Young-jun Tak
“Love Your Clean Feet on Thursday”
Atelier Hermès, Seoul
January 2024
Still image from “Love Your Clean Feet on Thursday” (2023) by the Korean artist Young-jun Tak.
Nestled on the basement floor of Maison Hermès in Seoul’s Apgujeong area, you’ll find the first exhibition in his native country from Berlin-based Korean artist Young-jun Tak. The exhibition features two video works based on contemporary dance set to classical music from Bach and Massenet.
“Wish You a Lovely Sunday” (2021), which was also recently featured at the Julia Stoschek Foundation in Germany, shows a choreographer and performer in the setting of a light-filled church and another pair in an empty basement-level gay club lit by red lighting. “Love Your Clean Feet on Thursday” (2023), which is having its world premier in Seoul, deftly contrasts a Christian Easter ritual of the carrying of Christ by military soldiers in Spain– a hyper-masculine performance – with that of a queer group of dancers carrying one of their own through the gay cruising spot of the Grunewald forest outside Berlin without their feet touching the ground.
Both works can be seen as a critique of the exclusionary practices of the church against sexual minorities while at the same time trying to find common ground between the institution and queer identity. Also on display at the exhibition are two sculptures: “Wishful” (2023), comprises a holy water bowl filled with a silicone replica of the artist’s nipple; and “My Big Expectation” (2022) consists of two one-meter-high pillars that reproduce the famous and ubiquitous German vegetable “spargle” (white asparagus). The head of Saint John the Baptist can seen on one the spears in a possible comment on the political, cultural and religious polarisation that the artist has observed in Korea and Europe.
“Love Your Clean Feet on Thursday” runs until January 28, 2024 at Atelier Hermès, Thursday–Tuesday 11:00–19:00. Entry is free. Follow the artist @youngjun.tak on Instagram and Fondation d'entreprise Hermès @fondationhermes
Young-jun Tak
“Love Your Clean Feet on Thursday”
Atelier Hermès, Seoul
January 2024
Still image from “Love Your Clean Feet on Thursday” (2023) by the Korean artist Young-jun Tak.
Nestled on the basement floor of Maison Hermès in Seoul’s Apgujeong area, you’ll find the first exhibition in his native country from Berlin-based Korean artist Young-jun Tak. The exhibition features two video works based on contemporary dance set to classical music from Bach and Massenet.
“Wish You a Lovely Sunday” (2021), which was also recently featured at the Julia Stoschek Foundation in Germany, shows a choreographer and performer in the setting of a light-filled church and another pair in an empty basement-level gay club lit by red lighting. “Love Your Clean Feet on Thursday” (2023), which is having its world premier in Seoul, deftly contrasts a Christian Easter ritual of the carrying of Christ by military soldiers in Spain– a hyper-masculine performance – with that of a queer group of dancers carrying one of their own through the gay cruising spot of the Grunewald forest outside Berlin without their feet touching the ground.
Both works can be seen as a critique of the exclusionary practices of the church against sexual minorities while at the same time trying to find common ground between the institution and queer identity. Also on display at the exhibition are two sculptures: “Wishful” (2023), comprises a holy water bowl filled with a silicone replica of the artist’s nipple; and “My Big Expectation” (2022) consists of two one-meter-high pillars that reproduce the famous and ubiquitous German vegetable “spargle” (white asparagus). The head of Saint John the Baptist can seen on one the spears in a possible comment on the political, cultural and religious polarisation that the artist has observed in Korea and Europe.
“Love Your Clean Feet on Thursday” runs until January 28, 2024 at Atelier Hermès, Thursday–Tuesday 11:00–19:00. Entry is free. Follow the artist @youngjun.tak on Instagram and Fondation d'entreprise Hermès @fondationhermes