ART CITIES: Seoul-Your Present
The group exhibition “Your Present” features new and recent drawings, paintings, and video works by four intergenerational Korean artists working across a wide range of media, who utilize both physical and virtual mediums to tell stories about the current state of the world and their relationships to the present moment.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Pace Gallery Archive
The artworks in the exhibition “Your Present”, meditate on the connections and gaps between the inner self and the external, often unpredictable forces that impact the landscape of one’s life. Ji Hye Yeom, who has examined the effects of colonialism, capitalism, environmental exploitation, and viruses in her practice, presents a video titled “Symbioplot” (2020) in the exhibition. In “Symbioplot”, Yeom imagines what a symbiotic, connective power among all life on the Earth might look like. Featuring otherworldly, mesmeric renderings of plant life and the sky, the work is engaged with the artist’s interest in human perception and futuristic phenomena. Featuring two paintings by Heemin Chung, the exhibition puts the artist’s interest in experimentation and experientiality on full view. Chung’s paintings, some of which incorporate light boxes, reflect her unique ability to unite traditional and digital media. Her painting “When Our Palm Line Meets” (2021), which figures in Pace’s exhibition, features acrylic, gel, and surgical steel chain on canvas. With compositions of this kind, the artist layers forms and materials as part of her exploration of the relationship between digital images and painting. Sang-ah Choi’s work often explores feelings of alienation stemming from her 1997 move from Korea to the United States. Pace’s exhibition includes a suite of dynamic new drawings by the artist—incorporating acrylic, graphite, and cut-outs—as well as a video featuring a sketchbook of the works. The video highlights the ways that each work in the series relates to and coheres with the others, creating a sense of movement and mutability among the drawings. In her work, Choi finds inspiration in Greek mythology, American and Korean popular culture, and Korean historical painting—specifically Sip-Jang Saeng Do. Rife with symbols and allusions, her drawings require close and thoughtful looking from viewers. Hyun-Sook Hong Lee is a renowned eco-feminist artist who has addressed social and environmental issues in her practice for the past three decades, using visual art as a means to shed light on oppressive, patriarchal systems and structures. The artist’s video “What You Are Touching Now” (2020), which figures in Your Present, exemplifies her interest in symbiosis between humans, the natural world, and inanimate objects. Created during the pandemic, “What You Are Touching Now” includes narration by the artist herself, who describes the experience of touching a granite sculpture at the Seungga Temple in Bukhansan. With this work, Hong Lee uses audio and filmed footage of the sculpture to evoke an immersive, sensory experience for viewers.
Participating Artists: Ji Hye Yeom, Heemin Chung, Sang-ah Choi, and Hyun-Sook Hong Lee
Photo: Hyun-Sook Hong Lee, What You Are Touching Now, 2020, single channel video, color, sound, 17 minutes, 47 seconds, © Hyun-Sook Hong Lee, Courtesy the artist and Pace Gallery
Info: Pace Gallery, 1F, 267 Itaewon-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea, Duration: 17/6-30/7/2022, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.pacegallery.com/
