Gwangju Shinsegae Gallery Opens "Lee Inam's Landscape Theater"

New Year Special Exhibition Runs Until March 1

Lee Inam's Landscape Theater Gosagwansu. Viewing the World
Poster of Lee Inam's Landscape Theater. Provided by Gwangju Shinsegae

Gwangju Shinsegae Gallery, operated by Gwangju Shinsegae Co., Ltd., is hosting its first exhibition of the year with an invitational solo show by Lee Inam, a leading media artist from Gwangju. The exhibition is titled "Lee Inam's Landscape Theater: Gosagwansu, Viewing the World."

Lee Inam, who won the Grand Prize at the Gwangju Shinsegae Art Festival in 2005, has consistently attracted domestic and international attention for his work that combines classical painting with new media technology. His art has gained widespread recognition after being featured as a representative work for Korea at major events such as the 2018 inter-Korean summit and the 2025 APEC summit.

This exhibition begins with the question: "What are we looking at, and from where do we view it?" In today's world, where images are constantly created and distributed through smartphones, social media, and generative AI, Lee Inam focuses on the meaning of "the act of seeing," prompting viewers to reconsider how they select and encounter images.

The main motif of the exhibition is traditional landscape painting. Landscape painting is a genre completed through "Wayu"-the act of appreciating scenery by moving one's gaze-premised on layered perspectives rather than a single viewpoint.

Drawing on these characteristics of landscape painting, Lee Inam presents works that traverse traditional media and cutting-edge technology, reconstructing diverse ways of viewing landscapes in a contemporary context. "Landscape Theater," where classics and modernity, two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms, painting and video overlap in a single space, is brought to life through Lee Inam's artistry.

This exhibition is designed not only for visitors to stand and appreciate the works, but also to move through the space and experience scenes that change according to their gaze and position.

Through this, the exhibition invites viewers to pause amid the rapid flow of images and take time to encounter images at their own pace and perspective. It is expected that visitors will witness the latest achievements of Lee Inam's artistic world, which has been praised for its "five-minute aesthetics"-works that make people stop and truly appreciate them.

Baek Jihong, curator at Gwangju Shinsegae Gallery, stated, "As technological advancements expand the ways we handle images, how we look at something is becoming more important than what we look at. We hope that this first exhibition of 2026, prepared at a time when people plan for the year ahead, will offer visitors an opportunity to view the world from their own unique perspectives, much like a scholar meditating while gazing at water."