[Gallery Walk] "Art Is Made Together, Not Alone"… Leeum Kang Seokyung Solo Exhibition

Leeum Museum of Art 'Beodeul Book Kkwaekkori' Solo Exhibition
Exhibiting 130 Works from Early Pieces like Jeong (井) and San to New Creations
Emphasizing Harmony and Solidarity Between Individuals
"A Landscape Where Different Beings Coexist and Connect"

“I have always thought that painting might be a kind of synesthesia that can express people's stories, the movements of the era, and the landscapes of that time. While undergoing chemotherapy, my mother diligently wrote the calligraphy used in my work, which made me realize that art is not something I can do alone but something to be done together. I prepared this exhibition contemplating what kind of landscape is created together with my collaborators and all those involved.”

Gang Seo-kyung, Willow Flute Nightingale_Exhibition View Photo by Hong Cheol-gi, [Photo courtesy of Leeum Museum of Art]

After two years of battling cancer and still undergoing chemotherapy, Kang Seokyung, the 'Dotjari Artist' and professor of Oriental Painting at Ewha Womans University, has returned with a vast and weighty narrative. The exhibition "Kang Seokyung: Beodeul Book Kkwaekkori" at the Leeum Museum of Art presents works that differ markedly in atmosphere from her deeply impressive sculptures realized through clear visual logic at the Venice Biennale and her solo exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In this exhibition, the artist reveals over 130 works ranging from developments of her early signature pieces to new works expanded in various ways. Having prepared the exhibition for a long time, Kang said, “This 'Beodeul Book Kkwaekkori' work centers on the theme of all emotions and stories intersecting and mingling, and since I kept working even without an exhibition, the number of works became too many.” She explained, “While my first solo exhibition in the U.S. in 2018, 'Geomeun Jari Kkwaekkori,' was a work that unfolded clear stories about life, an individual's safe state, place, space, and territory, this exhibition tells a story about a state where tens of thousands of kkwaekkori are spread out.”

A space where tens of thousands of kkwaekkori gather to share and discuss their differences. Using various forms and materials within the language of art, the artist wanted to show her journey of contemplation by inserting the movement and signal of a ‘book’ in the middle of the title, presenting the exhibition as a ‘place to gather together.’ As she wished, the Leeum Museum of Art’s M2 exhibition hall and lobby unfold a delicate landscape where the changing nature over time and the personal stories coexisting within it are expressed through her works.

Jeongjeong Beodeul #22-01, 2020-2022, variable size photo by Kim Sang-tae [Photo by Leeum Museum of Art]

The artist’s early work ‘Jeong井,’ inspired by the square frame shaped like the Chinese character for ‘well’ (井) from the Joseon Dynasty’s Yuryang musical notation system Jeongganbo (井間譜), which can indicate pitch and duration of notes, is a series that reinterprets Jeonggan as a conceptual framework capturing sound, movement, time, and narrative. The ‘Jeong井’ series, resembling window frames or canvas frames, serves as a sculptural unit that expands painting into space-time, while also focusing the viewer’s gaze inside and outside the grid or functioning as an invisible system for exhibition layout.

The ‘Jari’ series starts from the Hwamonseok mat that defines the boundary of the dancing space in the Joseon Dynasty’s solo court dance ‘Chunaengmu (春鶯舞).’ The artist replaces the Hwamonseok, which can be both a stage and a boundary for an individual, with the spatial concept of ‘jari’ (place). She uses this to reflect on the individual’s domain within society and as a sculptural mechanism to vary the painting medium in diverse forms. In this exhibition, visitors encounter various forms and sizes of ‘Jari,’ including ‘Geomeun Jari’ and others.

The exhibition title and the new video work ‘Beodeul Book Kkwaekkori’ reference the traditional Korean song form Isudaeyeop (二數大葉) ‘Beodeureun.’ The artist draws on the metaphor of ancestors who read the movement and sound of kkwaekkori flying among willows as the weaving of a landscape, symbolically revealing her work’s characteristics that encompass various senses such as visual, tactile, auditory, and dimensions of time and space.

On the 4th, artist Kang Seokyung, who attended the solo exhibition press preview held at the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, is taking a commemorative photo. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Through her cancer battle, the artist has contemplated the place allowed to individuals in society, the existence of others living with her, their movements being recognized, and the ‘true landscape (眞景)’ of relating together, as well as her artistic journey. The answer she defines through this exhibition as “the landscape created together with my collaborators and all those involved” offers the audience a narrative of solidarity where different works interact.

The Leeum Museum of Art is holding this exhibition to support Korean artists’ activities, timed with the visits of art professionals from around the world during the KIAF and Frieze fairs in Seoul. At the same time, Kim Beom’s 'How to Become a Rock' is also introduced. Kang Seokyung’s exhibition is sponsored by the Italian fashion brand Bottega Veneta. The exhibition runs until December 31. Admission fee is 12,000 KRW.