Won Jy : Extra-muros

The exhibition “Extra-muros”, held at Le On/Off in the neighborhood La Placette, offers an intermediary overview of the artistic and sociographic research carried out by artist Won Jy in Nîmes since 2022, in collaboration with art critic Julie Émile Fabre. Together, they explore the question of hospitality, particularly in La Placette and, by extension, in the neighborhood of Pissevin.

This research project arose from the artist’s experience, who, from 2020 to 2022, chose to live intermittently in the basement of a former social services building of the Département du Gard, known at the time of its demolition as Vaisseau 3008, located in La Placette.

As part of this exhibition associated with the 1^st Contemporaine de Nîmes, the artist is showing the remains of the building and the neighborhood, some of which he has transcribed into his artistic language. He also presents his recently collected research materials. 

The exhibition space, located in the heart of the neighborhood, becomes a focal point for his new investigation and interactions with local residents, in the form of a research residency that will run concurrently with the exhibition. Through this approach, Won Jy seeks to visualize the invisible thresholds that exist between spatial individuals, both tangible and fluid, constant yet in motion, continually questioning the duality between the vulnerable and the less vulnerable.

The artist: 

Won Jy is a South Korean artist who lives and works in Nîmes. He recently graduated from the École supérieure des beaux-arts de Nîmes. In his artistic approach, he pays particular attention to objects often considered as waste or nuisance in everyday life, of lesser importance in the hierarchy of human values. His field of observation is vast, ranging from micro-organisms to imposing architectural structures, and even to the invisible dimensions of the atmosphere. The objects thus selected, collected or modified are presented to the public via a variety of exhibition devices. Through these processes of “re-visibilization”, the artist aspires to address the persistent social and environmental problems of our era, adopting the hospitality approach.