Curated by Hye Seong Margaret Tae
Organized by AHL Foundation
Exhibition Date: June 21 - September 21, 2019
Reception: Thursday, June 27, 2019, 5:30 -  7:00 PM
Venue: Bank of Hope Woodside (50-15 Roosevelt Ave., Woodside, NY 11377)
Viewing Hours: Monday through Friday 9 am - 5 pm

The AHL Foundation is pleased to announce Inner Escape the solo exhibition of Hyewon Park, on view at the Woodside branch of Bank of Hope. This exhibition will feature seventeen color and black and white photographs curated by AHL Foundation’s 2018 Curatorial fellow Hye Seong Margaret Tae.
 
In this commissioned exhibition, Tae has selected nostalgic photographs from Park’s Inner Escape and Self-portrait series that could trigger memories of old times for the viewers.
Park recreates her childhood memories reflecting together with her psychological state of the present. In the self-portrait images staged within a lonesome space in nature or the city, Park captured a moment of playing like a child. The artist explores her inner most desires of returning to the innocence of childhood.
 
I'm not trying to convey a message about a subject through photography. My self-portrait is a record of my fantasy, a window to my inner instinct.
 
For all adults, a memory of childhood is a fantasy that all are longing to return to, but is kept under their breath. Likewise, Park intents to depict her unspoken desires and fantasies that reflect her unconsciousness, such as curiosity, sadness, and loneliness that she has felt for a long time in her inmost mind and those reflections captured within the images stir the viewer’s nostalgia and longing.
 
 
Since 2008, Park has constantly created self-portrait photographs experimenting with several photographic processes that were adopted from different trends in generations. The featured photographs in this exhibition are printed in four different manners including Kallytype (a 19^th century process), inkjet prints dyed with coffee and tea, C-prints and digital inkjet prints. The artist creates dreamlike images with de-saturated color tones and faded look prints, produced with the experimental photographic processes, in order to enhance its nostalgic quality for the viewers.
 
Hyewon Park, born in South Korea, has received her BFA in photography from the School of Visual Art in 2008. Her works have been exhibited and published both in the United States and Korea. Her works were selected to exhibit in “CWA 85^th Annual Juried Exhibition” at Slater Memorial Museum in CT. She is also a recipient of “Bonnie Rychlak Award” of ISE Cultural Foundation, NY. Her works have been presented at ‘AIPAD’, ‘Photo LA’ at 19/21 Gallery in New York and LA, and ‘Seoul Photo Art Fair’ in Korea. She has had an active career with solo exhibitions as well as group exhibitions in Seoul, Heyri and New York.
 
The exhibition is part of AHL Foundation’s Art in the Workplace program, which aims to present contemporary art works outside of a gallery setting in a public space for the purpose of bringing art into everyday life and increasing its exposure to the public.  Inner Escape will be open to the public on Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm at the Bank of Hope Woodside branch (50-15 Roosevelt Ave., Woodside, NY 11377) until September 21, 2019. The opening reception will be held on Thursday, June 27th, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
 

For information: info@ahlfoundation.org