Installation view of 《Hyperfocal Focus》 © SONGEUN
SONGEUN presents solo exhibitions by
artists Jaehyun Kim, Jiho Park, and Ria Choi—selected through the open call for
its emerging artist support program “Spring Fever”—on view through May 16.
Spring Fever is an artist support program
organized to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the SONGEUN Art Award and the
5th anniversary of the opening of the SONGEUN Art and Cultural Foundation’s new
building. Reviving the open-call format of the SONGEUN Art Cube, which ran from
2002 to 2020, the program has been newly launched in the foundation’s current
space.
Open to artists with two or fewer solo
exhibitions, this year’s call received a total of 822 applications. Beginning
with portfolio reviews and followed by individual interviews and studio visits,
a rigorous selection process led to the final selection of three artists.
Installation view of 《Red Circuit Ready》 © SONGEUN
On the second floor, Jaehyun Kim’s
solo exhibition 《Hyperfocal Focus》 seeks to restore dulled human sensory perception through
painterly practice, in a contemporary visual environment accustomed to
consuming sharply defined images mediated by technological devices. While
borrowing the photographic term “hyperfocal”—referring to images in which all
subjects appear in focus—the artist reinterprets it not as mechanical
representation but as a metaphor for an “experiential sensibility” that attends
to the relationships between individual elements.
In this exhibition, Kim presents new works
that observe fleeting moments in the city where nature and the artificial
intersect, such as fallen leaves fragmented along the grid patterns of drainage
covers or paving blocks, and the surface of an artificial pond frozen in
varying ways according to the flow of a fountain.
On the third floor, Ria Choi’s
solo exhibition 《Red Circuit Ready》 explores the sensations of control and discipline
embedded within our bodies, centering on the material of copper-toned paper.
Drawing inspiration from lunging training in circular horse arenas—used to
train young horses into racehorses—the artist focuses on the dual nature of the
“fence,” which simultaneously protects against external threats while
restricting internal movement.
Objects such as fences, columns, whips, and
ropes installed throughout the space mimic solid metal structures while
revealing the lightweight and fragile qualities of paper, thereby unsettling
the viewer’s perception. Moving through maze-like walls, viewers encounter
cycles of force condensed within the pliable material of paper, prompting a
renewed awareness of the familiarized sensations of taming.
Installation view of 《Dump》 © SONGEUN
On Basement Level 2, Jiho Park’s
solo exhibition 《Dump》
examines the biases and ritualistic nature of future models generated by
statistical data and algorithms. The exhibition originates from traces of
incompleteness discovered in a previous work that visualized future scenarios
based on population data from 1960 to 2025.
Rather than correcting algorithmic errors,
Park incorporates her own laboring body as a condition of the system’s
operation, accepting these errors as new parameters. In doing so, she exposes
the arbitrariness of indicators we tend to regard as solid and constructs
“dump” as a layer for storing relationships.
Jaehyun Kim, Jiho Park, and Ria Choi each
explore new possibilities in contemporary art through practices and reflections
condensed at different intensities. These exhibitions offer an opportunity to
witness the beginning of their artistic trajectories, while quietly tracing the
paths they will continue to shape in the future.
