Solo Show, Gully, Opéra gallery Seoul, Juin 2015

Philosophy of Art

FOREWORD French street artist Gully reuses well-known images within a new work, a method known as Appropriation Art, as a tool for scrutiny of contemporary culture. Appropriation Art is a critical strategy to question the basic premise of the originality and the purity of 20th century modernism which Marcel Duchamp showed through this ‘readymade’ in 1917.

Gully composes elements of existing imagery that allow the viewer to renegotiate conventional meaning within a current context. By coupling familiarity with criticality, Gully’s work challenges the notion of originality and draws attention to the point of view of viewers both within and outside of the painting.

Gully imitates the idea of innocence by presenting the children characters created by Norman Rockwell and Stevan Dohanos, the American illustrators featuring their works in The Saturday Evening Post. While viewing the iconic works of art through these child characters, viewers unintentionally peep into the action of viewing.

Intriguing Voyeurism, Gully liberates the way we interact with the iconic works of art in public space.

Gully’s identity remains as veiled as the messages in his works. His method of having artists “meet” each other in his paintings helps to understand his perspective on the iconography of a piece of art at the expense of the identity of the artist himself. Previously a graffiti artist, Gully’s reluctance to reveal his identity is as engrained in his artistic persona as it is an intriguing method of dissociating the artwork from the creator. Linking the present to the past, a trap that Gully deliberately stays away from, allows a piece of work to function as an entity outside of the linearity of art history, making it subject to interpretation in a more relevant and current context.

Through sixteen pieces newly created for this Seoul exhibition, we invite the audience to freely engage with the icons of art and interact differently with the subject of each work, liberated from cultural and creative margins.

프랑스의 거리미술작가 걸리는 대중에게 친숙한 이미지들을 새로운 작업에 차용하 는 ‘차용미술’을 통해 동시대문화를 조명한다. 차용미술은 모더니즘의 기본 전제 인 독창성과 순수성에 의문을 제기하는 비판적 전략으로서 모던 아트 이후 컨템포 레리 미술의 가장 주도적인 양식적 특징의 하나로 꼽힌다. ‘차용’은 1910년대 마 르셀 뒤샹의 레디메이드(readymade) 이후 1960년대 팝아트에서 부활하였고 걸리 는 ‘차용’에 자신의 고유한 그래피티를 결합한 독특한 표현 방법으로 이를 더욱 풍부하게 완성시켰다. 걸리는 기존의 이미지를 재구성하여 우리가 관습적으로 받아드렸던 이미지를 현시 대의 맥락에서 새로운 시각으로 바라보도록 한다. 친숙함과 비판성을 결합한 걸리 의 작품은 미술의 ‘독창성’이란 개념에 문제를 제기하고, 관객들의 인식을 작품 의 안과 밖으로 이끌어낸다. 걸리는 1950년대 미국의 주간지The Saturday Evening Post 에 삽화를 연재한 노먼 록웰(Norman Rockwell)과 스테판 도하노스 (Stevan Dohanos) 등 미국 유명 작가들에게 영감을 받아 창조한 어린이 캐릭터를 작품에 등장시켜 아이들의 순수함의 관념을 모방한다. 어린 아이의 눈을 통해 명화 를 바라봄으로써 작품 속 인물이 감상하는 행위를 관음적으로 무심히 엿보게 유도 하여 공공장소에서 미술작품을 관람하는 우리의 태도를 자각하게 한다. 걸리의 신원은 작가의 작품들이 전하는 메시지처럼 베일에 싸여있다. 자신의 정체 를 희생하면서 작품 안에서 다른 시대의 작가들을 서로 “만나게”하는 걸리의 독 특한 방식은 작품에 대한 작가의 도상적 견해를 이해하도록 돕는다. 이를 통해 작가 는 한 작품이 미술사학적 연결고리에서 벗어나 좀 더 현재와 연관된 맥락에서 해석 가능한 독립체로서 역할을 하도록 한다. 과거에 그래피티 작가로 활동했던 자신의 정체를 드러내기를 거부함은 작품을 창조자인 작가로부터 분리하는 흥미로운 방식 이며 이는 걸리의 예술적 성격에서 기인한다. 오페라갤러리 서울에서 갖는 개인전에서는 12점의 신작을 포함한 총 16점의 작품이 최초로 한국 관객에게 공개된다. 걸리의 ‘미술의 철학’을 통해 미술의 시대· 문 화적 범주의 굴레에서 해방되어 어린아이와 같은 순수한 감성으로 각 작품의 주제 들과 자유롭게 대화하고 소통할 수 있기를 바란다.

Gilles Dyan Founder & Chairman Opera Gallery Group

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Rockwell meets Indiana 2, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 100 x 90 cm • 39.4 x 35.4 in.

Vivian Choi Director Opera Gallery Seoul

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Gully Interview with Opera Gallery - September 2014 Could you introduce yourself and tell us where your pseudonym comes from?

I’m an ex-graffiti artist who wanted to do something else.

