<계란에서 사과까지 / From Eggs to Aplples>
2023.07.19-08.30
신한갤러리 역삼
기획: 김진주
설고은, 양현모, 정현두, 최일준
2023.07.19-08.30
신한갤러리 역삼
기획: 김진주
설고은, 양현모, 정현두, 최일준
구름에서 주먹까지 1-8 / 어딘가로 향하는
계란에서 사과까지, 김진주
신한갤러리는 2023년 7월 19일부터 8월 30일까지 ‘2023 Shinhan Young Artist Festa’ 그룹 공모전에 선정된 설고은, 양현모, 정현두, 최일준의 《계란에서 사과까지(From Eggs to Apples)》를 개최한다. 네 화가의 그림은 추상회화 개념이 지닌 함의를 빌린다. 뚜렷한 형상이 강조된 화면은 반드시 구상의 열망에만 근거해 구현된다고 말할 수 있을까? 반대로 추상화된 표현의 이면에는 사물이나 풍경 등 형상에 관한 탐구가 부재한다고 단언할 수 있을까? 사실, 추상으로 점철된 회화는 특정 개념의 경계를 나눈 논쟁의 결과이거나 결과로서의 화면으로만 확정되는 것이 아니라 그리기의 과정 속 무한히 변화해 나가는 추상적 상상에서 비롯된 것인지도 모른다. 이번 전시는 ‘추상회화’ 용어에 내재된 함의, 즉 회화라는 시작, 추상이라는 끝맺음을 공유할 때 그 사이에서 화가가 동원하게 되는 과정의 변별에 주목해 회화가 추상으로 규정되어 가는 방식을 살펴본다.
네 화가는 추상회화라는 명확히 규정된 개념에서 작업을 시작하기보다 그림이라는 하나의 결과물을 도출하기 위해 추상에 가까운 상상들을 동원한다. 그리고 그 상상력을 그림으로 이끌어 내고자 각자의 방편―팔의 움직임(정현두), 시지각의 작용(양현모), 디지털 툴(설고은), 화학 작용(최일준)―을 사용한다. 정현두는 회화적 경험, 미술사적 지식, 일상의 경험 등 다양한 곳에서 참조하며 떠올린 이미지에서 출발해, 그것이 화면에 옮겨지며 자신의 신체를 통해 흔적이나 또 다른 형상으로 변주되는 모습을 탐구한다. 양현모는 시지각의 세밀한 작용에 천착하여 흐릿함과 뚜렷함이라는 상반된 감각을 오가는 이미지의 상태를 실험한다. 설고은은 인터넷에서의 경험과 현실에서의 경험 간 동질성을 감각하고, 디지털 툴을 활용해 감각의 결정체로서 새로운 이미지를 만든다. 최일준은 실재를 둘러싸고 왜곡과 착각이 일어나는 현상에 몰두해 이항의 개념 사이에 지어진 경계의 질서에 의문을 던진다.
‘계란에서 사과까지’는 과거 로마를 비롯한 유럽 도시의 식사 문화에서 통용되던 관습을 담은 구문이다. 당시 연회를 열 때면 전채 요리는 계란으로, 후식은 사과로 만들던 문화가 있었다. 단순한 식재료의 이름과 조사의 결합으로 이루어진 이 구문은 지역을 막론하고 처음과 마지막을 차지한 계란과 사과의 보편적인 역할을 명시한다. 동시에 그 사이에 내어진, 이 구문에서는 지워진 서로 다른 도시의 수많은 음식의 자리를 암시한다. 여러 음식의 이름이 지워지고 계란과 사과만이 남은 이 구문처럼 《계란에서 사과까지》는 설고은, 양현모, 정현두, 최일준의 그림이 회화와 추상이라는 두 시작과 끝을 공유함을 전제하며, 그 사이에 있었을, 자신의 회화를 추상으로 나아가게 만드는 과정들을 바라보고자 한다.
From Eggs to Apples, Jinju Kim
From July 19 to August 30, 2023, Shinhan Gallery presents an exhibition From Eggs to Apples, featuring the works of the ‘2023 Shinhan Young Artist Festa’ group competition, Gwen Seol, Hyunmo Yang, Hyundoo Jung, and Iljun Choi. The paintings of the four artists borrow implications from the concept of abstract paintings. Can we say paintings that emphasize distinct shapes are necessarily realized based only on the aspirations of the conception? Conversely, can we say that there is no exploration of form, be it an object or a landscape, behind an abstracted representation? In fact, it may be that abstract paintings are the result of a debate over the boundaries of a particular concept, or that they originate from an abstract imagination that changes infinitely in the process of painting, rather than being confirmed by the resulting surfaces. This exhibition examines the ways in which painting is defined as abstract by focusing on the implications inherent in the term ‘abstract painting’, namely, the differentiation of the processes that painters mobilize in between when they share ‘painting’, as the beginning, and ‘abstraction’, as the end.
