals at work.
I was lucky enough to meet the artist when I stopped by the space and even luckier to have a guided tour and explanation of each of the paintings. Jimmy has captured a moment in time of a group that has dedicated much of their life to the trade of suit-making and generously shared each of their stories in posterity through his work.
“Vanishing” <사라지는 것들> is on at KOTE until July 30, 2023 and is open 11am–8pm. Instagram: @jimmythetailor
Jimmy Tailor
“Vanishing” <사라지는 것들> by Jimmy Tailor
KOTE, Seoul
June 2023
Having spent six months embedded in a local suit-making factory in Seoul – just one of two of its kind left in city – Jimmy Tailor (a professional tailor himself) presents what is, miraculously, his first full art exhibition. Having picked up a paint brush for the first time in 2019 to create a unique birthday present for his “gay dad”, the artist Roland Gilles, Jimmy clearly had a natural flare for oil on canvas.
The exhibition mostly depicts the life and characters of the suit factory through figurative painting: from the boss Mr Kim and his US college-educated wife, to the lotto-playing optimist (who once spent time in prison) waiting for his luck to come in, and the highly skilled jacket-making Mr An, among many others. The show tells the human story of the artisans left behind in an industry in decline. As the once-thriving industry of suit-making is outsourced from Korea, the aged people left behind are hanging in there with heart and passion intact, supporting each other to the end.
As well as portraits of each of the workers, the exhibition shows the importance of community with paintings of the group gathered around eating and drinking soju in the factory, and another showing them playing card games together. There’s a landscape painting of what Jimmy saw outside the widow of the factory, depicting the changing landscape of the Euiljuro area of Seoul where the factory resides – an area constantly under threat of gentrification and redevelopment – just one kilometre from the exhibition space at KOTE. Also on display is an abstract painting of the factory floor depicting the energy of each of the individuals at work.
I was lucky enough to meet the artist when I stopped by the space and even luckier to have a guided tour and explanation of each of the paintings. Jimmy has captured a moment in time of a group that has dedicated much of their life to the trade of suit-making and generously shared each of their stories in posterity through his work.
“Vanishing” <사라지는 것들> is on at KOTE until July 30, 2023 and is open 11am–8pm. Instagram: @jimmythetailor