NEW YORK, NY.- Bernarducci Meisel Gallery announces Park Hyung Jin's second solo exhibition with the Gallery. Initially joining the Gallery as a First Look artist, he is now represented by the Gallery after a successful first exhibition.

Park Hyung Jin's contemporary photorealist paintings challenge the notion of the Asian Idol. Jin teaches painting at various Universities in Seoul, Korea and he chooses his subjects, for these intimate portraits, from his students. There is a long waiting list for those who wish to be painted by the artist. Each student, is portrayed in a manner so intricate and so personal that their individual identity confronts the viewer with their straight on gaze or their sheer monumentality. Identity is something that is often challenged in the Asian world, especially in Korea – where the national opposition to the controlling forces of the North Korean dictatorship is extraordinary. The Asian stereotype prevails in the Western world, be it the sexy and powerful Dragon woman or the submissive and porcelain skinned Geisha. Jin departs from these stereotypes with these paintings by exaggerating the scale and eradicating the detail.

J H Wee (2013) is a striking seven foot tall painting of a young woman’s face. Obscured by the darkness of her hair and the limited light source, the sitter’s portrait could not be clearer. She is confronting the viewer with a solemn stare paired with an indecipherable smile. The tone of her skin is highlighted by an innovative approach to chiaroscuro. The young woman is starring directly at the viewer, confronting us with her developing identity. Her hair, a rich warm auburn, is obviously dyed. She is wearing a black and white stripped knit sweater with a boat neck that evokes Americana. PARK HYUNG JIN is breaking the stereotype of Asian Idol by depicting this woman, influenced by a different culture yet so comfortable in with her identity.

PARK HYUNG JIN was born in 1970 in Seoul, Korea where he currently resides. In 1998, he received his Bachelor’s degree from Hansung University and an MFA in 2002. Park Hyung Jin is represented by Bernarducci Meisel Gallery. He began showing with Bernarducci Meisel Gallery’s First Look program that features new and established artists that have not yet exhibited in New York. His work is featured in the “Artists to Watch” section of the upcoming publication, Photorealism in the Digital Age, Louis K. Meisel’s fourth and final tome on Photorealism. Park Hyung Jin’s work has been exhibited at Gallery Space-DA (Beijing, China) and was included in numerous notable group exhibition such as Joongang Biennale in the Seoul Museum of Art.