The solo exhibition "My Own Paradise" by artist Cho Jinhee will be held at Gallery O Square for one month, from April 24 to May 24.
Sprouting leaves reaching out to the world, landscapes featuring familiar neighborhood trees and stairways, and small tiled-roof houses reminiscent of somewhere you might have seen?all are briskly sketched in conte and pencil. Leaves crafted from cut foam board evoke plants such as clover, fern, and monstera.
Cho Jinhee's works resemble preliminary sketches, free from any unnecessary embellishments. The lines are so simple and clear?almost to the point of feeling understated?yet they are unpretentious and pure. Nevertheless, they hold the viewer's gaze longer than watercolor or oil paintings might.
The lines in Cho Jinhee's works seem to remind us that line is the foundation of all forms, serving as both the part and the whole of each piece.
In fact, line is the beginning of drawing. It defines shape and contains the artist's thoughts. In this way, the unadorned lines in her works calmly document the everyday moments she encounters.
There is neither exaggeration nor artificiality in her lines. The artist records the objects of her daily gaze with lines that are neither fast nor slow, neither strong nor weak, but always calm and steady.
She brings to the canvas the ordinary things encountered in daily life?nothing particularly special?capturing only their minimal outlines with warmth, deliberately excluding detailed depiction or artistic technique. As a result, the forms appear even clearer and more vibrant to viewers.
"My Own Paradise" is Cho Jinhee's fourth solo exhibition. The artist, who majored in Oriental painting at Dongduk Women's University and Ewha Womans University, previously held three solo exhibitions in 2013, 2014, and 2018. She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including the Future of Art Exhibition (2002), Color Expo 2005 (2005), An Gyeon Painting Spirit Exhibition, Husohui Young Artists Exhibition (2011), Korea Galleries Art Fair (2012), and the 16th Annual Exhibition of the Korean Women Artists Association for Korean Painting (2015), presenting a diverse range of works.
Regarding this exhibition, Professor Kim Sangcheol of Dongduk Women's University commented, "Because her forms are created through line, the artist's canvases are pure and unembellished. There is a sense of ease because there is no greed, and a sense of abundance because there is no obsession." He added, "The essence of her unadorned simplicity and spacious serenity must be a reflection of the artist herself. The works we encounter are, I believe, an intimate and sincere record of the everyday life of an artist with a warm sensibility."
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