 hen Asia faces globalization, common problems will be faced, as well as a common hope and a common yearning. The artist’s work begins to reflect not only the impulsive nature of our reality, but also the inner struggles of an individual. Globalization tests the artists original convictions related to humanity and values. It makes them evaluate and question their underlining moral rectitude. It is hidden in the depths of the visual image, creating a spirit of tension. The art displayed by all artists attempts to give the viewers a sobering view of reality, a reality that exists within the artist.” (an excerpt from curator Feng Boyi, Accident: Out of Control).
Japan and Korea have each passed through this type of modernization, and China is experiencing the same process. Therefore, the exhibition will present three South Korean artists, Lee Hyuck, Cho Song, and Jeung Jae Eun, who use “Space & Plane” as the fundamental theme of their work. They consider the field of issues faced before and after modernization within a nation and ponder the effects and contradictions that change has on the modern concept of space, as well as the resulting internal conflict of a modern way of life. Through these ideas, the defining theme relays the changing relationship between space and plane. Although full of problems and contradictions, it is also full of vigor and desire. It may not be the ideal standard of China today; it will exceed the times, as it will exceed space and plane. This type of profound understanding toward the consideration of physical space has an active function.
The theme of this exhibition, Intersection, revolves around how each artist utilizes the “space of a plane”. The space of a plane is stretched and extracted from the physical space of the artist, even more boldly recreating the spatial structures in a private manner. The concept embodies how each of the artists treats their physical location, stretching aspects of their composition abstractly, to the extent that each structure becomes a uniquely individual creation.
Cho Song’s art first exceeds the reality of space, formed from the principle of perspective seen in modern structural space. After the light and the images are arranged, lines are then attached that begin to evoke traditional architecture crowded by features of daily life. Particularly, within the frame the light can be compared to a work by Dutch Architect Rem Koolhaas called “Exodus”- a structure of ideal conviction, allows us all of a sudden to feel an item that intensely evokes the light of the oldest metropolis and applies it to modern times, a high watermark for the use of space and time. By evaluating the work as a whole from the outside, the illusion of space is subdued; inside the lines produce a series of living scenes that are persistent, decorative, and vigorous in appearance. In the center of these works we associate even more with Alberto Giacometti’s “The Palace at 4 a.m.”— The bizarre palace in the dim light of night, a palace built of matchsticks, here… I exist...
Modern concepts of spatial research moves from a person’s local, superficial intuitions, to a more profound understanding of the various attributes of space. For example, space is transformed from a plane, causing people to maintain the traditional notion of space. However, when the viewer begins to naturally penetrate the space that opens and closes depending on orientation, understanding becomes organic. There are still traditional perspectives that impede the ability to grasp the modern concept of spatial research, particularly regarding the relationship between bounded and unbound space, an essential concept that animates the work. Importantly, the concept of a spatial plane forms the basis for the development of the modern model. Part of the work is comprised from individual pieces pasted and again arranged within the space; a form is then established creating the cohesive image on the whole. It can open and close, it is bound and unbound, it has both an arbitrary and a purposive nature. But, the vision of this modern phenomena, is again, not innate. Because these modernized concepts at first quickly move people to be enticed and intoxicated, afterwards, people will be surprised to discover that their footing has disappeared.
Lee Hyuck Impressions and pieces of pictures form to give the work extreme intensity. At first within the frame we see people and residence, it has words and content. The feeling of stability in the work as a whole is created by the use of memory. Our memory allows us to read the fragments cohesively, giving the art its structure. The fallacy of stability will be remedied as the viewer can begin to remove themselves from intuitions and impressions of memory. Lastly, as we visualize the plane – it is possible to hope impossible to move, possible to read aloud impossible to narrate, resulting in art that causes us to ponder and cherish. This is the reality of anxiety and having no way out; at the same time it takes note of and lays out the fashions of a materialistic society in this day and age. In a modern culture of influence and concealment, the art becomes the proverbial wake up call, but Lee Hyuck still cherishes his mission to be “the recorder of memory”, tirelessly applying it to the present, memories as records, society as the intersection of individual dots.
Modern artists regard city space or architectural structures as representations of speed and motion, creating desires that bubble and rush like the water in a spring, a process that is attractive and has become a part of the mainstream standard for modern visualization.
In the year 1910, the futurists said that “all things have a campaign, all things are in the running, all things are rapidly changing.” While the Cubists were concerned with geostationary study, the study of static nature, futurists began to change direction by studying the nature of speed. The theory of “Dynamic Perception” uses both scientific and visual analysis, a field of work that is embodied by the photographs taken by Andre Desmarais. Desmarais records the rapid movement of animals by continually snapping photos at close range.
Jeung Jae Eun’s art is concerned with the movement of planes in spatial structures. She is influenced by the painter Giacomo Balla, one of the founders of Futurism. When compared to Balla’s works there are some similarities, but the differences are clear. Balla’s age is focused on a careful and specific application of the dynamic perspective, whereas Jeung Jae Eun is immediately considering the state of the abstract space of speed, these abstractions combine with the visual plane increasingly rousing the viewer’s pleasure. Not only is repeated overlapping in Jeung Jae Eun’s work a technique of the utmost importance, overlapping is the most prominent symbol of a modernized society. These techniques give artists the tools needed to renovate traditional structures, tools that are related to Jeung Jae Eun’s major and her experience as a civil engineer. In painting, the artist is able to free herself from the coexistence of traditional architecture and painting and as a result she can create a new coordingation and beauty. Jeung Jae Eun made use of the words “as I pass through the center of modern society of high-speed information, the materialistic age has vigorously warped humanity, the concept of values and the concept of human life are becoming increasingly confused, and I consider these changes in the planes of my art. The world will benefit from a future filled with more constructive space.”
This exhibition is on display at Beyond Art Space, in Northern Beijing at the 798 Art District. The gallery space encompasses the prerequisite conditions for holding such an exhibition. I look forward to a performance of planes and space in a gallery environment that encapsulates the theme of the work.
Visual center-seoul, acrylic on canvas, 65×50cm, 2007
Visual center-monaco, acrylic on canvas, 45×53cm, 2007
Visual center mt, st michel, acrylic on canvas, 45×53cm, 2007
Mixed media on canvas, 130×162cm, 2005
Interval Mixed media on canvas, 140×180cm, 2006
Interval, Acrylic on canvas, 162×130cm , 2005
After image brick, arcylic on canvas, 117cmx91cm, 2007
After image forest, arcylic on canvas, 145.5cmx112cm, 2007
After image city, arcylic on canvas, 241cmx161cm, 2007
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