Springfield - Butterfly Dream
Artist
Jiha Moon
(South Korean, born 1973)
CultureSouth Korean
Date2010
MediumInk, acrylic, fabric, and embroidery patches on hanji (mulberry paper)
Dimensions81 1/2 × 30 in. (207 × 76.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Andrea Pollan, Curator’s Office, and the artist, Bethesda, MD
Object number2019.12
Not on view
DescriptionAn abstract, multi-colored painting on a vertical acrylic canvas. Imagery includes flora and fauna, representations of pop culture (Chiquta Banana and Marge Simpson), as well as Korean and Chinese calligraphy.Label TextJiha Moon (b. 1973, Daegu, South Korea; based in Atlanta) Springfield-- Butterfly Dream, 2010 Ink and acrylic, fabric, and embroidery patches on hanji (mulberry paper) Moon's Springfield-- Butterfly Dream combines traditional Korean imagery with U.S. pop culture. Moon includes peaches, which reference immortality and, for her, double as buttocks, with Bart Simpson's linear silhouette and Marge Simpson's absurdly bouffant hair, shown here in startling green. Popular around the world, these characters provide a mixed message of political incorrectness and familial togetherness that for many define profound contradictions in American society. "Springfield" denotes a town that could be anywhere, a symbol of no place and every place, and which for Moon stands for the diminishing impact of geography on contemporary existence. Showing cultural interaction at its brightest and brashest, her pictorial stew also underscores the superficiality of much global connectedness. Courtesy of the artist and Curator's Office, Washington DCExhibition History"Chaos and Awe: Painting for the 21st Century," Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN, June 22 - September 16, 2018; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, November 16, 2018 - April 28, 2019.
