Love is the most precious emotion given to a person, but it is also nearly impossible to explain or define. The exhibition <Romantic Days> displays the works of cartoonists who made our hearts flutter as a child, and the works of photographers from all over the world who captured their thoughts of love through their lenses. These works convey the purpose of the exhibition ‘Romantic Days' by showing the course and aspects of 'love', colorful as bubbles ever-changing in the sunlight. The titles of the seven sections of the exhibition are all lines from seven romance comics. CAH would like to introduce you the experience of entering the world of love, where only romance fills the air.
The Heart-fluttering Moments of Love
“My most special friend, aren’t you an angel? I often imagine you, who seems to have grown up, spreading your wings and flying away.” When you walk up the stairs at the entrance, the exhibition begins with a scene from <Unplugged Boy>, which is a work from cartoonist Chon Kye-young, which enjoyed tremendous popularity in Korea in the 1990s. The moment when the main characters Ji-yul and Hyun-gyeom realize their love for each other with a quiver of affection, is depicted in motion graphics on a screen. When you enter a small room called 'Romantic Books', you will find yourself surrounded with numerous romantic cartoons of the past that made the hearts of many Koreans flutter in the 90s. Through the characters had shy expressions in the comics, you can feel the excitement of looking at ‘the Heart-fluttering Moments of Love’. As you walk along the arrows marked on the floor, you will see a series of photos by photographer Jimmy Marble, who recorded the happy scenes of childhood with bright emotions. The eye-catching photos cherish the precious time of childhood, the moments when a person first senses various emotions including love. A photo titled <Work from Magic City>, focuses on the back of a little girl and a white bird perched on the girl's shoulder. The yellow accents on her clothes and the background seems to express the lingering bright memories of childhood which is slowly fading away. The photo <Anita and Denial> reflects the image of two teenagers holding hands in a field of colorful tulips. Overall, the photos are taken from behind or below the shoulder without focusing on the subject’s face, making it easier for the viewer to empathize by projecting their own experiences into the photos.
Fiery Lovesickness
“Even if we’re together, it’s precarious, but the world is all boring except for you. Jimmy, you are not an illusion, right? I will never forget you.” When you enter the section ‘Fiery Lovesickness’, the first thing you see is a screen showing the main characters of <Crazy Love Story>, Lee Vin’s romance cartoon. In this section, you can see photos that capture the moments of passionately loving youth. In a dark room that you have to open the curtains to enter, there are works by the photographer Magdalena Wosinska, who explicitly recorded the secret and intimate times of lovers. The lovers embracing each other in bed, naked, show the heat of love from the other side of the camera lens. Passing by the untitled photos arranged in the dark room, you can see photos of Chad Moore that capture the vigor of lovers who seem to celebrate the moment they live in. A couple riding a motorcycle and running through the streets seem to be enjoying the preciousness of time more than anyone else.
The Deep Longing for a Reunion
“We will meet again someday. And waiting for that day, I thought of you and the words I wanted to say to you.” The delicate and sensitive Korean romance from cartoonist Lee Mi-ra's masterpiece <For the Little Mermaid>’s characters are in the center of display that looks like the sea or being in space, beginning the section ‘The Deep Longing for A Reunion'. After passing the display, large black-and-white photos from photographers Maud Chalard and Theo Gosselin are hanging from the ceiling of a long white hallway. The photos show various lovers in black and white, so the sense of loss that the moments of romance in the photos are already gone hits the viewer harder. The last photo of two lovers kissing in the water looks like a scene from a movie. After passing through the corridor of black-and-white photos, there is the colorful hanging object from artist Yang Ji-yoon which is constantly changing its appearance as the light comes through the side window to hit it, creating beautiful shadows. This object offers viewers the chance to let themselves once again fall into the memories of love.
Faintly Shining Reminiscences
“Me and you back then. If I could go back to that time, I will still love you as I did back then.” If you pass by the main characters in Park Euna's <Sweet & Sensitive>, a cartoonist who was loved for her ordinary but fluttering story and delicate drawings, you will see photos that show love between people who Nico B. Young met while hitchhiking around the world. Love, which exists in various forms all over the world, reminds people what the most important value in the world is. After that, you can see the romantic photos of Paolo Raeli, which are full of the freedom and excitement of youth. The photo titled <Dedica all'infinito>, shows the scene of two young people riding a bicycle under a purple and orange sky, one with her arms spread like wings, which vividly delivers the moments of joy and excitement one can feel in life to the viewer.
Sometimes we worship love, and sometimes we play it down. As shown in the exhibition, love can be like a clean blanket freshly washed, or a passion as hot as fire, or a cold wall that puts you to in an endlessly dark place, and sometimes it can be the best journey of your life. But the thing that never changes is that, like the name of the exhibition, all those moments are “romantic days of love”. CAH recommends you visit the exhibition < Romantic Days> that raises excitement and anticipation of love, and which shows that the characters in romance cartoons are people who are brave enough to express their emotions honestly, rather than just silly people from our imaginations.
Dates: 2022.03.16.(Wed) ~ 2022.10.30.(Sun)
Hours: Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sat 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
*Closed every Monday (except August 15th and October 3rd)
(Last admission: 1 hour before closing)
Place: D Museum
Ticket Prices: Adults 18,000 won, Teenagers 9,000 won, Children 6,000 won
Contact: 070-5097-0020