[Exhibition of the Week] Shin Jongmin Solo Exhibition 'Add-on' · Yoon Hyunggeun 'Calmly' Exhibition and More

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.

▲ Shin Jong-min Solo Exhibition 'Add-on' = OCI Museum of Art presents the solo exhibition 'Add-on' by Shin Jong-min, an artist selected for the emerging artist support program '2024 OCI YOUNG CREATIVES.'

Deus ex machina_steel, cement, silk, magnet, acrylic_dimensions variable_2024
Photo by OCI Museum of Art

As if entering a virtual world reminiscent of an old digital game, this exhibition is another world constructed by sculptures created based on people, spaces, and situations existing in Shin Jong-min's life.

Every entity in the exhibition space is given an unfamiliar context by the artist, completely forgetting their real-world identities. The figure of his father is depicted as a messiah suddenly falling from the sky, and a friend exempted from military service is dressed in a military uniform as a metaphor for enlistment. His persona is given wings of the goddess of victory, Nike, with a pistol in one hand and a long sword in the other, granting omnipotent powers. All of these may become infinitely weak in the next exhibition or gain the power to conquer the world and transform into a being that rules the universe.

The sculptures exist as they are while simultaneously being subordinated to the artist's database for the creation of future works. They are both originals and materials. Originals proliferate endlessly and eternally, and the moment of completion signals the beginning of new possibilities. By adding and layering, they gain infinite forms and narratives. These sculptures, which permanently change by modifying the exterior attached to the framework, seem similar to how game characters change appearance and enhance abilities by acquiring new items.

Shin Jong-min 'Add-on'
Photo by OCI Museum of Art

The method of bringing the ecology of existence and proliferation of objects in digital environments into the realm of creation is intriguing. It integrates the system of constructing virtual worlds into the sculpture-making process and gives physicality to intangible entities in the form of artworks. The logic of 'Add-on,' which refers to users directly adding or transforming specific functions to fix or supplement partial limitations in computer programs, especially in gaming environments where users create secondary content called 'MODs' using existing elements as materials, is applied to the artwork production method, establishing a new theory of sculpture. It leads to the secondary creation of reality and even the artist's own work.

Thanks to the attribute of not resisting change, his sculptures ironically achieve permanence. In a fleeting moment, the sculpture overturns itself again.

Yoon Hyung-geun, 'Multicolor' 88-80, 80.2×130.3cm, 1988. [Photo courtesy of Cheongju City Museum of Art]

▲ Yoon Hyung-geun 'Calmly' = Cheongju City Museum of Art holds a planned exhibition 'Yoon Hyung-geun Calmly' dedicated to the representative Korean abstract artist the late Yoon Hyung-geun (1928-2007). This exhibition reveals a variety of archival materials including early works from the 1960s, representative works from the 2000s before his passing, previously unseen works in Korea, and drawings.

The artist was born in 1928 in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do. He spent his childhood at Miwon Elementary School and entered Cheongju Commercial High School, where he studied under teacher An Seung-gak, who was teaching Western art and nurturing students in Japan at the time, thus beginning his path as a painter. After liberation, he moved to Seoul and graduated from the Department of Painting at Hongik University under the guidance of Kim Whanki, who later became his father-in-law. He focused on images reminiscent of traditional Korean houses, old trees, and soil, borrowing the gradation techniques of ink wash painting to build his own unique sculptural world.

His monochrome paintings, expressing the feeling of paint spreading through two or three pillars, create a mysterious Korean sentiment through contrast with empty space. After encountering Western minimal art in the 1990s, he pursued extreme simplicity and aimed for a restrained aesthetic in the use of color and materials.

Yoon Hyung-geun 'Calmly' [Photo provided by Cheongju City Museum of Art]

It is said that Yoon Hyung-geun's painting style is rooted in the calligraphy of Kim Jeong-hui, and his works convey the noble character and natural expression of the old scholar spirit he admired. Known as the 'silent painter' due to his few words during his lifetime, his simple way of life shows the unity of art and life.

He maintained friendships with artists from Cheongju and contributed to the development of local art, as well as playing a pioneering role in Korean monochrome painting through his vigorous activities. This exhibition offers an opportunity to calmly feel his refined color, which condenses the artist's sincere inner world on the canvas, and his subtle aesthetic sense in simple forms. The exhibition runs until September 29 at Cheongju City Museum of Art, Chungnyeol-ro, Seowon-gu, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do.

Arrival in the East 2021, Oil on canvas, 138.8 x 167cm
[Photo by Seon Gallery]

▲ Pato Bosich Solo Exhibition 'Magical Equilibrium: What Exists Beneath the Surface, Across Dreamscapes and Symbolic Terrains of the Soul' = Seon Gallery presents the first solo exhibition in Korea by Pato Bosich, an artist based in the UK. Born in Chile and residing in London, the artist presents a unique perspective influenced by his South American roots, Europe, and the current British environment on his canvases.

His art is renowned for vivid and immersive abstract landscapes that seamlessly connect nature and fantasy. Bosich's works, products of rich imagination, depict a true sense of adventure and travel. These two elements are essential to the artist and serve as the driving force energizing his work.

Ghost Procession, 2023, 53.3x53.3cm, Oil on board [Photo by Seon Gallery]

Using various techniques and materials to experiment with form, texture, and concepts, he combines tradition and modernity to create impressive canvases imbued with deep symbolic meaning, earning critical acclaim. The artist leads us into a playful, magical, and dreamlike juxtaposed world. Landscapes, figures, objects, and situations are recreated and reassembled, transforming into poetic illusions.

Belly of an Artist, 2023, Oil on canvas, 173x124 cm [Photo by Seon Gallery]

His interest in classical literature and Greek mythology, and the unique symbolic themes inspired by them, can be glimpsed through his works. Through his art, we recognize the artist's role as a magical figure who explores the boundaries between reality and imagination and continuously seeks creative inspiration from the surrounding world.

His representative works featured in this exhibition, 'Tower with Oysters (Conjuring of the Tower)' and 'Magical Equilibrium,' showcase these characteristics even more clearly. The exhibition runs until August 3 at Seon Gallery, Insadong 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

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