野馬

Shrewdly selecting subject matters that are iconic, societal symbols for capitalist consumption, Jang Jae Rok confronts the consumer ideals of the present day to critique our modern habits with a simple but successful reminder by employing a traditional medium of ink; an effect that subtly kindles the immaterialist principle of Taoism and the pure and humble spirit of traditional landscape paintings. At a glance, Jang's paintings are superficially seductive with its luxurious exterior, deliberately staged as the centre of attention, perspective angle employed to capture the utmost theatrical presence of the cars in Spyker (Lot 1558) and Mustang (Lot 1559). The extravagant glitzes of the cars are insinuated in his expressive control of the light and shadow; ink and emptiness of the monochrome palette. Typical icons for capitalism, the cars and their branded names trick the viewer's contemporary consciousness in lustful awe for his subjects where we subconsciously simulate the rest of the painting in our own imagined lavish colors, only to realize that within this split moment- we have contributed to Jang's clever critique on our materialistic inclination. The bright flashy lights of Times Square (Lot 1557) emerge to our view in similar aesthetics to a negative of a photograph, decisively illustrated in a mundanely-seen, tourist snap-shot composition to subtly highlight on the endless reproduction of the images to an extent of fetishism, which New York City itself, is inadvertently an icon for capitalist society and is now under Jang's painting- a form of commodity for materiality.