P21 in Seoul opens Holding Lounge on March 20, 2026, the first solo exhibition in South Korea by Munich-based artist Ju Young Kim.
With Holding Lounge, Kim transforms the exhibition space into a hybrid setting between airplane cabin, small museum room, and anonymous office interior. The installation does not recall the bright, open atmosphere of an airport lounge, but rather the quieter area behind a curtain during a flight — a semi-private zone that feels unexpectedly public at the same time. The space carries the neutrality and quiet bureaucracy of an office workstation, a place designed for function rather than comfort.
A curtain is attached to a corner of the room at a slight angle and resembles a temporary office partition that structures the space without fully dividing it. The room as a whole appears slightly off-center, as if suspended between movement and pause, between the language of air travel and the routine of administrative interiors.
At the center stands a sculpture made from an airplane wing flap combined with stained glass. The object appears both technical and almost archaeological, like a remnant of a structure that once had a clear function but has now moved into the realm of memory. Viewed from the front, it reads as a precise, smooth outer shell, yet at the same time slightly domesticated, almost like a treasured object preserved within a neutral environment.
A second work deepens this interplay of different time layers and contexts. It consists of an airplane door covered with an Art Nouveau pattern drawn in silver lead and an ornamental layer of stained glass applied to the metal surface. The precise engineering of the door meets the flowing language of architectural ornament. Two worlds come close together: the industrial body of the aircraft and the decorative spirit of historical interiors. It appears as if a portal or window from another era had settled onto the surface of modern mobility, bringing memories of buildings, rooms, and domestic spaces into a context originally designed for constant movement.
An EXIT sign collaged with stained glass hangs in front of the curtain. It recalls safety signage found in airplane cabins, office corridors, or museum spaces. While it promises orientation, it also appears fragile, as if the very idea of an exit had become uncertain. The sign becomes a suggestion of direction without certainty, an invitation without a clear destination.
Together, these elements create a room in which the architecture of travel, the focused attention of museum spaces, and the anonymous calm of office interiors overlap.
ju young kim
holding lounge
20 March – 24 April 2026
66 Hoenamu-ro
Yongsan-gu, Seoul
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