So, for a new direction I felt I needed a new pseudonym.

When it was time to sign my first piece, I wanted a pseudonym that wasn’t only a clear break from my Graffiti past – without repudiating it – but also something that would announce what I wanted to do.

One day, while my kids were watching television, I was doodling various series of letters when a commercial’s slogan caught my attention.

I heard this word in English… gully. Talk about a clear break; it was exactly what I was looking for. In English slang, Gully means “related to street life and gangsters”.

What was the beginning of your career like in the early 2000s; especially on the Parisian RER C line. And why did you decide to stop painting in the streets and leave the Graffiti movement?

I didn’t want to mix my past in graffiti and my present studio work because I really wanted a total rupture.

With graffiti I focused my attention on repeating letters that made up my pseudonym... I spent the major part of my time scouting locations, figuring out where the guard dogs where, when the sanitation men did their rounds, where and when the police were and planning escape routes. The rest of my time was spent drawing. Wherever I went I would sketch the foundations for my next graffiti piece, which generated such a sense of happiness for me... one that only people from this line of work can understand...

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Looking back, I realize that I was really searching for recognition from other street artists and that to stand out, I had to be better placed than all the others, and more present than the others...bigger, more visible, more stylish, more colourful.

Today I’ve matured; I have children, and even if I follow what the new generations are doing, I can no longer allow myself to run across the highway with policemen on my tail or jump from one roof to another without checking what’s down below. I pay as much attention to hiding what I did as a graffiti artist to what the future holds for me and my studio work.

When I adopted my new pseudonym, I immediately wanted that break with the past, but also something new and exciting. Hiding from the public behind a mask, appearing in public without the public knowing it’s me, getting to know the people who sling criticism at me, and even criticizing my work in their company is more exciting and less risky than bolting across a highway.

Where do you think you fit in with respect to the other

artists of this movement?

This genre existed before the art industry became interested and created its stars. On today’s canvas, things are different.

It’s a whole new support, a new challenge. Many weren’t able to evolve; unfortunately for them, their past entitled them to nothing in the Contemporary Art world where we’re only judged on what we create.

Even if I don’t belong to the first generation, I know how my past fits in with this movement. I’ve done a lot for Graffiti Art.

I’m well known in the Street Art market but I’m tiny in Contemporary Art, a newcomer who slowly progresses, little by little.

To highlight my work on canvas, I use what I learned in Graffiti Art. When you walk in front of one of my pieces, I want your gaze to be attracted to my tableau.

The collectors’ market does the rest, and I have no control over that.

Can you explain your concept?

My work is made up of stories from my personal life in which I meet art icons. I borrow certain existing characters or scenes that I stage in my own personal universe.

When did the collectors and public start following you?

In 2008, when I signed my first artworks “Gully”, the interest was there from the start. Even if nobody knew who was behind a name that was totally unknown and had no past, no artistic reference, the result at the auction houses was four times the pre-sale estimate, which is proof that the interest was triggered by my work and not my name.

At the time, I painted what I knew best: graffiti and comic book characters. The first few pieces sold allowed me to devote myself fulltime to my work, which allowed me to delve into my concept.

How do you select which famous pieces you’ll interpret, which artists you’ll use…?

Before, I’d spend tons of time scouting locations and sketching letters. Today, I spend more time searching for subjects. I try to associate ideas; I travel, I visit a lot of exhibitions and museums, I devour art books in order to find the inspiration for my next piece, depending on the periods that I want to explore.

Do you sometimes wish you could detach yourself from your appropriation heritage?

I think I already have: this movement inspired me but it doesn’t own me. Appropriation artists copy a piece of art verbatim. I select snippets to tell a different story, to immobilize, just for a moment, something I experienced or something I longed for, while paying tribute to these artists by staging them in my piece as well. My works are like famous quotes as they’re just a part of each piece in which I develop my universe; a universe that keeps evolving gradually alongside my work and my private life.

You really became famous with the Edward Hopper series. What new inspirations are you working with for this exhibition? What do you want to communicate?

You’re right. The Nighthawk series in which I introduced my graffiti universe was a big hit. Then I started adding the art world’s most famous art icons. The pieces of this exhibition show the continuity in my work.

Here, I’ve focused more on the concept of discovering the art world and its emotions, like love or hate, through a child’s eye.

Maybe my round-about way of bringing art to the masses… or simply to my kids.

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Joan Ferrer Mirรณ meets Lichtenstein 1, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 124 x 180 cm โ ข 48.8 x 70.9 in.

Catalan painter Joan Ferrer Mirรณ was famous in the 19th century for his works depicting the events of the Barcelona bourgeoisie that emerged after the Gold Rush. One of his masterpieces, Public Exhibition of a Painting, is facetiously alluded to in this scene depicting a parodied exhibition of Pop artist icon Roy Lichtenstein.

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Rockwell meets Urban Art in the Thomas Struth’s Museum 2 , 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 190 x 150 cm • 74.8 x 59.1 in.

