A Rose a Day No. 6

By delightful coincidence, I arrived at Gallery JJ in Seoul, where I am having an exhibition of my paintings, to discover that a present had been left by a former student of mine at Dankook University. As far as I know, the student has no idea I’ve just published a book about the rose, and so the gift of a bouquet of plastic roses was a lovely surprise. They have been sprayed with a ‘rose’ scent. Why give real roses, which soon decay, when you can give plastic ones that will last, well, almost for ever.

But maybe my student does in fact know about my avocation as a secret rosarian. But whatever the case, this is sound evidence that the symbolic rose has well and truly colonized the Republic of Korea.

Thank you, Yang Ji-Hye!

And, here are installation shots of my show (no roses). For more information, visit: www.galleryjj.org