[Exhibitions of the Week] Kim Chunjae Solo Exhibition 'Depth of Darkness, Depth of Heart' · Oh Suhwan 'PETRICHOR' and More

Editor's NoteThis week's exhibitions summarize and introduce a variety of attractive exhibitions that can be seen nationwide over the course of one week.

▲ Kim Chunjae Solo Exhibition 'Depth of Darkness, Depth of Mind' = Artist Kim Chunjae, who has created his own sculptural language, is holding a solo exhibition at Gallery Jinseon. In this exhibition 'Depth of Darkness, Depth of Mind,' the artist presents a more matured landscape through 10 new works, including large-scale paintings.

Chunjae Kim, Tiny Wood, oil on canvas, 60.6 x 90.9cm, 2023 [Photo by Gallery Jinseon]

Why is landscape more special to him? The artist, who graduated from Hongik University’s Department of Oriental Painting, works with oil painting, a Western medium. By using compositions and techniques mainly used in Oriental painting with Western materials, he creates his own sculptural language through a unique East-West combination. In Oriental painting, strokes are said to embody spirit. The canvas, built up with the artist’s various strokes and brushwork, reveals his time and effort intact.

In the early stages of his work, the artist mainly expressed urban landscapes, trying to capture a self-portrait of an era experiencing identity and confusion in life. At the same time, he pondered the role of art and the profession of an artist. While the distorted urban landscapes of the past were the result of the artist’s anguish over the era’s self-portrait, the landscape works he has been immersed in for several years can be seen as a self-portrait of himself. The landscape works, created through a fierce working process overcoming painful times, come across with deep appeal.

The 'Tiny wood' series, started in 2021, strongly reveals the combination or contrast of darkness and light. The artist aims to show us what is hidden in the landscape through the ‘black blank space.’ Through darkness, the landscape is sometimes emphasized and sometimes all stories are halted. Silence becomes an answer, and that silence contains the artist’s complex emotions and reflections on reality living in modern society.

Chunjae Kim, Tiny wood / oil on canvas / 90.9 x 60.6 cm / 2023 [Photo by Gallery Jinseon]

The artist says that landscape does not refer to any specific place. Nor is it an imaginary or conceptual landscape. He skillfully harmonizes the opposing points of ‘reality’ and ‘symbol.’ Such landscapes build a new sculptural world. In other words, it is a landscape of life internalized through nature in reality. Through beautiful landscapes, he expresses his inner peace, and his landscapes intertwine with the landscapes in our memories, expanding beyond the canvas. Therefore, his work is not a heavy and closed space but a lively and open space. The exhibition runs until May 30, at Gallery Jinseon, Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Morning Coffee, 2024. Oil on Linen Canvas, 77x62cm.
[Photo by the Hungarian Cultural Center in Korea]

▲ Tibor Simon Mazula Solo Exhibition 'Silent Fascination, Deep Reflection: Silence as Artistic Activity and Self-Exploration' = The Hungarian Cultural Center in Korea and Seoul Art Now Gallery present a solo exhibition of young Hungarian artist Tibor Simon Mazula titled 'Silent Fascination, Deep Reflection: Silence as Artistic Activity and Self-Exploration.'

Simon Mazula’s works stand out from other artists’ works with his unique artistic philosophy and clear artistic vision. His art pursues a subtle balance between reality and surrealism, containing deep philosophical reflection and rich emotion. This approach makes the experience his works provide even more special and distinctive.

Focusing mainly on exploring the essence of the human inner self, the artist expresses the complexity of human experience through various colors, textures, and forms, exploring the boundaries between memory and dreams, consciousness and unconsciousness. A distinct feature clearly revealed in his works is the way he harmoniously combines realistic elements and surreal imagination, leading the audience to 'new visual experiences and deep reflection.'

Tibor Simon Mazula. [Photo by the author's homepage]

In particular, his art simultaneously pursues sensory beauty and philosophical profundity. The artist expresses emotional depth while posing questions to the audience about 'the meaning and essence of human existence.' This approach expands his works beyond mere visual art into an exploration of human experience and thought, continuously resonating with viewers.

Through his works, the artist aims to capture quiet inner moments forgotten in modern society. He offers the audience an opportunity to step away from daily life and experience calm and contemplative moments, providing a chance to deeply reflect on himself and the essence of human experience. This philosophical and artistic reflection differentiates his works from others, making them unique and captivating.

The artist, who has sold out three consecutive years at the Taiwan Art Fair, also received great response when his works were introduced to the Korean market for the first time last year, selling out completely. This success shows that his works are internationally recognized. The Hungarian Cultural Center in Korea highly appreciates the artist’s achievements and the value of his works, recently awarding him a commendation. The exhibition runs until June 30, at the Hungarian Cultural Center in Myeongdong-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul.

Osuhwan Solo Exhibition 'PETRICHOR' [Photo by Seoul Auction Blue]

▲ Oh Suhwan Solo Exhibition 'PETRICHOR' = Seoul Auction Blue’s subsidiary Seoul Auction X is holding a solo exhibition 'PETRICHOR' by Oh Suhwan at the Andaz Seoul Gangnam Gallery, part of the Hyatt chain.

Previously, Seoul Auction X showcased nine works from the artist’s recent ‘Dialogue (對話, Dialogue)’ series. The artist, who holds a unique position domestically and internationally through calligraphic abstraction, has been capturing traces of a single brushstroke wielded freely, reflecting the natural order imprinted on his body in a state of no-mind, through dozens of daily drawing works over the past 50 years.

The exhibition title 'Petrichor' means ‘the smell of earth after rain wets dry soil.’ Seoul Auction X, which planned the exhibition, explained that the word was chosen because the visual impression of the artist’s works, filled with traces of brushes soaked in intense colors, resembles the olfactory impression of the strong smell of paint materials in the images.

The artist’s recent 'Dialogue (對話, Dialogue)' series introduced in the exhibition does not evoke the appearance of any object or landscape, but rather makes one think about the fundamental states of nature such as sky and earth, water and wind. Through this, the audience comes one step closer to the artist’s Korean abstract aesthetics, which seek to discover the order and essence inherent in nature. The exhibition runs until June 2, at Andaz Gangnam, Nonhyeon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.