Installation view of Sumin Song, ‘The Gaze in the Smoke’ at “2024 KUMHO YOUNG ARTIST 1” ©Kumho Museum of Art
Kumho Museum of Art presents “2024 KUMHO YOUNG ARTIST 1” on view through April 28. Since its first open call in 2004, Kumho Museum of Art has selected 95 artists through its young artist support program, “Kumho Young Artist,” and hosted solo exhibitions for the artists. The exhibit “2024 KUMHO YOUNG ARTIST” presents new works of 6 artists selected from the 21st open call at their respective solo exhibits. The first part (3.22~4.28) introduces Sumin Song, Jeisung Oh, and Eunbin Choi, and the second part (5.10~6.16) introduces Leekyung Kang, Seonjeong Wang, and Sungoo Im.
Using collected images, Sumin Song rearranges shapes with conflicting meanings based on their formalistic similarities. The artist often takes the shapes of smoke as the subject, which might be recognized simultaneously as symptoms of disaster and war and as natural objects such as flowers. In this exhibition, Song also incorporates her recent experiences of parenting her child. By figuratively weaving the flowers, nature, and the child’s doodles she encounters daily with icons of disaster, she reveals her perception of the coexistence of routine life and calamity. In so doing, she captures on screen the atmosphere of an era where daily life and catastrophe coexist.
Installation view of Jeisung Oh, ‘Ghost Protocol’ at “2024 KUMHO YOUNG ARTIST 1” ©Kumho Museum of Art
Jeisung Oh’s formative research focuses on non-designated heritage assets across the country in search of how traditional Korean sensibilities can survive in contemporary times. Here, the artist studies the sculptural norms and regulations passed down from classical and traditional sculpture to modern sculpture at a practical level and reinterprets them with contemporary technology and material to suggest a new form. Oh seeks methods of coexistence between tradition and modernity by connecting the disparate work styles of previous sculptors in a contemporary way.
Installation view of Eunbin Choi, ‘Island’ at “2024 KUMHO YOUNG ARTIST 1” ©Kumho Museum of Art
Eunbin Choi reconstructs raw, intangible values, such as personal experiences, memories, and emotions, in space through various media. Her work is derived from the fragmentary language that records fleeting moments encountered daily. The artist converts the essential form of language into non-material elements, such as light and vibration, which operate organically in geometric space through the audience’s intervention. In this exhibition, Choi expands visitors’ visual and auditory senses through real-time video and sound work, allowing them to experience “being real” in the present.
