D-Formation, 24-2, 162.2× 130, Courtesy of Gallery Grimson
Gallery Grimson Seoul presents a new solo exhibition by Korean contemporary artist Kwon Sung Won, on view from April 2 to 29, 2025. Titled Moments of Line: From Dream-Wandering to Form, Transition, and Beauty (선의 순간들 – 몽유에서 형성, 전이 그리고 미의 순간까지), the exhibition marks the artist's return to the gallery with a striking new series after his previous solo show in 2022.
Kwon, who first gained attention as a finalist in Gallery Grimson's 2021 emerging artist competition, has since maintained a prolific career, participating in various group exhibitions and major art fairs across Korea. His latest body of work continues to push the boundaries of traditional painting by rejecting the paintbrush in favor of a self-devised technique: squeezing paint directly through tubes to build complex, thread-like layers.
Draw-transition_Red, 73 x 91cm, acrylic on canvas, 2024, Courtesy of Gallery Grimson
Instead of relying on conventional tools, Kwon treats each strand of color like a filament, laying them down in tightly controlled rows that accumulate to form images. His process is rooted in the fundamentals of painting—line, point, and plane—yet reframed through a labor-intensive method that fuses drawing, textile, and sculpture. The result is a hybrid surface where the visual impact emerges not from gestural abstraction but from structural accumulation.
Kwon's lines do not immediately reveal recognizable forms. As viewers approach the canvas, they are confronted with a field of seemingly random linear textures. Only from a distance do these fragmented elements resolve into coherent images, revealing a meta-commentary on perception itself. The works invite viewers to question the moment at which visual information becomes comprehensible, echoing the neurological process of identifying objects through subconscious pattern recognition.
Flatland 24-3_(RO), 73 x 91cm, acrylic on canvas, 2024, Courtesy of Gallery Grimson
In this exhibition, Kwon further develops his signature vocabulary by introducing more expressive gestures and layered spatial compositions. While the visual structure remains dominated by the build-up of fine lines, the painterly dynamics have grown bolder, incorporating elements of expressionism and spatial tension.
His approach can be seen as a poetic negotiation between the tactile and the illusory, between process and perception. The repetition of line becomes not just a technical method, but a philosophical stance that interrogates how meaning is formed through iteration, memory, and time.
By positioning the line as both origin and destination, Kwon Sung Won reaffirms painting as a space of transformation. Moments of Line is not merely a display of formal innovation; it is a meditation on seeing and how images emerge from labor, abstraction, and the ever-shifting boundary between clarity and ambiguity.
몽유 (夢遊) In a Dream, 324.4 x 130.3 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2024, Courtesy of Gallery Grimson
Sayart / Maria Kim, sayart2022@gmail.com
D-Formation, 24-2, 162.2× 130, Courtesy of Gallery Grimson
Gallery Grimson Seoul presents a new solo exhibition by Korean contemporary artist Kwon Sung Won, on view from April 2 to 29, 2025. Titled Moments of Line: From Dream-Wandering to Form, Transition, and Beauty (선의 순간들 – 몽유에서 형성, 전이 그리고 미의 순간까지), the exhibition marks the artist's return to the gallery with a striking new series after his previous solo show in 2022.
Kwon, who first gained attention as a finalist in Gallery Grimson's 2021 emerging artist competition, has since maintained a prolific career, participating in various group exhibitions and major art fairs across Korea. His latest body of work continues to push the boundaries of traditional painting by rejecting the paintbrush in favor of a self-devised technique: squeezing paint directly through tubes to build complex, thread-like layers.
Draw-transition_Red, 73 x 91cm, acrylic on canvas, 2024, Courtesy of Gallery Grimson
Instead of relying on conventional tools, Kwon treats each strand of color like a filament, laying them down in tightly controlled rows that accumulate to form images. His process is rooted in the fundamentals of painting—line, point, and plane—yet reframed through a labor-intensive method that fuses drawing, textile, and sculpture. The result is a hybrid surface where the visual impact emerges not from gestural abstraction but from structural accumulation.
Kwon's lines do not immediately reveal recognizable forms. As viewers approach the canvas, they are confronted with a field of seemingly random linear textures. Only from a distance do these fragmented elements resolve into coherent images, revealing a meta-commentary on perception itself. The works invite viewers to question the moment at which visual information becomes comprehensible, echoing the neurological process of identifying objects through subconscious pattern recognition.
Flatland 24-3_(RO), 73 x 91cm, acrylic on canvas, 2024, Courtesy of Gallery Grimson
In this exhibition, Kwon further develops his signature vocabulary by introducing more expressive gestures and layered spatial compositions. While the visual structure remains dominated by the build-up of fine lines, the painterly dynamics have grown bolder, incorporating elements of expressionism and spatial tension.
His approach can be seen as a poetic negotiation between the tactile and the illusory, between process and perception. The repetition of line becomes not just a technical method, but a philosophical stance that interrogates how meaning is formed through iteration, memory, and time.
By positioning the line as both origin and destination, Kwon Sung Won reaffirms painting as a space of transformation. Moments of Line is not merely a display of formal innovation; it is a meditation on seeing and how images emerge from labor, abstraction, and the ever-shifting boundary between clarity and ambiguity.
몽유 (夢遊) In a Dream, 324.4 x 130.3 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2024, Courtesy of Gallery Grimson
