[Exhibitions of the Week] Yang Hwa-seon Solo Exhibition & Gangneung City Museum of Art Special Exhibition 'BomBomBom' etc.

Editor's NoteThis week's exhibitions introduce a variety of attractive shows from across the country that can be experienced over the course of one week.

▲ Yang Hwa-sun Solo Exhibition 'Flip Turn' = Page Room 8 presents the solo exhibition 'Flip Turn' by artist Yang Hwa-sun. This is the seventh exhibition in the gallery's 'This Work Series,' where the curator selects notable works and exhibits them in a solo show format along with new pieces.

Yang Hwaseon, A Safe Zone-nowhere 202401
[Photo by Page Room 8]

This exhibition begins with the artist's 'Safe Zone' series, which pursues emotions of comfort in unfamiliar time and space as a major theme. 'Safe Zone' is a body of work inspired by the swimming pool that served as a genuine refuge during the artist's residence in London starting in 2008, an unfamiliar place at the time.

The sea of Jeju, the artist's hometown, which forms the backdrop of the swimming pool, and the windbreak forests that replace shutters create the artist's unique safe zone. The faint brush strokes that resemble splashing water at the end are bold, reflecting a desperate wish to "plunge" instantly into home in an unfamiliar time and space. In this way, the place where the artist entrusted body and mind for a brief rest in the present moment meets the artist's nostalgia to create a new psychological landscape.

Yang Hwa-sun, Freestyle 202410
Photo by Page Room 8

In this exhibition, the 'Safe Zone' series, completed in 2015 with delicate and sensitive sensibility, is subdivided into multiple perspectives and approached as visual art. Through this series of works, the artist rediscovers and varies shapes, colors, and brushstrokes that were hidden by solitude.

By sharing some of the various protocols of 'Safe Zone' revealed through the exhibition format with the audience, the exhibition visually presents how a single material work is completed through a highly complex system and process. The exhibition runs until May 2, at Page Room 8, 11-gil Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Cha Young-gyu 'Flying Freely'
[Photo courtesy of Gangneung City Museum of Art]

▲ Gangneung City Museum of Art Curated Exhibition 'Bom Bom Bom' = Gangneung City Museum of Art presents the curated exhibition 'Bom Bom Bom.' The exhibition highlights representative works by veteran artists from the Gangneung region, including Jo Sang-hyun, Cha Young-gyu, and Choi Jong-rim, who have consistently produced works throughout their lives. It showcases over 30 diverse visual artworks that reflect the artists' unique personalities and maturity.

Jo Sang-hyun (b. 1952), born in Gangneung, established the Jo Sang-hyun Hyperrealism Art Museum in Seosan, Chungnam Province, served as a professor at Hanseo University, and received awards such as the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Education Commendation and the Korea Art Grand Prize. For 52 years, the artist has worked in hyperrealistic painting, embedding comfort and solace for contemporary people living in a complex era through highly realistic works.

Cha Young-gyu (b. 1947) served as a professor and dean at the College of Arts and Physical Education at Gangneung-Wonju National University. He has been awarded the Order of Service Merit, Gangwon Province Cultural Award, and the Grand Prize at the Art World Awards. The artist creates variable canvases shaped from hanji (traditional Korean paper), repeatedly layering colored paints to build a lively and warm atmosphere, sometimes scorching the embossed areas with fire to maximize the properties of the mulberry bark, the main raw material of hanji.

Choi Jong-rim 'Chaos-Justice'
[Photo provided by Gangneung City Museum of Art]

Choi Jong-rim (b. 1950) served as an inaugural, operating, and judging committee member of the Gangwon Province Art Exhibition, and taught at Myeongryun High School and Anyang Arts High School. He has received awards such as the Dong-A Art Award and the Korea Art Grand Prize. The artist fills his works with unpredictable, irregular geometric shapes. His signature black color represents a realm of thought beyond the phenomenal world, as if throwing refined and endless contemplation enclosed in parentheses into a black sea.

A representative from Gangneung City Museum of Art said, "By viewing and repeatedly examining the works ranging from abstraction to hyperrealism introduced in this exhibition, we hope visitors will encounter the diverse and rich artistic worlds of contemporary regional artists gaining attention today."

Beom Jin-yong, Drunken Night, 2023, Oil on canvas, 270×374cm
[Photo courtesy of Art Center White Block]

▲ Beom Jin-yong Solo Exhibition 'Walking Plants' = Art Center White Block presents Beom Jin-yong's solo exhibition 'Walking Plants.' The artist, who closely observes and depicts the world, captures the vitality of abandoned landscapes and nameless weeds, recently expanding his world by focusing on memories involving people around him. The works show changes to somewhat light surfaces and abstract forms, reflecting the volatile and entangled nature of memories.

The exhibition title 'Walking Plants' refers to the artist himself, who migrates with the flow of life like a walking plant. The paintings revealed in this exhibition contain memories of various landscapes and people encountered during the migration process. The exhibition consists of the 'Portrait' series and the 'Landscape' series, showcasing about 40 paintings including large new works.

The 'Portrait' series began based on memories of absence and mourning for loved ones, mainly focusing on people close to the artist. The artist's feelings are reflected in the dark and intense colors and rough brushstrokes of 'Crow Flower Field' (2020), an early work in the series. Subsequent paintings depict solitary figures with ambiguous faces walking and dancing, expressing longing for times that will never return.

Beom Jin-yong, Drunken Night, 2023, Oil on canvas, 91×117cm
[Photo courtesy of Art Center White Block]

The new works also reveal experimental attempts. 'Portrait' (2023), depicting six people dining, combines memories from different days and places, aiming to cross time and space shared with acquaintances multilayeredly. 'Drunken Night' (2023), painted on a large canvas cloth, is the result of layering images that unconsciously arise over memories of a certain night.

We all carry memories of the past and sometimes hope to return to those special moments. The paintings unveiled this time contain traces of the artist's contemplation over the past four years about memories of those days and moments. In the artist's paintings, which capture tangled memories on a single canvas, viewers may feel as if they have accidentally discovered their own paths. The exhibition runs until July 14, at Art Center White Block, Heyri Village Road, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do.