Son Donghyun graduated from the Department of Eastern Painting at Seoul National University (2005) and completed a master’s course at its graduate school (2014). He has been working as an exclusive artist at Gallery 2 since 2007.
Son Donghyun’s solo exhibition 《Hep》 is on view at Gallery 2 in Pyeongchang-dong
from the 12th of this month through April 18. The exhibition begins even along
the path leading to the gallery. In this exhibition, the artist—who has
continuously explored the expansion of Korean painting—presents the
intersection of tradition and contemporary art. He not only reinterprets the
formal aspects of traditional materials but also sheds new light on their
meanings.
The work that immediately caught the eye
upon entering the gallery on the left was Full Moon (滿月). At first glance, it seemed as though the artist had transformed a
chaekgado (scholars’ objects painting) into a sculptural form within a
contemporary framework. The objects arranged in compartments each materialized
fragments of traditional landscape painting in diverse, three-dimensional ways.
Lego pieces, resin, paint, brushes—objects that had outlived their use, along
with items lacking practical function—were gathered together. According to the
exhibition text, the dabogyeok (多寶格), a display cabinet
symbolizing authority and ostentation, becomes a point where tradition and
popular culture intersect. Moreover, the objects placed upon it combine their
original material properties with newly assigned characteristics by the artist,
maintaining their past forms while simultaneously presenting a contemporary
order.
Son Donghyun, who has long reinterpreted
traditional Korean painting in a contemporary context, moves beyond the flat
surface and utilizes the exhibition space itself as a kind of ground or
support. A cloud-shaped film attached to the window allows sunlight to pass
through, casting what appears to be a colored painting onto the floor of the
exhibition space. However, no additional forms emerge beyond this.
Only the cloud and the shadow of the
window frame remain. Clouds are always above us, yet they belong to the
periphery, while window frames are ubiquitous but often overlooked
architectural elements. However, Son Donghyun brings these two elements to the
center. Cloud, which utilizes materials rarely chosen as
artistic subjects along with the specific qualities of the space, begins on the
floor and gradually moves toward the wall as time passes. Similarly, another
work in the adjacent gallery also draws attention to the periphery, using space
itself as its material.
Story recalls past
exhibitions held at Gallery 2. Typically, once an exhibition ends, the traces
left behind are erased in preparation for the next. However, in this
exhibition, the artist selectively reveals those erased traces. By spraying
black paint onto what would otherwise be pristine walls, he marks the size,
shape, and placement of previously exhibited works. Story,
which presents the accumulated time embedded in each wall within a single
space, demonstrates a combination of discontinuous elements and the visual
continuity that emerges from them.
Son Donghyun, who has consistently pursued
innovation across media and genres, presents a sense of cognitive dissonance in
this exhibition titled 《Hep》.
Even the title itself invites questions, and the works are arranged in a way
that appears to lack clear continuity. The numerous objects placed atop the
dabogyeok do not present an obvious connection.
However, they reveal the
potential for multiple meanings to emerge in the space between the implications
suggested by each object and the viewer’s own interpretation.
Dancer and Crane share the commonality of
distorted forms, and through such distortions, they overturn the conventional
meanings they originally carried.
Although the works may initially seem
disconnected, a closer look reveals underlying relationships among them. The
exhibition prompts one to consider how a kind of dissonance—reminiscent of
jazz—might appear when realized through the materials of Korean painting and
situated within an exhibition space. For those interested in the unique
reinterpretation of traditional Korean art, as well as in the boundaries and
identity of Korean painting, this exhibition is well worth a visit.
