LUMA Arles in southern France presents Koo Jeong A’s solo exhibition《LAND OF OUSSS [KANGSE]》.

The exhibition runs from July 5, 2025, to January 4, 2026, occupying the East Gallery on Level 0 of the Tower and the Glassroom on Level -2. Bringing together works from 2007 to the present, this is the artist’s most extensive presentation in France to date, featuring sculptures, olfactory installations, phosphorescent paintings, and ink drawings.


 
Venice Biennale 2009 and 2024 Korean Pavilion

Koo Jeong A first gained international recognition when she participated in the main exhibition of the 53rd Venice Biennale, 《Making Worlds」, in 2009, presenting installations in both the Giardini and the Arsenale.
 
In 2024, she returned to Venice for the 60th Biennale as the artist representing the Korean Pavilion with《ODORAMA CITIES》. The project explored olfactory memory by collecting 600 individual submissions, which were distilled into 16 experimental scents and one commercial fragrance. This experience directly informs the current exhibition in Arles, where scent and perception are central elements.

OUSSS: Between the Visible and the Invisible

The term “OUSSS,” central to the exhibition title, is an idiosyncratic neologism coined by the artist. It encompasses sound, substance, being, and land—suggesting a mutable, personal terrain of both physical and mental space. LUMA describes the exhibition as a multi-sensory environment that heightens perception and connects the audience with forces beyond the visible. Koo integrates intangible elements—light, temperature, scent, and sound—into her practice, extending art beyond the visual field.

KANGSE SpSt: A Metaphor of Balance and Levitation

Positioned at the entrance,KANGSE SpSt(2024) is a large-scale installation made of bronze, plywood, metal, pigments, scent diffusers, and perfume sensors. “Kangse,” derived from the Korean word for “accent” or “emphasis,” connotes weight, tension, and balance, while “SpSt” is understood as shorthand for “Space Station,” evoking orbit and suspension.
 
The sculpture, balancing on a single leg while diffusing fragrance, embodies the tension between gravity and levitation, stability and instability. It continues the olfactory experiments introduced at the Korean Pavilion, inviting viewers to experience space through scent.

Key Works and Sensory Devices

Möbius-strip wooden sculptures symbolize continuity and recurrence, punctuating the exhibition pathway with spatial rhythm.

The phosphorescent painting series SEVEN STARS(2020) evokes the afterglow of starlight in the alternation between darkness and illumination, recalling Van Gogh’s The Starry Night.

The site-specific sculpture group [EVER] [VAST] (2025) resonates with the rocky façade of the Tower, creating an architectural dialogue between building and artwork.
 


Critical Reception

“Flash Art” described the exhibition as “oddly scattered,” yet praised its multi-sensory immersion, noting the simultaneous presence of scent, mist, light, and objects. The review highlighted how KANGSE SpSt extends Koo’s Venice experiments, embodying the precarious balance between levitation and gravity.
 
“The Korea Herald” reported on the labyrinthine underground gallery, where visitor numbers are restricted, and moments of complete darkness, combined with scent, create an experience of stillness and heightened perception.
 
“Ocula” named《LAND OF OUSSS [KANGSE] one of the summer highlights at LUMA, underscoring its significance as Koo’s largest exhibition in France.
 


Expanding the Sensory Language of Korean Contemporary Art

This exhibition demonstrates how Koo Jeong A’s distinctive artistic language is translated into the architectural and cultural context of an international institution.《LAND OF OUSSS [KANGSE]》expands beyond sight to include smell, touch, temperature, light, and darkness, blurring the boundaries between reality and fantasy, gravity and levitation. The narrative of olfactory memory explored in Venice now converges with architecture, geology, and cosmic imagination in Arles, broadening the sensory vocabulary of Korean contemporary art on the global stage.

Born in 1967, Koo Jeong A has worked across installation, film, drawing, and scent since the late 1990s, primarily based in London and Paris. She has exhibited at Tate Modern, the Guggenheim Museum, Centre Pompidou, and other major institutions worldwide. From Venice in 2009 to the groundbreaking 《ODORAMA CITIES》at the 2024 Korean Pavilion, her practice has continually expanded the realm of perception.

The exhibition venue, LUMA Arles, opened in 2021 in southern France as a multidisciplinary cultural complex integrating contemporary art, photography, film, architecture, design, and environmental research. Designed by Frank Gehry, the 56-meter Tower was inspired by Van Gogh’s paintings and the rocky Alpilles landscape. Today, it serves as a key Mediterranean hub where global contemporary art and local culture intersect.

Exhibition Information

Title: 《LAND OF OUSSS [KANGSE]》
Artist: Koo Jeong A
Venue: LUMA Arles, Parc des Ateliers, 35 Avenue Victor Hugo, 13200 Arles, France
Dates: July 5, 2025 – January 4, 2026
Hours: Open daily, 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.