[Exhibition of the Week] Choi Yongdae 'Language of the Inner Self' · Gapjin (甲辰), Jinchai! and Others

'Gapjin (甲辰), Jinchae!' - Exhibition of 100 Artists' New Year Prints... A Festival of Colors
Choi Yongdae 'Inner Language' - Planned for the 20th Anniversary of Poet Kim Chunsu
'Trivial Photos' - Diverse Open Interpretations of Deconstructed Photographs

Editor's NoteThis week's exhibitions introduce a variety of attractive shows from across the country that can be experienced over the course of one week.

▲Jinchae Research Institute's New Year Painting Exhibition ‘Gapjin (甲辰), Jinchae!’ = To celebrate the year of Gapjin (甲辰) in 2024, the Jinchae Research Institute is holding a New Year painting exhibition titled ‘Gapjin (甲辰), Jinchae!’ featuring over 100 artists at Gallery Grimson until the 15th.

Jina Lee, Mir Narsha of the East!!, 2023, Jinchae on Silk, 50×50cm.
[Photo courtesy of Gallery Grimson]

‘Jinchae (眞彩)’ is a unique Korean term referring to color painting, with origins traceable to a 1783 record when King Jeongjo instructed candidates for the royal painting corps to produce ‘two light color paintings and two jinchae paintings’ in an exam. Jinchae, in particular, is characterized by its elegant and vivid colors achieved by using mineral pigments, i.e., powdered gemstones, on silk, making it a precious art form historically reserved for royalty and the wealthy.

Even recently, when materials like silk and mineral pigments have become more accessible, mastering jinchae requires considerable training. The Jinchae Research Institute, operated by artist Jeong Haejin, who is active as a Korean painter, conducts various research and educational programs and holds an annual New Year painting exhibition.

New Year paintings (Sehwa) were exchanged between the king and his officials during the Joseon Dynasty to celebrate the new year. This year, the year of the Blue Dragon, the exhibition is themed ‘Gapjin (甲辰), Jinchae!’ showcasing the valuable results of dedicated efforts. The year Gapjin (甲辰) combines ‘Gap,’ meaning blue, and ‘Jin,’ meaning dragon, representing the Blue Dragon year, the 41st year in the sexagenary cycle.

Hallahi, Big wave and Blue dragon, 2023, Jinchae on silk, 50×50cm.
[Photo by Gallery Grimson]

Members of the Jinchae Research Institute range widely in age from their 20s to 70s and include housewives, designers, illustrators, and retirees pursuing painting as a hobby. Their backgrounds and reasons for learning painting vary greatly. However, when working on the common theme for the annual New Year painting exhibition, they set aside their usual personal works and unite with the spirit of creating art for others.

Following last year, the Jinchae Research Institute will again donate part of the proceeds from the exhibition to the ‘New Life Medical Support Project for Severely Ill Patients’ at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital. The exhibition will also be featured on digital screens in the hospital lobby until February. The exhibition runs until the 15th at Gallery Grimson, Insadong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Inner Language 2023-16, 117.5x80cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2023 [Photo by Gallery Banditraso]

▲Choi Yongdae Solo Exhibition 'Inner Language: Naemyeon-ui Eoneo (Inner Language)' = Gallery Banditraso will hold a solo exhibition by artist Choi Yongdae titled 'Inner Language: Naemyeon-ui Eoneo' from the 10th. This exhibition is planned in conjunction with the publication of poet Kim Chunsu’s poetry and painting collection 'Like a Flower, Like Tears,' commemorating the 20th anniversary of his passing.

The relationship between poet Kim Chunsu and the artist began in 1999 and continued with the publication of a poetry and print collection in 2001 and a posthumous poetry and painting collection in 2005. After 20 years, the poetry and the artist’s paintings have been fully integrated into a complete edition after many trials.

The book 'Like a Flower, Like Tears,' reissued on the 20th anniversary of Kim’s death, was originally published posthumously in 2005. At that time, the literary experiment of fully merging poetry and painting was not fully realized, which was a regret. Upon suggestion from the planner and publisher to release a ‘complete edition,’ the artist readily agreed, and the exhibition was organized alongside.

The 30 new works presented in this exhibition focus on the inner voice, departing from the long-running ‘Forest’ series. The artist listens to the latent inner sounds and freely expresses them. For over 20 years, he worked under the theme 'Forest LA FORET,' expressing existence and absence between life and death with a dedicated, almost ascetic approach, also focusing on nature-themed installations. Now, he has left the ‘Forest’ behind, breaking free from conceptual frameworks to listen to his inner voice and present new abstract works.

Inner Language 2023-26, 117.5x80cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2023 [Photo by Gallery Banditraso]

Through techniques such as using a squeegee on the canvas, sometimes combined with brushes or brushwork alone, the artist’s body directly engages with the canvas, vividly conveying this to the audience. The canvas surface is uniformly covered with layers of paint, wiped with cloth, or rubbed with wet tissues over squeegee or brush marks. This resembles the blurring effect of the ‘Forest’ series but is pushed further in recent works, leaving a strong impression.

Regarding the shift from ‘Forest’ to ‘Inner Language,’ the artist explains, “It is because I want to be free from all concepts, philosophies, and forms I had to hold onto and insisted on, and free from the conceptual frameworks I created myself.” The exhibition runs from the 10th to the 31st at Gallery Banditraso, Seongbuk-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.

????????????????_ Artist Park Dong-jun.
[Photo by Space22]

▲Exhibition 'Trivial Photographs: The Editor’s Eye' = Space22, a photo art sharing space, presents the exhibition 'Trivial Photographs: The Editor’s Eye' featuring artists Kim Jinyoung, Park Dongjun, Park Heeja, and Lee Eankyung.

The exhibition originates from the reflections and questions of curator and editor Park Ihyun, who works as an editor. In today’s world where photographs can be encountered in various ways, the curator questions whether the message conveyed by photographs?often neatly printed and framed in Diasec or wooden frames, a kind of exhibition clich??is still absolute.

He explains that the exhibition was planned to consider the extent to which the objectivity of photography is recognized, how references are used in photographic culture, and to reflect on the role contemporary photography plays in our lives, as well as how the purpose and intent of photographs are influenced by the channels or platforms through which they are shared.

Artist Heeja Park. [Photo by Space22]

According to the curator’s intent, the exhibition does not focus on the artistic or social value of photography but rather shows phenomena. To do this, the curator created a narrative by severing the links within the artists’ photographs and recombining them with others to express the aforementioned reflections and questions.

While viewing the exhibition, visitors can contemplate whether photographs dismantled by someone’s intervention become trivial compared to their original status or whether they can take on new meaningful roles. The exhibition runs from the 9th to February 2nd at Space22 Gangnam, Photo Art Sharing Space, Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.