Gwon Osang’s solo exhibition《Simplexity: AI, Humans, and Art》is presented at Everyday, Beyond the Ordinary by U+ in Gangnam, Seoul. The exhibition surveys Gwon Osang’s artistic practice, which has consistently crossed the boundaries between photography and sculpture, through the conceptual framework of “Simplexity.”

“Simplexity” is a term that combines “simple” and “complexity,” referring to a state in which intricate information and structures are organized into forms that can be clearly perceived. Using this concept as its point of departure, the exhibition raises a fundamental question: under what conditions do human perception and judgment operate in an AI era defined by the overproduction and circulation of images?
 
Gwon Osang’s work is developed through the fragmentation, accumulation, and recomposition of thousands of photographic images into a single form. In his practice, photography functions not as a tool of documentation or representation, but as a material unit that constitutes sculpture itself. The combination of photographs with lightweight materials such as isopink (compressed polystyrene foam) dismantles the traditional assumptions of sculpture grounded in weight, permanence, and mass, opening a distinct field of image-based sculpture.
 
The exhibition unfolds through three stages—Incubation, Birth, and Return—each corresponding to a different floor and presenting a shifting relationship between image and sculpture.

 
 
[1F] SIMPLEXITY I: The Frame that Incubates the Object

On the first floor, the ‘Relief’ series is presented. Constructed by layering photographic fragments—often derived from consumer imagery—onto rectangular frames made of birch plywood, these works visualize a state prior to the completion of an object as sculpture. Positioned at the threshold between flatness and volume, the forms suggest an “incubated” condition in which images have not yet fully become objects.
 
Here, sculpture does not appear as an autonomous entity but rather reflects the fragmented structure through which images are consumed and perceived via media. The viewer is situated not as an active subject confronting an object, but as one who shares a vision regulated by the frame itself.

[3F] SIMPLEXITY II: The Birth of Sculpture Beyond the Plane

On the third floor, the exhibition addresses the moment when photographic images escape the plane and acquire three-dimensional presence. The ‘Deodorant Type’ series and ‘Reclining Figure’ series reveal how countless image fragments converge to gain volume and physicality. Photography no longer remains on the surface; instead, it becomes a structural component of sculptural bodies.
 
These works demonstrate that the distinction between photography and sculpture is not merely a formal categorization, but a matter of perception. The ways in which images accumulate, and the conditions under which they are recognized as form, become central objects of sculptural inquiry.


 
[4F] SIMPLEXITY III: Fragmented Sculpture, Return to Essence

On the fourth floor, images are once again fragmented and dispersed, occupying the entire space through installation. The sculptures are not fixed but suspended and mobile, allowing viewers to move freely among them. Sculpture here functions less as a completed object than as an environment that tests the conditions of perception and sensation.
 
In an era in which images operate like language, what does it mean to truly “sense” something? By returning sculpture to a state prior to stable form, the exhibition revisits the fundamental question of its essence.
 
 

Art’s Question in the Age of AI

If AI is a technology that learns from existing data to generate the most efficient answers, art operates as a mechanism that disrupts familiar systems and produces new forms of reflection. While Gwon Osang’s work structurally resembles AI in its accumulation and recombination of images, its outcome is not an answer but an open-ended question.
 
《Simplexity: AI, Humans, and Art》demonstrates how sculpture can be rethought in an age of image saturation, articulating the tension between technology and human perception through a sculptural language.

Artist Overview

Gwon Osang has consistently redefined the relationship between photography and sculpture, treating photography not as a recording medium but as a sculptural material that expands the conditions of contemporary sculpture. His work visualizes the processes through which images are accumulated and evaluated, critically engaging with image-based visual culture as a whole.
 
Recent exhibitions have focused on two parallel trajectories: the formation and dismantling of photographic sculpture, and the volumization and fragmentation of images. Rather than emphasizing finished forms, his practice increasingly foregrounds structure, process, and the perceptual experience of the viewer. This direction reflects an ongoing inquiry into what kinds of questions sculpture can pose in a contemporary environment shaped by digital images, data systems, and artificial intelligence.
 
《Simplexity: AI, Humans, and Art》brings these recent developments together, situating Gwon Osang’s practice within the broader context of visual culture in the age of AI.

Space Introduction

Everyday, Beyond the Ordinary by U+ is a multifunctional cultural space operated by LG Uplus, presenting exhibitions and programs that explore the intersection of technology and art, and the boundary between the everyday and the extraordinary. Rather than maintaining a strict division between commercial and exhibition spaces, it positions itself as a platform where audiences can encounter art within the flow of daily life.
 
The space’s vertically segmented structure enables narrative circulation and staged exhibition formats. In Simplexity, this architectural condition is used to spatially realize the conceptual sequence of Incubation–Birth–Return.
 


Exhibition Information
 
Title:《Gwon Osang’s Simplexity: AI, Humans, and Art》
Dates: January 28 – March 31, 2026
Artist: Gwon Osang
Venue: Everyday, Beyond the Ordinary by U+ (426 Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)
Organizer: LG Uplus
Presented by: The Trinity
Admission: Free