[Gallery Walk] Ah, I Forgot... 'Artist' Nancy Lang

Overcoming the Pain of Divorce, Holding a Solo Exhibition

Pop artist Nancy Lang.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] "Our Coco Chanel has become quite shabby. She has aged a lot over the 13 years we've spent together exhibiting and broadcasting both domestically and internationally."

Pop artist Nancy Lang (45, Park Hyeryeong) placed her companion doll 'Coco Chanel' on her shoulder and shyly uttered these opening words. As she said, the glossy and fluffy cat fur seen on past broadcasts has faded and become rough. Nancy Lang gently stroked the worn Coco Chanel as if feeling sorry for her and continued the conversation.

Nancy Lang is holding a solo exhibition at Gallery Grimson in Insadong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. She is showing twenty-eight new works created over the past three years. Those three years were a painful time for her. During the divorce process with her ex-husband Wang Jinjin (41, Jeon Junju), she was constantly plagued by personal life issues and endured various criticisms. Nancy Lang revealed, "It took three years to finalize the divorce papers. Now that it's completely settled, I feel free as if the shackles have been removed."

Now or never, 162.2 X 130.3cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2021.

Perhaps she sublimated her pain into the happiness of her companion cat. There was no sign of Nancy Lang’s inner darkness in the works. Only the desire for Coco Chanel’s freedom and happiness was conveyed. The exhibition title is also ‘Bubble Coco.’ Bubble Coco is a character representing Coco Chanel expressed through pop art. In the works, Bubble Coco plays alongside popular and familiar characters such as Atom, Mickey Mouse, and the Michelin Tire mascot. Nancy Lang said, "Coco Chanel, who is like my alter ego, can achieve immortality and become anything through the art of Bubble Coco," adding, "I worked happily wanting to convey a feeling of dreams and happiness to people all over the world."

Although the public may misunderstand her as merely a TV personality with a ‘gwanjong’ (attention seeker) image, Nancy Lang is undeniably an artist. She graduated with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Hongik University’s College of Fine Arts. This is her twenty-third solo exhibition. She is also one of the most famous pop artists in Korea. In 2009, she was invited as the youngest and representative Korean artist to the ‘Ingres in Modern’ exhibition at the Mus?e Ingres in France, curated by Dimitri Salmon, director of the Louvre Museum. Her works were introduced alongside those of world-renowned artists such as Picasso, Bacon, and Ingres. She has also participated in numerous overseas art fairs in Miami, Istanbul, Singapore, and more.

For Nancy Lang, these new works are a kind of experiment. She challenged herself with methods and formats she had never shown before. Media art using Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and 3D video, which are hot topics in the art world recently, are representative examples. Nancy Lang said, "Being a computer illiterate and technophobe, there were many ups and downs, but I am satisfied with the results I wanted," adding, "I thought NFTs would only be possible with photos or videos, but I found it fascinating that there is potential to extend to paintings and sculptures as well."

Flying Fontaine, 29.5x29.5x29.7cm, resin, 2021.

Various homage works borrowing from famous overseas artists also stand out. ‘Flying Fontaine,’ an homage to Marcel Duchamp (1887?1968), well known for his ‘toilet’ installation art, features Bubble Coco perched on Duchamp’s urinal piece exhibited in 1919 under the name ‘Fountain.’ ‘Bubble Coco Hymn’ is an homage to Damien Hirst’s sculpture ‘Hymn’ in the form of an art toy. Additionally, she reinterpreted works by various contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol (1928?1987)’s ‘32 Campbell’s Soups’ into her own artistic world. Nancy Lang explained, "I chose the pop art homage method so that even the general public who are not familiar with art can approach it more comfortably."

Three years ago, Nancy Lang set a goal to produce 1,000 new works. She said, "I realized that to step up as an international artist, I need to have a large volume of new works," adding, "Because it allows me to exhibit works simultaneously in various places." She joked, "Including these new works, I haven’t even reached 100 yet," and added, "But having a goal first makes me work harder on my art."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.