The Costume of Painter - Peeling wall_window, Festival 1 2014. Lenticular and oil on canvas.

The Costume of Painter, Garden 2 2014. Lenticular and oil on canvas.

The Costume of Painter. Museum K, J. S. Sargent.  2014. Lenticular and oil on canvas.

The Costume of Painter - Phantom of Museum , Y1 2014. Lenticular and oil on canvas.

Bae Joonsung (born 1967 Kwangju, Korea) continues his highly acclaimed series ‘The Costume of the Painter’ in his first solo exhibition in the UK to be held throughout March 2014. Selected works can be previewed at ART14 in London 28 February – 2 March.

In his appropriation of old master paintings or scenes in a Museum setting, Bae Joonsung explores the interplay between his two chosen media – oil painting and photographic lenticular imagery. Since 2006, Bae’s introduction of lenticular lens within his paintings has made for a spectacular and effortless viewing experience. The unexpected reveal of Asian female nudes and the voyeuristic juxtaposition of viewer and viewed are themes exquisitely portrayed and encourage us to find a new way of looking at art.

Source: Albemarle Gallery

Bae Joonsung appropriates old master paintings and contextualises the original impression and his pastiche. The introduction of lenticular lens in his work made the viewing experience of multiple layers effortless. The most recent series of paintings are titled “The Museum”, and Bae Joonsung has emphasized the theme of relativity: the viewer and being viewed by placing his work in the multi-perspective environment of museums.

Source: London Korean Links

The image that one sees is dependent on the angle from which the work is viewed, so the image changes as the viewer moves. The interest in these works is therefore as multi-layered as the works themselves. At the same time, there is metamorphosis and there is stasis; although some things alter as the viewer moves, others remain the same. While the effect here is striking, the element of change is only one factor. The role of the viewer is explored even more deeply in the Phantom of Museum and Shadow on the wall pieces, in which we as viewers view people in the act of viewing, while having the option of altering the image we are viewing at any time.

Source: artistsinsight.com