Rockwell meets Urban Art in the Thomas Struth’s Museum references the iconic American painter Norman Rockwell with pieces of urban art composed to resemble photographer Thomas Struth’s Museum series. In Struth’s words, “when a work of art becomes fetishized, it dies.”

Being seen in a new context like his photographs or Gully’s paintings, the work of art regains aspects of its original vitality and, in essence, comes back to life.

Geoffroy meets Graffiti Art 1, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 129 x 149 cm • 50.8 x 58.7 in.

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Jean Geoffroy was a French painter of the Naturalist movement who was famous for dramatic scenes depicting the charm of childhood, before becoming a full-time children’s book illustrator. Coupled with graffiti, the striking incongruence provides a tonguein-cheek perspective on youth in the modern age.

Leyendecker meets Giacometti 1, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 130 x 162 cm • 51.2 x 63.8 in.

J.-C. Leyendecker was one of the most distinguished American illustrators of the 20th century. Coined with virtually invented the idea of the modern magazine design and preceding Norman Rockwell by two decades, his signature style is observed here in dialogue with 20th century Swiss sculptor and Post-Impressionist painter, Alberto Giacometti. Gully’s subtle inclusion of graffiti in the background serves to create an overlap of time between the two artists, thrusting them both into the present mindset.

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Hommage NTHK 12 Bikers, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 132 x 244 cm • 52 x 96.1 in.

One of the most recognizable paintings in American Art, this piece depicts Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks surrounded by the nighttime mischief of graffiti and biker culture often encountered in downtown urban culture.

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Hunter meets Warhol and Basquiat 1, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 160 x 120 cm • 63 x 47.2 in.

Hunter meets Warhol and Basquiat refers to the legendary Warhol/ Basquiat photograph taken shortly before the untimely death of Basquiat at age 27. Considered the ‘odd couple’ of the art world, the two formed a tight, symbiotic relationship. Referencing popular New York Times illustrator Rob Hunter, this piece symbolizes a cross-generational connection between the shifting relevance of Pop Art within a contemporary context.

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Prince meets Uncle Sam 1, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 100 x 129 cm • 39.4 x 50.8 in.

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Dohanos meets Obey 1, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 200 x 195 cm • 78.7 x 76.8 in.

Combining the political illustrations of the preeminent American illustrator Stevan Dohanos with images made famous by the street artist and political activist Shephard Fairey, whose Obama Hope poster during the 2008 presidential elections propelled him into the public eye, this piece induces the viewer to question information proliferated by the media.

The painting also references Fairey’s Obey campaign, which aimed to reawaken curiosity about one’s environment and challenge preconceived truths.

Holmes meets Gully Art 1, 2014 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 120 x 126 cm • 47.2 x 49.6 in.

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Rockwell meets Lichtenstein 2, 2014 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 120 x 160 cm • 47.2 x 63 in.

Combining Norman Rockwell with Roy Lichtenstein in this biting piece, Gully refers to the power of the media to influence public opinion. In this classic example of childhood innocence tinged with mischief, an image of a plane crash evokes curiosity from the young observers, who stand disturbingly poised in admiration of their creation.

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Gully meets Magritte 1, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 100 x 81 cm • 39.4 x 31.9 in.

A Surrealist painter known for challenging preconceived notions of reality, Gully meets Magritte is an apt fictional meeting point for the two thought-provoking artists.

Fascinated with the seductiveness of images, Magritte’s paintings make people aware of the falsity of representation.

McGran Jackson meets Rodin 1, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 158 x 200 cm • 62.2 x 78.7 in.

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Elbert McGran Jackson made a living as an illustrator in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. An architect by education, his background lent itself to uniquely structural compositions, of which Gully has evoked in this image of a young boy contemplating and, probably unconsciously, imitating Rodin’s infamous The Thinker.

Rockwell meets Art of Sleeping 3, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 136 x 200 cm • 53.5 x 78.7 in.

Gully places Norman Rockwell-inspired characters within the context of two Fernando Botero paintings depicting sleeping men, an allusion to our tendency to imitate the images to which we are exposed.

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Leyendecker meets Indiana 3, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 100 x 81 cm • 39.4 x 31.9 in.

J.-C. Leyendecker was one of the most distinguished American illustrators of the 20th century, coined with virtually inventing the idea of the modern magazine design and preceding Norman Rockwell by two decades.

Here we find his famous carnival illustrations in the foreground of Robert Indiana’s iconic Love image, which, after its publication on the 1956 MoMA Christmas card, became the symbol of the 1960s political and sexual revolution.

Art of Circus 1, 2015 Signed and dated on the reverse Mixed media on canvas 100 x 100 cm • 39.4 x 39.4 in.

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During its heyday, the circus was the largest entertainment industry the world had ever seen, ultimately paving the way for film and television and offering young Americans the dream of adventure and imagination.

Fueling notions of the invincible superhero, the art of circus provided a catharsis and escape from everyday life.

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