[Exhibitions of the Week] Lee Hyoyeon Solo Exhibition 'Collecting Scenery' · Kim Hyungsu Solo Exhibition 'Undong繪' 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 a week.

▲ Hyoyeon Lee Solo Exhibition 'Collecting Scenery' = The Trinity at Grand Hyatt Seoul presents the solo exhibition 'Collecting Scenery' by artist Hyoyeon Lee, who has been creating exotic paintings featuring forests and houses as backgrounds during the lush summer season.

My Splendid Ruin_Oil, Stonedust on Linen_130.3x162cm_2023
[Photo by The Trinity]

The artist's work is deeply rooted in experiences at the Royal Institute of Art in Sweden during her studies abroad. Her work reflects the characteristics of Nordic painting, where the emotional interaction between human inner self and space is significant. During her time living as a foreigner in the unfamiliar country of Sweden, the artist enjoyed walking through Swedish forests.

While walking in the forest, the artist imagined a landscape where tropical palm trees, desert cacti, and polar conifers coexist, transcending the laws of reality. Subsequently, she began landscape works where countless living beings come alive in rich colors, blurring the boundaries between reality and imagination. After finishing her journey in the forest and returning home, she viewed everyday objects such as plants she nurtured, books, and paintings as living beings each holding their own stories, transforming her ordinary living space into a 'forest indoors' imbued with vitality.

"To paint nature is not to copy the subject as it is, but to realize one's own senses." - Paul C?zanne

Dorothy Table_Oil, Stonedust on Linen_91x91cm_2023. [Photo by The Trinity]

The artist explains, "In recent works, I also use a material called stone dust, which has a unique texture and a calm, deep coloration. The process of mixing parts of nature into the work carries the meaning of connecting 'forest' and 'home,' much like soil-stained shoes walking through the forest freely moving between indoors and outdoors."

Curator Irael from The Trinity said, "In the artist's works, things that cannot coexist naturally are collected together, and looking at each subject quickly draws you into a serene immersion. Through this exhibition, I hope visitors will enter the mysterious and gentle landscapes collected on the canvas by the artist, awaken their lyricism, and gather magical stories." The exhibition runs until the 28th at The Trinity at Grand Hyatt Seoul, LL floor, 23 Sowol-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

Gil-hu, The Wise Man, 2014, Mixed media on canvas, 230x160 cm
Photo by Hakgojae

▲ Gil Hu Solo Exhibition 'Bul-i (不二)' = Village de Ananti hosts the solo exhibition 'Bul-i (不二)' by Gil Hu. This exhibition is the artist's first solo show in three years since 'Night of Chaos' held at Hakgojae in 2021. It consists of 10 representative older works and over 50 new paintings and sculptures.

Gil Hu has explored the spirituality transcending the origins of all things and the realm of senses for decades. From portraits of Maitreya Buddha capturing moments of serene enlightenment to oil paintings depicting the world's creative energy and sculptures expressing these in three dimensions, he continuously expands his spectrum without being confined to a single form. The central artistic theme across his diverse media and styles is 'enlightenment.'

Since the 2000s, having devoted himself to Buddhist studies, he has focused especially on visualizing the 'supreme perfect enlightenment without peer (無上正等覺),' regarded as the highest state in Buddhism. The world of enlightenment is called 'Bulli Munja (不立文字),' meaning that truth cannot be grasped through doctrines or language created by humans. Nevertheless, over thousands of years, we have attempted to express and visualize it through various means. The artist's world of art also aims to express the inexpressible world of enlightenment beyond words (言詮不及).

Gil Hu, The Wise Man, 2022, Mixed media on canvas, 200x130cm. Photo by Hakgojae

The Buddhist scripture 'Vimalakirti Sutra' refers to the state beyond duality as 'Bul-i (不二).' It means the disappearance of boundaries between good and evil, light and darkness, self and non-self, resulting in an equal state of oneness. It implies that affliction is enlightenment and enlightenment is affliction (煩惱卽菩提), and there is no distinction between life and death or nirvana. However, Vimalakirti taught through silence that the act of expressing and defining this truth in words cannot itself be the truth.

The artist expresses this silent world through visual art. From the 2010s, in works such as 'Sage' and 'Hand of Contemplation,' he has depicted moments of enlightenment captured in the ever-changing human life. The bold compositions prominently featuring figures in the foreground and his rough yet soft lines convey no hesitation.

The thickly layered surfaces made with various materials evoke cave paintings and create a religious atmosphere. Figures placed in serene darkness are depicted as sensing the light of nirvana or merging with their surroundings. The 'sage' in the works is simultaneously the Buddha, the artist, and the viewer, implying that anyone can attain enlightenment through correct perception and practice.

Gil Hu, Untitled, 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 194x130cm. [Photo by Hakgojae]

From the 2020s, the artist has presented oil paintings dominated by linear elements filled with the energy of swift brushstrokes. The lines, layered as if fluttering, embody the unchanging truth that flows or soars according to the harmony of causes and conditions. The forms, sometimes resembling human figures and sometimes large trees, evoke our dreamlike lives. All phenomena change in appearance and feeling according to the mirror of the mind we choose at every moment. The artist reminds us that the world we live in is 'everything is created by the mind alone (一切唯心造),' a world of the mind. The exhibition runs until the 31st at Village de Ananti, Gijanghaean-ro, Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan.

The fashion show, 2024, Time Painting/Digital Painting, 3840x2160(px_variable size), Single Channel Video, 5 minutes 33 seconds [Photo by Pyo Gallery]

▲ Hyungsu Kim Solo Exhibition 'Undong繪' = Pyo Gallery presents the solo exhibition 'Undong繪' by Hyungsu Kim. The artist is a unique creator who focuses on new creation rather than traditional representation. His artistic philosophy lies not in merely reproducing subjects but in producing something beyond that. In 2022, Kim was selected as one of seven artists for the 6th Portfolio Fair co-hosted by Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and Pyo Gallery, where he held a group exhibition and received an excellence award.

Notably, his work is ingenious in translating media video works into painting. This characteristic adds originality and sensory depth to his works, expanding the boundaries of contemporary art and exploring new possibilities. He argues that the role of representation in art history has already been replaced by photography, and since modernism, representation under the condition of showing something new struggles to escape conventional codes and formulaic forms.

Sports Event, 2023, Time Painting/Digital Painting, 3840x2160(px_variable size), Single Channel Video, 5 minutes 25 seconds [Photo by Pyo Gallery]

This creative approach aligns with the attitude of modernist painters. Modernism did not follow conventions but infused the painter's senses to create new points in material painting. Since Paul C?zanne, the dynamic touch and act left material traces on paintings, allowing viewers to feel temporality and sensation simultaneously.

The artist claims that if touch and act can remain as material traces and be sensed, movement can also be incorporated into painting as a moving sensation. He emphasizes that without movement, the volume of time cannot be created, and movement itself is time. Through this, he defines time as part of painting.

This experimental thinking expands the art world while exploring new possibilities in painting. He continues experimenting with a desire to find new points amid uncertainty. The artist focuses on expanding the boundaries of contemporary art and providing new sensory experiences through artistic invention. The exhibition runs until the 24th at Pyo Gallery, 5 Jahamun-ro 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul.