Justin Yoon: Night on the Town

“If I wait for someone else to validate my existence, it will mean that I’m shortchanging myself.” – Zanele Muholi

Mindy Solomon Is pleased to present a Night on the Town, a solo exhibition of the work of Justin Yoon. Focused on a series of works comprised of three recurring characters ‘Marge the Space Queen’, ‘Blue Dream’, and ‘Fivepoundz’, Yoon explores how they navigate through a night of experiences told from three different perspectives. Through these characters, Yoon explores diversity, Queerness, ennui, kitsch and mundanity in our daily lives.

Night on The Town is a part of a narrative series of works. It is an ongoing, never ending episodic “Highschool reunion” of sorts, the trio depicted with casual emptiness. Each painting captures fleeting small moments featuring larger than life Queer Asian characters portrayed in a glamorous, campy way. Like a long running TV sitcom episode, the three protagonists interact in a droll manner, where their exaggerated masculinity and femininity is highlighted as a form of satire representing a staged portrayal of heteronormativity propagated through popular media. In turn, they become Queer Asian Idols. Yoon investigates images in order to analyze and interpret Queerness without delving into intimacy and sex. Glamorous Hollywood imagery, draperies and nostalgic settings and game references inspire the environments the characters find themselves in. At the core of all of these paintings is the essential element of friendship and how important it is to be surrounded by individuals who align themselves with who we are.

Vivid and over the top, this body of work is an exciting opportunity to engage in the fantasy world of Justin Yoon. Creating positive depictions of Queer Asian characters is a an important step on representing the global community we live in and the need for diasporic voices to be heard.