January 2014

UNC-Greensboro in Greensboro, NC, Offers Works by Jiha Moon and Prints from the Dr. Lenoir C. Wright Collection

UNC-Greensboro in Greensboro, NC, will present two new exhibits including: Foreign Love - Jiha Moon: Falk Visiting Artist, on view in the The Louise D. and Herbert S. Falk, Sr. Gallery, at the Weatherspoon Art Museum, from Jan. 18 through Apr. 13, 2014, and Bugs, Beasts and Blossoms: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Dr. Lenoir C. Wright Collection, on view in The Leah Louise B. Tannenbaum Gallery, from Jan. 11 through Apr. 13, 2014.

Known for combining traditional Asian landscape-painting techniques with American Modern and Pop art influences, Jiha Moon’s colorful compositions blur the lines between East and West to speak to the cultural pluralism of contemporary society. Composed with flowing, gestural brushstrokes, and an array of iconic references (emoticons, Lucky Cats, lotus blossoms, scrolls), her imaginative mash-ups offer an intense experience. Her exhibition at the Weatherspoon, Foreign Love, mixes multiple cultural references to play upon the idea of shifting identities and includes work on paper, ceramic sculptures, and a series of talisman-like works inspired by Korean norigae.

Adopting many different artistic styles and integrating symbols that range from computer emoticons to Hopi Kachina and Korean masks, called Tal, in her newest work, the artist asks us to navigate through a complex iconography. At the same time, her use of unusual colors and amalgam of various brush strokes in her “fan paintings,” upend notions of traditional landscape painting at the same time as they move the compositions towards sculptural form. Moon has included the peach shape, an icon of the state of Georgia, in her work for many years, but in this exhibition the works themselves take fan and peach shapes that can also be read as masks, body parts, or hearts.

Jiha Moon (b. 1973, Korea; lives in Atlanta, GA) received her MFA from the University of Iowa and BFA from Korea University, Seoul. Recent solo exhibitions include MOCA GA, Atlanta (2013); Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum, Nashville (2011); Williams Paper Museum, Atlanta (2009); and Mint Museum, Charlotte (2008). Her work has been included in group exhibitions internationally, including at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia (2011); the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond (2010); the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC (2008); and the Drawing Center, New York (2007). She was a 2011 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant. Moon is represented by Saltworks Gallery, Atlanta; Curator’s Office, Washington, DC; and Mary Ryan Gallery, New York.

As the Spring 2014 Falk Visiting Artist at the Weatherspoon and the Art Department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Moon will present a lecture and gallery talk on her work and participate in MFA graduate student critiques.

This exhibition was originally organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia as part of the 2012/13 Working Artist Projects award program. Xandra Eden, Curator of Exhibitions organized the exhibition at the Weatherspoon. Special thanks to the 2013/14 Falk Visiting Artist Committee.

Unique images of nature created by Japanese artists from the Edo period (1615-1868) through the twentieth century will fill the Tannenbaum Gallery this spring in the exhibit, Bugs, Beasts and Blossoms: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Dr. Lenoir C. Wright Collection. The two principal artists responsible for introducing this theme to the woodblock print art form were Hokusai (1760-1849) and Hiroshige (1797-1858). Later artists continued their custom of directly observing nature and imbuing its flora and fauna with symbolic meanings. For example, certain blossoms and birds represent specific seasons while particular animals signify distinct attributes or human mannerisms. Each picture offers delight in itself, while the exhibition as a whole conveys Japan’s deep-rooted appreciation of the natural world and its unique aesthetic sensibility.

These prints were gifted to the Weatherspoon by Dr. Lenoir “Len” Wright (1911-2003), professor emeritus of History and Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His passion for Asian culture resulted in a collection of over 600 objects that he began donating to WAM in 1978.

Jiha Moon will give an Artist Talk on Jan. 16, from 5:30-6:30pm.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum at 336/334-5770 or visit (http://weatherspoon.uncg.edu/).

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