in buenos aires, while avoiding starbucks, I had time to visit the museo nacional de bellas artes and experience the peppermint candy exhibit. composed of 23 korean artists who grew up during the country’s turbulent 80′s (see kwangju massacre), peppermint candy is nicely divvied up in three parts:
1)  ”made in korea” centers upon the country’s ideological values of militarism, nationalism, and capitalism during the 1980′s.  one striking piece is a rolling coat rack of south korea military jackets, evoking a stillness and severity many soldiers often emote while standing guard.

2)  ”new town ghost” is themed upon the tradition of the everyday, and relates the visual effect of rapid urbanization mixed with economic expansion.  a series of direct and frontal portraits depicting interracial marriages between korean women and anglo men in their homes strikes a peculiar chord.

3)  ”plastic paradise” is a variety of installation and conceptual art pieces representing the individuality and persistence of contemporary korean pop culture.  oh in-hwan’s “where a man meets a man in santiago” is a wonderfully intricate rectangular puzzle of politically charged phrases – entirely made up of incense.  such a piece stimulates every sense quite uniquely.
 

other participating artists: jeon joon-ho, kang yong-suk (intense black and white photographs of u.s. bombing ranges), gimhongsok, bae young whan, lim min-ouk, koo sung-soo, lee dong-wook, choi jung-hwa and hong kyong tack.