Kiwon Park, Temperature, 2016, Colored vinyl, lighting, Variable dimensions © Kiwon Park

In 《Growing Space》, Kiwon Park empties the space of materials as much as possible, and instead fills in the gap with throbbing life energy. The artwork is ultimately the artist himself–instead of simply installing the works within the exhibition space, the artist gives it vital energy for it to grow so that the space can reveal and expand itself. Although the artist preserves the typical frame structure of a white cube, he focuses on the spatial characteristics of the exhibition space and its surroundings. The exhibition is primarily divided into two parts: Temperature, an installation work composed of light and complementary colors on the ground floor from the front window to the interior; and Width, an eleven-piece series that brings the author’s understanding of temperature and space onto two-dimensional planes.

A large-scale installation piece, Temperature provides the audience with the surreal experience akin to encountering a mysterious illuminating planet or intense sunlight. Focusing on light as the final element of composing a space, Park creates sensory satiation. Highlighting the features of 313 ART PROJECT’s gallery space, the artist covered the front window 6 meters in length with layers of yellow vinyl, allowing the natural light to filter through the space. Park’s representative painting, Width 137, is installed on the facade of the gallery. The artist’s intention to have the orange hue of the painting bleed through behind the transparent yellow vinyls indicate a new paradigm of not only curation but also the viewing of the works, ultimately dismantling the physical barrier between the interior and exterior spaces both visually and in its significance.


Kiwon Park, ‘Width’ series, 2016, Oil on canvas © Kiwon Park

‘Width’ series moves aways from the conception of three dimensionality focusing on volume and instead represents the artist’s understanding of space onto a limited two dimensional surface. Park perceives the square paper as a space in and of itself, and in order to recreate three dimensionality of space, he divides the plane and stacks on lines as if he is melting out the time. Each line is a reflection of the time and endurance it took to complete the work. Thick color chrome created by the aggregation of lines coming before and after with a unique texture of the surface represents the depth of time.

Kiwon Park was awarded Artist of the Year by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in 2010, and he held solo exhibitions at ARCO Museum and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sophia. He participated in the 313 ART PROJECT’s international collaboration project, 《SPHERES》, in 2014 and 2015. He participated in 《Esprit Dior》, a collaborative project with the House of Dior, and 《Into Thin Air》 at Kumho Museum of Art in 2015. He participated in a Korean-German project Beyond the Border in Berlin in 2014 and conveyed his hopes for unity and peace through his large-scale installation art. In 2005, he represented the Korean Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennale. He participated in the special exhibition of Gwangju Biennale in 2000.

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