art exhibition

My #3 Ajumma's painting (just one!) was featured as part of an exhibition being held at the Gallery Violet in Insa-dong, the artsy/touristy part of Jongno. This gallery is to be found on the north end of Insa-dong Street, not far from Anguk Station.

When I entered the gallery, I saw that #3 Ajumma was holding court. I never asked her whether she was the one running the exhibition, nor did I ask whether the gallery belonged to her (she owns the Garak-dong apartment building of which she and her husband are the landlady and landlord, respectively, so I know she has money), but she definitely seemed to be in charge at that moment. I'll text her later and find out.

Ajumma greeted me in English and gave me a hug, American-style. Several older folks were there; I found out that at least one of them was a friend of Ajumma's: a kindly older gentleman who told me about what a difficult time he'd had learning English under frightening circumstances: one of his teachers used to beat the students with a stick.

I went around the small gallery, looking at the twenty-some pictures. Some of them were impressionistic in nature; others were more along the lines of realistic portraits, and at least one painting, titled "Mandala," was unabashedly abstract. Below are my photos of the pictures; I didn't have the wit to take a photo of Ajumma; I should have. This was her day, after all. She had left Ajeossi at home, I gather; with his liver cancer, he may be too sick and too weak to travel much.

As I was getting ready to leave, three more people came into the gallery: Ajumma's little sister, the sister's daughter, and the daughter's young son, who looked to be about seven or eight years old. The older gentleman, having spoken with me, apparently knew this branch of Ajumma's family, and he told the newcomers that I spoke French. He said this because he was aware that the boy's mother had learned French, so in his own teasing way, he wanted to hear the young woman speak French with me. She proved too shy for the task, though—looking at the floor, giggling, and saying she knew "only a little" French.

Anyway, enjoy the pics. On my way out, I stole a brochure about the exhibition, and it's also got pictures of the art on display, so I may scan the brochure and slap that up as well so you can see the images in an arguably better light.

And this is Ajumma's painting, which you've seen before: