[Exhibition of the Week] Jin Minwook 'The Path Walked Yesterday' · Lim Chaesong Solo Exhibition 'Beyond the Abyss' etc.

Jin Minwook_Stroll_see191130_Ink and color on silk_166.5×160cm_2022. Photo by Hanwon Museum of Art

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] ▲Jin Minwook Solo Exhibition 'The Road That I Walked Yesterday' = Hanwon Museum of Art will hold Jin Minwook's solo exhibition 'The Road That I Walked Yesterday' from the 6th until December 16. The exhibition highlights artist Jin Minwook, who pursues the modernity of Oriental painting within the category of contemporary art and continues the tradition of traditional color painting. The artist maintains the stance of a 'stroller' who pays attention to contemporary landscapes and observes and records our daily life and the movements around it. In this exhibition, the artist reveals the emotional reflections felt on the day based on impressions received from the cities he stayed in or the surrounding landscapes adjacent to his modest daily life and living range. Especially, he is fascinated by the beautiful appearances of small beings breathing within ordinary subjects such as flowers, insects, animals, and rocks, and presents a pictorial experiment to capture them as an imaginative 'representation.'

The artist borrows the meaning of 'Sangchun (常春),' a literary expression describing admiration for nature from classical literature, to create narratives, and projects Eastern worldviews such as 'Ideal Village (理想鄕)' and 'Peach Blossom Spring (桃源境),' commonly found in traditional paintings, onto a still screen, thereby painting a paradise in reality based on natural landscapes discovered during walks. Through this exhibition, the artist suggests that visitors stroll between works filled with poetic landscapes and appreciate them at their own rhythm. Furthermore, he encourages reflecting on what we see and think while walking in the current city we live in, taking a moment to walk slowly and contemplate our own lives. The exhibition runs until December 16 at Hanwon Museum of Art, Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Jeon Ji-yeon, Pieces of Moon, 40x37cm, Ceramic. Photo by Gallery La Mer

▲Jeon Jiyeon Solo Exhibition ‘PIECES OF MOON’ = Gallery La Mer presents ceramic artist Jeon Jiyeon's exhibition ‘PIECES OF MOON,’ capturing the warm and serene image of the full moon. In this exhibition, the artist newly unveils moon jar works enhanced with Jeon Jiyeon's unique techniques alongside existing ceramic tile works composed of scattered and recombined broken irregular ceramic pieces.

The artist is known for expressing meaning and stories in each small fragment through the form of 'breaking,' which differs from the usual ceramic shapes. Starting from the performance art of 'breaking,' the process of combining different colors, shapes, textures, and three-dimensionality reflects our lives made up of accidental events in the works. The newly introduced moon jar series expresses the pure and beautiful human nature like the full moon through the perfect spherical shape formed by chance. The artist hopes that just as one moon reflects a thousand rivers, the moon jar works will be reflected in the eyes and hearts of all people, creating a rich time for everyone to make their own moon jar.

The exhibition features not only moon jars made of white and black clay but also flat works composed by reassembling ceramic tiles within square frames and everyday vessels replicated by plaster casting. Especially, the harmony of colors unique to the artist's ceramic works offers the audience a new dimension of abstract ceramics, breaking away from conventional ceramic art. The exhibition runs until the 10th at Gallery La Mer, Insadong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Encroached Place #2, Linen with Rapeseed, 162.2×130.3 cm, 2022. Photo by Gallery Dool

▲Lim Chaesong Solo Exhibition 'Beyond the Abyss' = At Gallery Dool, running until the 23rd, the artist presents works that have clear forms and realism but are not based on facts. The works emerging from the boundaries between reality and unconsciousness, reason and desire, subject and other, feature vivid colors and an array of objects but become abstract at certain moments. 'Beyond the Abyss' expresses a pattern that twists common sense, delving deeply into difficult yet universally relatable themes.

The artist takes the long-standing theme of 'anxiety' as both the subject of the paintings and a means of self-discovery. The colors covering the forms are generally dark and show artificial aspects, leaving a strong impression as if stimulating the senses, while the layering continues the journey toward another place beyond here. Through objects thrown into his unique perspective, the artist dreams of transformation within the flat plane.

The artist's work is both an act of observing the world as if recognizing ever-changing emotions and a way of caring for oneself. The artist says, "We live without taking time to look into the space of our minds, and sometimes we need time to stroll there and face ourselves," adding, "During the time spent gazing at the space within the works, I hope each viewer draws out their own imagination to newly view and experience their own space." The exhibition runs until the 23rd at Gallery Dool, Palpan-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.