Two Moons (Moon light Sonata), 2011, oil, collage, varnish on panel
October 6 – November 17, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 13, 2 – 6 p.m.
DE LUCA FINE ART GALLERY
217 Avenue Road
Toronto, ON, M5R 2J3
T: 416-537-4699
E: corrado@delucafineart.com
www.delucafineart.com.
Hours: Tues–Sat 11–5 p.m.
Dreamscape/Toponiriques is an extension of Juno’s previous work, building on his 2011 MADE IN MONTREAL exhibition. In this work, his personal journey and fantasies are all combined in visual language. Toponiriques: A newly created French word, combining the Greek word for a place – “TOPOS” – and the Greek word for dream – “ONORIC”.
Juno Youn’s work captures the intuitive mood of the moment, much like photograph, in contrast to other work that is based on carefully pre-planned sketches. He much prefers drawing approaches that are based upon stream of consciousness. Juno first began to explore this technique through water colours and then moved on to oil sticks / collage / mixed media. Juno is constantly adopting new materials and new formats that have not previously used in his past works. Yet he also likes combining his older skills in new approaches and techniques.
Juno’s past works include:
Notes from the zoo (1999)
Circus Circus (2001)
FantASIA (2003)
Never Ending Story (2005)
DEJAVU: Circus is back in town (2006)
Transformers (2007)
Conjuror (2008)
Far outside (2010)
MADE IN MONTREAL EN CONSIDERANT LE MONDE DIFFERENT (2011)
In these works Juno has focused on diverse subjects in various media, which he has further refined in his recent works in various media. He is always fascinated by supernatural power in connection to this world.
Dreams are his connections to supernatural power. Dreams are endless and translucent: the impossible becomes possible. There are dreams that come true, and dreams that do not. In their many diverse forms dreams are our portals to time machines. There are dreams that communicate with dead, dreams that revisit our childhood, dreams that predict our future dreams that foreshadow our sub-consciousness. Juno’s work does not expressly reflect his own dreams. However, all of his work flows from what he experiences in his daily life.
Perhaps Dreamscape is a series of creative animated sketches of his own personal journey. Chaos, optical illusions, symbols, childlike imagery all reflect his own experiences, as influenced by various masters Juno admires such as René Magritte, Marc Chagall, Richard Diebenkorn, Jean Cocteau, Max Ernst. And cinema such as ‘I Clowns’ (Federico Fellini), ‘Being John Malkovich'(Spike Jonze),’ Inception'(Christopher Nolan), ‘The science of sleep'(Michel Gondry). ‘DREAMS’ (Akira Kurozawa), ‘Blue Velvet’ (David Lynch), ‘Naked Lunch’ (David Cronenberg), Testament of Orpheus (Jean Cocteau),
We humans live in various emotions such as fear, joy, anger, excitement, addiction, and beliefs. Juno portrays diverse imageries and symbols into his own visual collages. Although he uses various magazines from fashion magazines to natural geography, he doesn’t depend on this imagery to explain the meaning of his work. The images are simply a mood capsulation in his own journey. Each viewer may come to his or her own interpretation.
Like dreams, some things are unexplainable and some dreams are close to a reality. Between real and surreal, Juno is constantly investigating and observing his own journey. Through his work he hopes viewers will find portals to their own life experiences ranging from their darkest dreams to their most brilliant experiences.