ART CITIES:Seoul-Jean Michel Othoniel

Since the end of the 1980s, Jean-Michel Othoniel has been inventing a world that ranges from drawing to sculpture, from installation to photography, from writing to performance. He first explored materials with reversible qualities such as sulfur and wax, and has been working in glass since 1993. His current work, which comprises both public and private commissions, takes on an architectural dimension, creating installatons in gardens and historical sites the world over.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Kukje Gallery Archive

Jean-Michel Othoniel’s solo exhibition “New Works” is installed across the two exhibition spaces on the ground floor of Kukje Gallery K1 building in Seoul and includes glass sculptures, lithographs of watercolor drawings, and paintings which mark a new milestone in Othoniel’s artistic practice. All of these new works were created during the lockdown caused by Covid-19. The exhibition not only presents a “new” and emboldening body of work during this period of distress, but also embodies the artist’s commitment to aesthetic contemplation and the immutable beauty that remains even during our current chaos. Jean-Michel Othoniel’s varied artistic vocabulary takes inspiration from spiritual practices and religious traditions rooted in different cultures and generations, as well as from his own personal experiences. Employing “transformable” materials such as glass, sulfur, and wax, the artist deftly uses a wide range of techniques and experiments that can implement “acts of intervention,” where materials evolve and change in form through the application of external forces such as fire and air. Additionally, Othoniel has expanded the boundaries of his practice by collaborating with skilled craftsmen based in Italy, Japan, India, and Mexico. Facing the streets of Samcheong-dong through its corner windows, the first of the two galleries in the gallery showcases new works from the ongoing series “Precious Stonewall”. Created in dialogue with Indian glass artisans, the title of the series borrows from the historic Stonewall Riot (1969), when the LGBT community stood up against police violence and discrimination in New York City. The new major body of sculptures is a result of Othoniel’s latest research into glass and his first attempt at this level of architectural scale. On a journey to Firozabad, India, in 2010, the artist was deeply impressed by local craftsmen working with glass under sweltering heat, which prompted the artist to learn traditional glassmaking techniques of India and together design a new unit of composition: a glass brick. The artist was also struck by the Indian custom of piling bricks prior to building a house, a gesture he repeatedly witnessed throughout the duration of his travels in India. Contemplating the meaning of this distinctive serial form, the artist adopted the construction unit of brick as a formal element of his artistic vocabulary. For Othoniel, the brick is one of the most rudimentary and universal elements shared by all humanity, and symbolizes the primitive yet essential desire for “living”. By reinterpreting the brick into the fragile material of glass, Othoniel brings attention to the innately paradoxical character of the material, as being both solid and precious. For the exhibition Othoniel presents a new version of “Precious Stonewall”using two distinctive colors. Shown alongside this work in the center of the exhibition space is “Stairs to Paradise” which is constructed with blue glass bricks forming a set of stairs. The ethereal work captures the human desire to reach heaven or paradise, framing how the humble modular unit of the brick has led the artist to go beyond sculpture, morphing into an architectural installation that transforms the gallery space. Featured in the second gallery space is a series of sculptures and paintings depicting roses. The rose is a flower which has long played a key role in Othoniel’s practice and symbolizes his great admiration for nature, often reappearing in his work. As a testament to how the flower has served as an important theme in Othoniel’s artistic vocabulary, the exhibition will feature six pieces from his “La rose du Louvre” paintings, four new rose paintings, and four rose sculptures. “La rose du Louvre” paintings are exceptionally meaningful to the artist as they were recently made part of the permanent collection of the Louvre Museum after having been produced as commissioned works for the thirtieth anniversary of the I. M. Pei-designed glass pyramid in 2019. Othoniel has a long relationship with the iconic museum, and after an extensive study of their vast collection, he discovered a rose in Rubens’ “The Wedding by Proxy of Marie de’ Medici to King Henry IV”. This form was then transformed into an abstracted version of the rose and painted in black ink on a field of white gold leaf. Also shown are rose sculptures that further epitomize Othoniel’s interest in flowers. Three rose sculptures from the series of “La rose du Louvre”, sharing a similar formality with the artist’s earlier mirrored glass sculptures, are coated in pink, highlighting the vitality embedded in the iconic blossom. The black rose, on the other hand, is colored with a dense black matte, thereby creating a powerful tension between the two symbolic flowers.

Photo: Jean-Michel Othoniel, Precious Stonewall, 2020, Green and emerald green mirrored glass, wood 33 x 32 x 22 cm, Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery Photo: Othoniel Studio, Image provided by Kukje Gallery

Info: Kukje Gallery, 54 Samcheong-ro, Sogyeok-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Duration: 17/12/2020-31/1/2021, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 10:00-18:00, Sun 10:00-17:00, www.kukjegallery.com