[Exhibition of the Week] ‘Oh! Joyful world: Byeonhyeongdoen Segye’ · Lee Eunha ‘Hwayangyeonhwa’ and More

Lee Jae-yeol Sansumong, acrylic painting on paper, 203X417cm, 2022. Photo by Lee Sang-won Museum of Art

[Asia Economy Reporter Heeyoon Kim] ▲Oh! Joyful world: Transformed World Exhibition = Artists Kang Jiman, Yoon Giwon, and Lee Jaeyeol (in alphabetical order) are painters working in Huyong-ri, a small rural village located in Munmak, Wonju, Gangwon Province. The space named ‘Huyong Art Factory,’ which the artists established together over 10 years ago, includes individual studios and a modest exhibition hall. Although Kang Jiman has moved to a nearby studio, they continue to collaborate on ongoing projects.

All their works are paintings characterized by vivid and diverse colors. Yoon Giwon majored in Western painting and creates works in the pop art style, while Kang Jiman and Lee Jaeyeol incorporate materials and forms inherent to Korean painting throughout their work.

The exhibition is divided into three sections, showcasing a total of about 40 pieces. The exhibition title ‘Oh! Joyful world: Transformed World’ reflects the emotions evoked when intuitively experiencing the artworks. Each artist presents unique themes and modes of expression. These include everyday situations and inner psychology (Kang Jiman), portraits reimagined in the artist’s own style featuring fellow artists’ faces (Yoon Giwon), and dreamlike landscapes filled with imaginary beings (Lee Jaeyeol). Commonly, the works feature bright colors and humorous forms. While viewing the artworks, visitors may momentarily set aside concerns about the serious and gloomy real world.

The artworks all stimulate the imagination. Not only can children enjoy the works, but adults are also led back to a childlike world. In a reality where we face countless worries and tragedies daily, these artists present the positive aspects and beautiful elements of life before us. The lives of artists are not fundamentally different from those of ordinary people; rather, in today’s competitive society, many must give up much to pursue creative activities. Despite the discomfort and difficulties experienced in this process, they offer different perspectives and viewpoints through their art. The three artists create new worlds based on reality but imbued with their own emotions, colors, and forms. The exhibition runs until October 23 at the Lee Sangwon Museum of Art in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.

Spring Flight, Oil on Canvas, 121.1X162.2cm. Photo by Jeonbuk Provincial Museum of Art

▲Lee Eunha Solo Exhibition: Hwaryangyeonhwa (花樣年華) = The artist presents works themed on healing and rest for modern people who have become exhausted and lethargic due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The works use flowers as a motif to express the most beautiful moments of life under the theme Hwaryangyeonhwa (花樣年華). Through beautiful and diverse color languages, the artist aims to breathe radiant life into the works and convey love, emotion, and happiness to viewers through the motif of flowers.

As the theme Hwaryangyeonhwa suggests, the artist expresses the most beautiful and happiest times in life through flowers. ‘Flowers,’ which can be felt as the most beautiful in nature, evoke dynamic emotions such as joy, passion, and energy through intense colors and imagery. The artist seeks to encapsulate the value of beauty within flowers, conveying their aesthetic worth. Flowers have always been a source of inspiration for the artist, and the ecological natural beauty combined with an aesthetic sensitivity nurtured since childhood acts as infinite imagination within the works.

The artist composes the canvas with flowers alone or expresses texture through overlapping colors on monochromatic backgrounds. The harmony between the colorful spaces and flower images explores sculptural language through the motif of flowers. Works featuring numerous intersecting lines expressed not as curves but as lines, alongside flowers depicted with traditional rounded curves, are freely and dynamically reassembled, showcasing the artist’s unique free sensibility that captures inner movement. Although infused with the artist’s sensibility, the style is based on realistic figurative painting. Through image reconstruction, the artist strives to express visible subjects with their own lines, offering aesthetic pleasure and beauty through diverse flower images. The exhibition runs until the 25th at the Jeonbuk Provincial Museum of Art Seoul Branch (Insa Art Center 6th floor).

watermelon, ø90.0cm, Acrylic on Canvas, 2022. Photo by Art Space Qualia

▲Go Youngbin Invitational Exhibition = Art Space Qualia hosts a solo exhibition by artist Go Youngbin, who paints ‘cacti’ and ‘fruits,’ motifs that suit the summer season. Through the forms of cacti presented by the artist, viewers can find various human emotions, and through fruits, hidden desires. This exhibition, themed ‘People,’ seriously captures emotions commonly felt by everyone in life, each precious in its own way. Among the various cacti, visitors might encounter a painting that gives the illusion of standing before a mirror. The exhibition runs until August 2 at Art Space Qualia, Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.