Exhibition Information

Dew Kim Meta Temple
2022 video 14'2"
(Source = Alternative Space LOOP)

Dew Kim Last Scenes
2023 multi-channel video 9'14"
(Source = Alternative Space LOOP)

Dew Kim Enrapture
2022 wood, lenticular print, mixed media 180x95x4cm
(Source = Alternative Space LOOP)

Dew Kim LOOK
2022 iron, aluminum, clay, a neon light, a light stick, 3D printed resin, iPhone, mixed media 115x75x30cm
(Source = Alternative Space LOOP)

			On top of social hierarchies of class, race, gender, and ethnicity, there are orders based on sexual behavior. Monogamy, based on heterosexuality, is socially blessed as relationships that contribute to social reproduction. In contrast, homosexual or polyamorous relationships, sadomasochism, and sexual fetishes are considered non-reproductive and inferior. They also face constant pressure and incitement to transform their sexuality to serve the patriarchal system. Their lives have been portrayed as dangerous and frightening under mainstream values such as anti-communism and post-war oaths to the state, leading to the reconstruction of gender roles and the family.

House of Xtravaganza is one of the most iconic houses of underground ball culture, founded in 1982 in Harlem, New York. A space open to the people excluded from the mainstream system, such as African Americans, Latinx, and LGBTQ communities, it functions as an alternative family. The person leading the house is called the ‘mother’ or ‘father,’ and the house’s inhabitants are ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters.’ In researching the House of Xtravaganza, Dew Kim sees parallels to the way Jesus formed a community with the socially excluded with his working-class disciples.

Traditionally, the Catholic Stations of the Cross represent Jesus’ fourteen steps from being condemned to death, crucifixion, and burial in the tomb. Based on this, Eui Soon Choi’s Stations of the Cross (1967) depicts the path of the passion of Jesus in the form of ‘hand expressions’ at the holy site of Jeoldusan.

Dew Kim is intrigued by the recurring use of hand symbols in both religion and dance. From this, the artist researches Voguing, a choreography that uses the excessive poses and hand gestures of models in Vogue magazine. Studying Xtravaganza’s floor performances and catwalks, the artist incorporates the fourteen sculptures of Jesus’ hands from Jeoldusan as hand performances for voguing dance. Notably, the current mainstream Christian system has literally stopped Jesus’ hands; however, this results in an artistic act that questions if the energy to move those hands is, after all, the excluded and marginalized from society.

Dew Kim’s solo show revolves around Christianity, queerness, and K-Pop. Metatemple, located on the first floor, is about the intersectionality of Christianity and queerness; Last Scenes and other works on the basement floor address Christianity, queerness, and K-Pop. By creating an alternative religious temple called Metatemple, Kim proposes an alternative sanctuary where those excluded from heteronormative values live together—the basement floor space functions as both a K-Pop stage and a site for the final scenes of Christianity.

Last Scenes, a video work capturing the last scenes of K-pop songs, is based on the image of the resurrected Jesus that one encounters when entering the church. Kim says the structure of K-Pop presents the story in the most dramatic way possible, revealing the similar structure of the Christian narrative, which ends with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The audience cheering with holiness and ecstasy at the end of the performance by burning themselves to death overlaps with the metaphor of Jesus’ cycle and resurrection. Similarly, a crown-shaped chandelier, LOOK, is suspended from a ring light and an iPhone for personal broadcasting. Through Instagram filters, the audience is invited to project their own faces onto the faces of the excluded.

Written by Ji Yoon Yang
Director, Alternative Space LOOP
Translated by Jungyoun Baek

(Source = Alternative Space LOOP)