“Humanism Reimagined: Embracing Change”, Part 2 of WWNN’s Opening Exhibition at Samcheong-dong.. and More
WWNN
“Humanism Reimagined: Embracing Change”, Part 2 of WWNN’s Opening Exhibition at Samcheong-dong
From August 4 to 27, WWNN will present Humanism Reimagined: Embracing Change, featuring six artists: Soyun Bang, Mingyu Song, Taewon Ahn, Hyunwoo Lee, JOJAE, and TZUSOO. This exhibition is the second part of WWNN’s opening exhibition, following the first part, Humanism Reimagined: Exploring a New Frontier, which opened in July. The first and second parts of the exhibition follow the artist’s perspectives on the future. While Part 1 focused on senses beyond the conventional understanding of ‘humanity’ based on posthuman discourse, Part 2 approaches a reconstructed system of thought based on new media.
Through abstract paintings with transparent layers of cold, blue colors and human-sized white sculptures, JOJAE reveals a sense of fragmentation in an era when the status of virtuality and reality is shifting. Hyunwoo Lee uses deceased animal bones and preserved animal skins to create uncanny sculptures that evoke animal forms, but with parts of the skeleton replaced by aluminum. Soyun Bang and Taewon Ahn both start with images from virtual spaces and mix them with a sense of reality, while Mingyu Song symbolizes the world’s landscapes in geometric and abstract ways. TZUSOO prints an image of virtual influencer ‘Aimy’ created by the AI generator and adds neon glass to it.
The works further stimulate our senses to float between virtuality and reality in the white exhibition space.
Gallery Shilla Seoul
Solo Exhibition by Kishio Suga, a Representative Artist of Japanese Mono-ha
From August 5 to September 3, Gallery Shilla Seoul is presenting a solo exhibition by artist Kishio Suga (b. 1944) from August 5 to September 3. Kishio Suga is a mono-ha artist who was active in the late 1960s and 70s. Mono-ha artists use simple materials and substances such as wood, stone, and iron, with minimal intervention from the artist, to explore the existence of the object itself and its relationship to the external space. This exhibition consists of works that faithfully follow this mono-ha tendency.
The exhibition is presented across Space 1, located at 108 Samcheong-ro, and Space 2, located at 111 Samcheong-ro. The materiality of wood and stone is mainly emphasized in the works, and in Space 1, you can especially see works that are attached to the wall. In Space 2, which consists of two floors, there are works in the form of installations that actively utilize space. <Shortening the Interstices> (2006) is characterized by the materiality of wood, stone, and iron and their relationship to each other, and its presence is accentuated by the intense red color of the surrounding works. <Void and Ground> (2023) experiments with the properties of white paper. A large amount of white paper is folded in half and scattered chaotically on the ground. It seems to transfer the formations experimented with on the wall to the space.
Gallery Shilla has introduced Kishio Suga to Korea several times over the years. This exhibition is also noteworthy as it adds to an understanding of the artist over time.
Sahng-up Gallery Yongsan
A Solo Exhibition by Artist Lim Su Beom that follows the Imagination of Explore ‘S’
From August 5 to September 10, Sahng-up Gallery Yongsan will present a solo exhibition by artist Lim Su Beom (b. 1997).
In the exhibition, the artist imagines a character named S and follows the effects of imagination to S. As a child, S loved to draw dinosaur bones and imagine a world where dinosaurs lived, but as he grew older and he lived the same day over and over again, he found an old dinosaur picture book. The dinosaurs in the book were not what he had imagined as a child. This experience led him to seek out artifacts and places that are off the beaten path to continue his imagination.
The paintings in the exhibition bring this fictional world to life. The large paintings in the center of the space depict a forest (or fictional space) filled with unrealistic beings. On the walls, birds, fish, and other familiar creatures are depicted in fantastical colors on canvases that are shaped like the objects they represent. The creatures in the paintings are also represented in ceramics and have a presence in the corner of the space.
The specific and detailed worlds that the artist has constructed attract the viewer and draw them towards the worlds.
