"Sugar Coated" by Jeron Braxton, Bang Soyun

At CALM & PUNK GALLERY, we held the exhibition Sugar Coated in November 2024, featuring American animator Jeron Braxton and Korean artist Bang Soyun. In this show, the two artists navigate the interplay between the digital and physical realms, using “sugar coating” as a metaphor to explore the complexities hidden beneath surface appearances. Just as the sweetness of sugar can mask discomfort or unpleasant truths, the veneer of beauty and pleasure reveals deeper societal issues, such as systemic violence, oppression, and, ultimately, the critical theme of corporeality in the digital age.

Jeron Braxton is known for his unique animation style rooted in his personal experience with video games. His works address contemporary themes such as Black culture, social justice, and mental health through a nostalgic lens of video game aesthetics. Braxton has gained recognition for his commercial collaborations with figures like Virgil Abloh and The Weeknd, and more recently, he partnered with rapper Kid Cudi to produce his first animated feature film, SLIME.

For this exhibition, Braxton presents a new game set in a "pharmacy" that critiques consumerism. The work examines the omnipresence of pharmaceuticals and sugar in daily life, illustrating their pervasive influence in both Japanese and American societies.

Bang Soyun focuses on the ambiguous boundaries between the digital and physical worlds in her practice. Using 3D modeling software, she visualizes independent narratives and reflects on her bodily experiences during the process of transforming these digital works into paintings. This exhibition features new works from her Black Painting series, which debuted at the ART OnO art fair in Korea.

The series draws inspiration from a “blackness” born of a glitch in the Blender program, where an error caused the characters’ skin to turn black. This prompted Bang to depict faces more openly than in her earlier works. Confronting the differences between digital expression and physical canvases, she explores the unconscious elements she had previously concealed, embracing the serendipitous beauty born of errors as a turning point in her creative journey.