Seungae Lee’s Solo Exhibition “The Wanderer” following the Gwangju Biennale .. and More
Arario Gallery Seoul
Seungae Lee’s Solo Exhibition “The Wanderer” following the Gwangju Biennale
From July 12 to August 19, Arario Gallery Seoul is pleased to present The Wanderer, a solo exhibition by artist Seungae Lee (b. 1979). The artist connects the concept of “artwork” to the process of transcending experiences and memories, allowing her works to operate fluidly with their own time and space. Also, she expresses the sense of online communication and loss during the pandemic.
The exhibition presents 10 works across the B1, first, and third floors, including the drawing animation < The Wanderer > (2023). <The Wanderer> (2023) was recently shown at the Gwangju Biennale. < The Wanderer > (2023) is based on the motif of the Korean purification ritual, a ritual that guides the dead. The tools found in these rituals are woven together to form the figure of ‘The Wanderer’. Another animation, < Distant Room > (2021-2022) stems from the artist’s experience of being unable to visit her London studio in person during the pandemic. She has to communicate others with online to organize her belongings. The artist rearranges the virtual landscape in response to the gap between the space beyond the screen and the actual space.
The exhibition also includes the collage murals < The Wanderer Ⅲ >(2023) and the series < Distant Room > (2021-2022). The works in the exhibition provide an opportunity to explore Seung Ae’s themes, such as ‘light’ and ‘soul’, and her unique methodological expression over the years.
Gallery Baton
Meaning of Appropriation in Contemporary Art: Exhibition “Brilliant Cut”
Brilliant Cuts, an exhibition featuring eight Korean and international artists, will run from July 12 to August 12 at Gallery Baton. The exhibition discusses one of the most frequently used methods in contemporary art: appropriation. The exhibition approaches the notion of appropriation from the standpoint of French philosopher Roland Bathes. Barthes regards the act of creation as a creative rearrangement of existing elements rather than creating something out of nothing. In this context, the exhibition suggests that there is the Gray Zone between the original source and appropriation.
The exhibition’s title, ‘Brilliant Cut’, refers to a method of manufacturing diamonds that creates a unique pentagonal shape to maximize light return. After manufacturing, diamonds have the same shape from any angle, and it is unclear where the shape begins and ends. It is connected to the concept of appropriation that the exhibition aims to address.
Some of the works by participating artists Heeseung Chung, Liam Gillick, Koen van den Broek, Andrew Sim, Tony Swain, Mitsuko Miwa, Charlotte Posenenske, and Jimok Choi are paired with each other to produce the effect of balance and tension. Posenenske’s sculptures and Miwa’s landscape paintings / Heeseung’s photographs, van den Broek’s urban street scenery paintings and Sim’s still lifes / Gillick’s grid-shaped installation, and Swain’s paintings create this effect.
In Brilliant Cuts, the viewer will sense the dynamic boundaries between the original and the appropriation.
Space WillingNDealing
The Future for Next Generation: Heoang Kim’s solo exhibition “Please save my earth”
Please save my earth, a solo exhibition by Heoang Kim (b. 1989), will be on view at Space WillingNDealing from July 12 to August 6.
Heoang Kim focuses on children, women, and the natural environment around humans. In her paintings, she humorously captures the new experiences and changes she encountered in the process of upbringing. She also tries to take a macroscopic view of the world, imagining the future for the next generation.
In this exhibition, images of the present are shown alongside metaphorical and mythological images of the future seen by the children. The painting often features children. Children in the paintings are based on the motif of heroic characters struggling through reality. It reflects both the artist’s own life and that of the next generation. In terms of technique, unlike previous paintings that create thick layers through oil, the work in this exhibition uses acrylic paint and light, fast brushstrokes to produce a fantastical effect.
The title of the exhibition, ‘Please save my earth’, refers to the artist’s wish for the future to be undamaged. In this exhibition, we can see the artist’s awareness of the present and her supportive gaze toward the next generation.
Pace Gallery Seoul
“VIE ｜ VIDE”, the First Solo Exhibition in Asia by Minimalist Painter Huong Dodinh
Pace Gallery Seoul is pleased to present VIE ｜ VIDE, the first solo exhibition in Asia by Vietnamese-French artist Huong Dodinh (b. 1945).
Dodinh’s work is characterized by minimalist compositions, and her paintings are based on three concepts: light, density, and transparency. She visualizes the phenomenological sense of light and the collision of conflicting histories, ideas, and elements. It is embodied through the fluid lines and forms in her paintings. Also, she engages in the entire process of sourcing pigments to painting them on canvas, deepening her work’s quality. This exhibition focuses on her ‘K.A’ series from the 2000s. With delicate geometric elements placed against translucent backgrounds, the series is representative of her tendency to play with light and depth.
Dodinh fled Vietnam after the First Indochina War in 1953 and has lived in France ever since, returning to Asia only once. For the artist, this exhibition is thus a personal return to her continent. “Art is a process of opening oneself to others,” she said, and the exhibition will showcase works that blur the lines between life and art.
