The portrait of the artist with the artwork, Courtesy of Johyun Gallery
From September 4 to November 10, 2024, Johyun Gallery Seoul will host Lee Bae's solo exhibition, Between, which sheds light on the artist's exploration of human existence and the inner world through black-and-white sculptures and paintings.
The artist's installation features black and white bronze sculptures set on a floor covered in hanji—Korean mulberry paper—evoking the awe of discovering ancient ruins. The amorphous composition within the gallery invites visitors to merge with the work, while the soft yellow light streaming through the window adds a transcendent sense of time and vitality to the abstract forms.
The bronze sculptures on display, each 2 meters tall and 1.6 meters wide, are meticulously balanced with black brushstrokes and white spaces on one wall, achieving harmony within the space. The yellow light, reminiscent of the moonlight during the Daljiptaeugi ritual in the artist's hometown of Cheongdo, symbolizes the charcoal collected after the ritual bonfire. While the artist had previously focused on large-scale outdoor installations since 2022, this exhibition shifts the focus inward, drawing external elements into an intimate setting.
This inward shift in the exhibition's structure was also evident in Johyun Gallery's 2023 special exhibition, Origin, Emergence, and Return, at the Rockefeller Center in New York. The artist presented a 7-meter-tall Issu du feu sculpture made from massive charcoal pieces fired in a kiln for a month, displayed above ground in the Channel Gardens. In contrast, a series of polished charcoal paintings glistened with a deep luster in the gallery below, creating a cyclical connection between the heavens and human aspirations.
Courtesy of Johyun Gallery
In addition, the artist presented La Maison de la Lune Brûlée at the Wilmotte Foundation during this year's Venice Biennale. In this exhibition, he placed a massive black granite sculpture symbolizing meok (Korean ink stick) at the center of the hanji-covered floor, inviting visitors to experience the strokes that spanned the walls and floor. Requiring visitors to remove their shoes before stepping into the space was part of his intent to immerse them in Korean culture. Although the exhibition occurred in Venice, the yellow moonlit passage in the backyard offered a view of the Venetian canals reminiscent of the moonlit evenings in Cheongdo, where the Daljiptaeugi ritual is held.
The artist explains, "As human beings, we stand between the internal and external worlds. I believe that it is the inner world that structures and shapes the outer world and that the role of art is to facilitate communication between these realms." After moving to France, the artist rediscovered his forgotten origins through charcoal and has since spent over 30 years showcasing Korean painting on the international stage through black-and-white calligraphic abstraction. With this exhibition, he invites visitors to shed their shoes, return to their roots, and embark on a new beginning in a sacred place.
Between at Johyun Gallery_Seoul is the artist's second solo exhibition this year. Previously, from May 10 to August 18, Johyun Gallery_Dalmaji presented Flowing, an exhibition that emphasized his physicality and introduced his video work Burning, first unveiled at the Venice Biennale. A portion of this video will be displayed on the curved LED billboard on the exterior of COEX from August 29 to September 21, 2024, coinciding with the Seoul Frieze period.
Sayart / Maria Kim, sayart2022@gmail.com
The portrait of the artist with the artwork, Courtesy of Johyun Gallery
From September 4 to November 10, 2024, Johyun Gallery Seoul will host Lee Bae's solo exhibition, Between, which sheds light on the artist's exploration of human existence and the inner world through black-and-white sculptures and paintings.
The artist's installation features black and white bronze sculptures set on a floor covered in hanji—Korean mulberry paper—evoking the awe of discovering ancient ruins. The amorphous composition within the gallery invites visitors to merge with the work, while the soft yellow light streaming through the window adds a transcendent sense of time and vitality to the abstract forms.
The bronze sculptures on display, each 2 meters tall and 1.6 meters wide, are meticulously balanced with black brushstrokes and white spaces on one wall, achieving harmony within the space. The yellow light, reminiscent of the moonlight during the Daljiptaeugi ritual in the artist's hometown of Cheongdo, symbolizes the charcoal collected after the ritual bonfire. While the artist had previously focused on large-scale outdoor installations since 2022, this exhibition shifts the focus inward, drawing external elements into an intimate setting.
This inward shift in the exhibition's structure was also evident in Johyun Gallery's 2023 special exhibition, Origin, Emergence, and Return, at the Rockefeller Center in New York. The artist presented a 7-meter-tall Issu du feu sculpture made from massive charcoal pieces fired in a kiln for a month, displayed above ground in the Channel Gardens. In contrast, a series of polished charcoal paintings glistened with a deep luster in the gallery below, creating a cyclical connection between the heavens and human aspirations.
Courtesy of Johyun Gallery
In addition, the artist presented La Maison de la Lune Brûlée at the Wilmotte Foundation during this year's Venice Biennale. In this exhibition, he placed a massive black granite sculpture symbolizing meok (Korean ink stick) at the center of the hanji-covered floor, inviting visitors to experience the strokes that spanned the walls and floor. Requiring visitors to remove their shoes before stepping into the space was part of his intent to immerse them in Korean culture. Although the exhibition occurred in Venice, the yellow moonlit passage in the backyard offered a view of the Venetian canals reminiscent of the moonlit evenings in Cheongdo, where the Daljiptaeugi ritual is held.
The artist explains, "As human beings, we stand between the internal and external worlds. I believe that it is the inner world that structures and shapes the outer world and that the role of art is to facilitate communication between these realms." After moving to France, the artist rediscovered his forgotten origins through charcoal and has since spent over 30 years showcasing Korean painting on the international stage through black-and-white calligraphic abstraction. With this exhibition, he invites visitors to shed their shoes, return to their roots, and embark on a new beginning in a sacred place.
Between at Johyun Gallery_Seoul is the artist's second solo exhibition this year. Previously, from May 10 to August 18, Johyun Gallery_Dalmaji presented Flowing, an exhibition that emphasized his physicality and introduced his video work Burning, first unveiled at the Venice Biennale. A portion of this video will be displayed on the curved LED billboard on the exterior of COEX from August 29 to September 21, 2024, coinciding with the Seoul Frieze period.