Rather than starting their work with a clearly defined concept of abstract painting, the four artists use their abstract imaginations throughout the production process for a single outcome. They use their own methods ― arm movements (Hyundoo Jung), workings of perception (Hyunmo Yang), digital tools (Gwen Seol), and effects of chemicals (Iljun Choi) ― to lead their imaginations into paintings. Jung starts with an image in his mind, referencing various places such as his painting experience, art historical knowledge, and everyday life, and explores how it is transferred to the screen and transformed into a trace or another shape through his body. By focusing on the detailed workings of vision and perception, Yang experiments with the state of an image that oscillates between opposing senses of blurriness and clarity. Seol senses the homogeneity between experiences on the internet and experiences in real life, and utilizes digital tools to create new images as a crystallization of sensations. Choi is preoccupied with the phenomenon of distortion and illusion surrounding reality, questioning the order of boundaries between binary concepts.
“From eggs to apples” is a phrase that captures a custom that was once common in the dining culture of European cities including Rome. At banquets of the time, it was customary to have eggs for appetizers and apples for dessert. This phrase, which combines the simple names of the ingredients with a preposition, establishes the universal role of eggs and apples as first and last, regardless of region. At the same time, what is erased in-between the names of the two ingredients suggests the place of many foods served in different cities. Like this phrase, in which the names of various foods are erased and only eggs and apples remain, From Eggs to Apples assumes that the paintings of Gwen Seol, Hyunmo Yang, Hyundoo Jung, and Iljun Choi share the same beginning and the end: painting and abstraction. As an exhibition, it suggests looking at the processes that must have occurred in the interim to move their paintings toward abstraction.
From July 19 to August 30, 2023, Shinhan Gallery presents an exhibition From Eggs to Apples, featuring the works of the ‘2023 Shinhan Young Artist Festa’ group competition, Gwen Seol, Hyunmo Yang, Hyundoo Jung, and Iljun Choi. The paintings of the four artists borrow implications from the concept of abstract paintings. Can we say paintings that emphasize distinct shapes are necessarily realized based only on the aspirations of the conception? Conversely, can we say that there is no exploration of form, be it an object or a landscape, behind an abstracted representation? In fact, it may be that abstract paintings are the result of a debate over the boundaries of a particular concept, or that they originate from an abstract imagination that changes infinitely in the process of painting, rather than being confirmed by the resulting surfaces. This exhibition examines the ways in which painting is defined as abstract by focusing on the implications inherent in the term ‘abstract painting’, namely, the differentiation of the processes that painters mobilize in between when they share ‘painting’, as the beginning, and ‘abstraction’, as the end.
Rather than starting their work with a clearly defined concept of abstract painting, the four artists use their abstract imaginations throughout the production process for a single outcome. They use their own methods ― arm movements (Hyundoo Jung), workings of perception (Hyunmo Yang), digital tools (Gwen Seol), and effects of chemicals (Iljun Choi) ― to lead their imaginations into paintings. Jung starts with an image in his mind, referencing various places such as his painting experience, art historical knowledge, and everyday life, and explores how it is transferred to the screen and transformed into a trace or another shape through his body. By focusing on the detailed workings of vision and perception, Yang experiments with the state of an image that oscillates between opposing senses of blurriness and clarity. Seol senses the homogeneity between experiences on the internet and experiences in real life, and utilizes digital tools to create new images as a crystallization of sensations. Choi is preoccupied with the phenomenon of distortion and illusion surrounding reality, questioning the order of boundaries between binary concepts.
“From eggs to apples” is a phrase that captures a custom that was once common in the dining culture of European cities including Rome. At banquets of the time, it was customary to have eggs for appetizers and apples for dessert. This phrase, which combines the simple names of the ingredients with a preposition, establishes the universal role of eggs and apples as first and last, regardless of region. At the same time, what is erased in-between the names of the two ingredients suggests the place of many foods served in different cities. Like this phrase, in which the names of various foods are erased and only eggs and apples remain, From Eggs to Apples assumes that the paintings of Gwen Seol, Hyunmo Yang, Hyundoo Jung, and Iljun Choi share the same beginning and the end: painting and abstraction. As an exhibition, it suggests looking at the processes that must have occurred in the interim to move their paintings toward abstraction.