Laney Contemporary and Atlanta-based artist, Jiha Moon invite you to mirror a pop-cultural artist introspective, Lucid Yellow—with more than thirty pieces—of exciting and colorful gestural paintings, prints, ceramics, and mask installations on display from Nov. 13 to Jan. 23 2021. A socially-distant, artist opening reception will be held on the lawn Nov. 13 from 4-9 p.m.
“My work is always influenced by my life. I feel like my life and my art cannot be separated. In this exhibition, you will see a lot of those emotions coming through. With my techniques, color choices, I try to communicate with the viewers often, you can see metaphors in the work. I’m hoping to provide an opportunity to experience that,” says Moon.
As a Korean-American, Moon’s ideation of Lucid Yellow explores bold cultural stereotypes of the color yellow in America, and what it means to be an American.
“There are underlying themes that I am always interested in. How do we define Americans? So, when people talk about Americans, am I included or not? And that has been an ongoing conversation for a long time, my entire art career is (kind-of) based on that since I came to the US. I have my family here. My life and art are here, and it’s inseparable to me,” adds Moon.
Human behavior and cross-cultural belief systems such as religion, talisman, shaman rituals, and cultural symbols allude in her work. The newest addition to her collection of iconic imagery, among signature peaches and Twitter birds, is the evil eye.
“I want people to make eye contact with my work and the work is looking back at you. This is really the evil eye concept. You know, the evil eye is so evil you could be cursed but you could also protect yourself with evil eyes. I like that idea that has both meanings of protection, and dangerous curses, and mythology,” she explains.
Last December, Laney Contemporary presented Moon in a solo booth at NADA/Miami 2019. Other notable shows this year include State of the Art 2020, at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas, and a group show (featuring important southern artists) at Halsey Institute in Charleston, South Carolina. Jiha Moon is currently being represented by Laney Contemporary. “I’ve been a fan of Jiha’s work for a while so we’re really excited to be representing Jiha now.,” says, director Susan Laney.
