[This Week's Exhibitions] Short-Form Exhibition · Group Exhibition of 3 Artists 'White Space, Black Line' and More

Kim Seon-du 'Song-eum'. Photo by Kyobo Art Space

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] ▲ White Blank, Black Line Exhibition = Kyobo Bookstore’s exhibition space, Kyobo Art Space, is holding its first exhibition of the year, a curated show titled "White Blank, Black Line," featuring three artists: Kim Seondu, Kim Eunju, and Jeong Yongguk. This exhibition was planned to approach the essence of Eastern painting through works that showcase the harmony of black and white and traditional techniques.

The three artists are mid-career painters who have long explored the characteristics of ‘brush and ink’ and ‘pencil,’ answering fundamental questions about painting. They meticulously depict ordinary subjects from their surroundings with black lines. Through the movements of ink, brush, and pencil, they reveal the essence of painting and add depth to their works with their unique methods and thematic awareness.

Jung Yong-guk 'Rootless Tree' Photo by Kyobo Art Space

Artist Kim Seondu expands the themes of his paintings by finding motifs in various modern and contemporary literary works beyond landscapes and figures, presenting the unique imagery of painting that can be drawn with concise lines in a simple manner. Artist Kim Eunju has long drawn black-and-white flowers and landscapes with pencil. She has developed and expanded pencil work, often regarded as unfinished drawings, elevating it to her own genre of painting.

Artist Jeong Yongguk has explored materials that create black-and-white expressions such as ink, charcoal powder, and graphite powder, producing diverse works. Especially notable in this exhibition is the ‘Rootless Tree’ series, a body of work the artist has developed over a long period, characterized by forms that overlap plants and bodily organs. The exhibition runs until February 28 at Kyobo Art Space, Sejong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Short-form poster. Photo by Perigee Gallery

▲ Short Form Exhibition = Perigee Gallery is hosting the Team Project 2022 Short Form exhibition. The first exhibition of the new year, "Short Form," was planned through the Perigee Team Project 2022 contest, featuring a collaboration between artist Jeon Hyungsan and curator Chu Seonga. The project starts from doubting one’s own senses and, through structuring the sound object called noise, focuses on the acts of ‘making something heard’ and ‘making others listen,’ which were central to artist Jeon Hyungsan’s work. Together with curator Chu Seonga, this work is developed and presented in a different format but with a similar context.

The exhibition focuses on the media properties of ‘sound scrap,’ which has become a byproduct rather than a completed form as sound as a material transforms into a new semiotic system through social and cultural mechanisms. The term ‘Short Form,’ highlighted as a content format, is used in video and relates to consumption through short bursts of images and videos. Furthermore, as user production and consumption actively occur in the intangible space of online platforms, AI functions automatically provide videos tailored to individual preferences, broadcasting compressed and edited experiences and memories in very short formats. This exhibition draws attention to the format reminiscent of the speed of ‘Short Form’ and focuses on sounds that have begun to be bundled as byproducts alongside images consumed on social media.

The work Darkfield (2022), a white signboard about 2 meters in vertical and horizontal dimensions converted into a speaker, superimposes chaotic sounds operating on the ‘Short Form’ format onto a physical object containing the movement of massive light. It prioritizes the movement of light and sound emitted from the speaker, which responds first to the rhythm, melody, and impact of the sound broadcasted rather than the reels passing on a small smartphone screen. Thus, the exhibition aims to overturn the structure centered on images, where images are not the primary purpose but visuals added to support sound. Additionally, it invites audience participation to mix sounds with various effectors of different specifications. The curator encourages the audience to mix directly, offering a process where the essential digital attribute of remixing absorbs the content characteristics of reels whose images and sounds are remixed. The exhibition runs until February 11 at Perigee Gallery, Seocho 3-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Everyday Gestures 05. oil on canvas, pencil. 53.0x45.5cm. 2022. Photo by Phil Gallery

▲ Kim Jieun Painting Exhibition ‘Gestures of Everyday Life’ = Phil Gallery is holding the first exhibition of this year’s emerging artist contest with Kim Jieun’s painting exhibition. The winners of the 2022 contest are artists Hwang Hyunho, Park Jonghwa, Kim Jieun, and Kim Jungok. Following the exhibitions of Hwang Hyunho and Park Jonghwa in December, Kim Jieun’s ‘Gestures of Everyday Life’ presents works that relate to everyday gestures easily overlooked through drawings and on canvas.

Everyday movements such as walking, running, balancing, and standing still stimulate the viewer’s imagination. One can observe interactions that possess a kind of balance, where sharply cut two-dimensional geometric drawings metaphorically representing ideals and norms lean on or collide with each other.

The touch that expresses subjects horizontally and faintly, emphasizing the silhouette of the human body rather than defining it with lines, evokes the 1960s works of Gerhard Richter, a master of German contemporary painting. Through this, the artist makes the subject perceived as part of space or time. In contrast, geometric shapes and drawing lines allow the viewer to feel the flatness of the canvas, giving the impression that the artist navigates between depicted three-dimensional space and flatness.

Everyday Gestures 08. oil on canvas, pencil. 45.5x45.5cm. 2022
Photo by Pil Gallery

The artist explains, "The human figure, whose edges are faintly expressed by brushstrokes brushed left and right, represents the current situation flowing through time, and the afterimages of past memories that always come to mind over time are expressed in pastel tones." He adds, "Although the drawing lines are invisible, they make us imagine things that always exist inside. What kind of imagery might be contained within? Through this exhibition, I hope viewers explore the inherent meanings within human movement." The exhibition runs until the 19th at Phil Gallery, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul.