ONE AND J. Gallery presents a group exhibition titled 《Acquainted with the Night》 at ‘No.9 Cork Street,’ the exhibition space of Frieze in London, United Kingdom, from June 2 to 17, featuring Korean artists Dongwook Suh, Ahnnlee Lee, and Yunhee Choi. The exhibition metaphorically equates the inevitable human experiences of loneliness and isolation to 'night,' reflecting on our lives as ones that grow acquainted with and exist alongside darkness. The three artists each unravel their inner night through distinctive approaches: Suh through figurative painting, Choi through abstraction, and Lee through installation and sculpture.

Dongwook Suh, who has long explored portraiture rooted in empathy for human existence, presents cinematic, painterly scenes that capture the hidden inner solitude of contemporary individuals. Choi, who senses unseen aspects of emotion through the body, visualizes the rhythm, breath, and movements experienced during the introspective process. Lee, referencing his 2019 poem "Alchemy," presents sculptural installations that crystallize silent moments of small existences into metal, adding a unique temporal and spatial vitality alongside the paintings by Suh and Choi.

The exhibition title is drawn from the 1928 poem "Acquainted with the Night" by American poet Robert Frost (1874–1963). In the poem, the speaker becomes intimately familiar with night—a metaphor for darkness and melancholy. Though written nearly a century ago, the speaker’s situation resonates with the reality of modern life. Whether in the analog past or the digital present, we are all acquainted with the night. Solitude in the face of darkness is a shared human condition. Despite increasingly interconnected digital networks, feelings of loneliness and alienation in contemporary society are more prevalent than ever. Night, as a metaphor, can embody many emotions and situations. While it often evokes melancholy and solitude, it also grants a space and time for contemplation. Even in a dark, moonlit night, we may quietly reflect on ourselves, leaning on faint glimmers of light. Wandering alone in the rain, or feeling unseen and unheard, we repeatedly confront and grow accustomed to these moments of darkness. 《Acquainted with the Night》 invites viewers to encounter the unique 'light' that each artist casts on their own experience of night.

Dongwook Suh’s paintings are imbued with empathy for human beings. With each figure portrayed, Suh channels emotional depth into delicate painterly expression, reflecting on the lives we live. His subjects are often close acquaintances, chosen to look beyond surface resemblance and into the inner lives of individuals. At times, the artist projects his own solitude, joy, and vulnerability onto these figures. In this exhibition, Suh showcases his long-standing series 'Figures Indoors,' developed over more than a decade, presenting his distinct visual language shaped by an enduring exploration of human interiority.

Until 2010, Suh practiced both video and painting as separate media. However, through 'Figures Indoors,' he began integrating cinematic staging into single painted scenes. He photographs staged scenes—lit only by natural light seeping through windows, doors, and curtains—and translates them into oil paintings. These mise-en-scènes carry narrative weight, earning the description of 'painterly mise-en-scène.' His refusal to use artificial lighting enhances the dramatic contrast between ambient darkness and the subtle expressions revealed through natural light. Through the process of re-recording these scenes in oil, Suh captures psychological insight that eludes the photographic image. The figures in his works are often alone indoors, their gazes ambiguous and expressions pensive. While people often conceal their darker inner emotions in social settings, solitude in a quiet room can bring self-pity to the surface. Suh captures this moment on canvas, holding up a mirror to the fragile interiority shared by us all.

Yunhee Choi senses the unseen through her body, transitioning from external landscapes to internal ones. Attuning herself to her own inner rhythms, she breathes and moves through her canvases, bringing repressed emotions to the surface. She explores the traces of these emotions residing within her body and directly engages with the canvas by rubbing paint with her hands, capturing the flow of her feelings through gestures.

Her paintings resemble emotional threads suspended in a vast, unfathomable depth, set against hazy color fields. Since beginning the ‘Silent Noise’ series (2022–), Choi has further expanded her abstract language through the ‘Fallen Out’ (2023–) and ‘Mouth of Sound’ (2023–) series. Her recent work, Silent Noise #6(2023), reflects a descent into deeper emotional voids. She repeatedly rubs the canvas surface to relieve emotional pressure, while also embedding complex emotions experienced during the working process.

Fallen Out #1 (the changing beginning)(2023), a part of the 'Fallen Out' series, captures the thrill, overwhelm, and tension of standing at a new threshold—like the moment before a flower blooms. Meanwhile, the 'Mouth of Sound' series visualizes the inaudible vibrations that accompany speech, such as emotion, rhythm, and breath. In 〈Mouth of Sound #2〉(2023), fine lines converge into a circular mass, embodying the residue of sound. Recently, Choi has welcomed unspoken sounds and gestures into her work, creating paintings that resonate with the energy of night she has grown to know within.

Ahnnlee Lee focuses on small elements and fleeting moments around him—seeds, leaves, flowers, fruit, lights, birds. He explores their pure essence through his senses and expresses them in balanced, sculptural forms. Employing techniques like stitching, weaving, and scraping alongside drawing, he breathes life into quiet, delicate existences. In this exhibition, Lee emphasizes sculptural movement.

Alongside his 2019 poem "Alchemy," Lee presents the vertical hanging sculpture Alchemy, Transmutation of Matter(2023), reminiscent of plant forms, and Let’s Get Lost(2022), a sculpture composed of small metal objects nestled within a wooden shelf. Much like alchemy arises from a yearning for what is not yet within reach, Lee solidifies ephemeral moments of nature in bronze, preserving them like relics in his pocket and re-situating them in new contexts to be viewed with flexibility.

In Let’s Get Lost, he encases fragile natural materials like seeds and peanuts in bronze, arranging them inside a discarded wooden shelf, thereby gently embracing transient forms. Suspended vertically from the gallery ceiling is Alchemy, Transmutation of Matter, born from the artist's imagination: “Would sewing up the night sky eliminate darkness?” Like threading a needle, Lee meticulously connects small metal pieces on wire, repeatedly binding and unbinding them to create evolving forms. Like a plant germinating and growing outward, the sculpture evokes a sense of continual growth.
We all carry seeds within us—whether they bloom into birds or elephants is unknowable. Even in the face of an uncertain world, we hold onto hope, nurturing our own unique possibilities. Lee’s careful attention to the seeds of his everyday life reflects a nurturing stance that ultimately affirms his own existence.
 
 
Dongwook Suh (b. 1974) graduated from Hongik University with a degree in Painting and later from École Nationale Supérieure d’arts de Paris-Cergy. He has held solo exhibitions at venues such as The Commerce Gallery, Yongsan (2022); ONE AND J. Gallery, Seoul (2020, 2013); Space Willing N Dealing, Seoul (2020); Noblesse Collection, Seoul (2019). Selected group exhibitions include shows at The Commerce Gallery, Seoul (2022); Gallery SoSo, Seoul (2021); Wooson Art Center, Cheongju (2021); ONE AND J. Gallery, Seoul (2020, 2019); Hongik Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul (2017); OCI Museum of Art, Seoul (2016); Ilhyun Museum, Yangyang (2013). He also participated in residencies at Seoul Museum of Art’s Nanji Studio and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s Changdong Residency.

Ahnnlee Lee (b. 1985) earned his DNAP and DNSAP from Beaux-Arts de Paris. His solo exhibitions include 《Ahnnlee Lee’s Apricot Bar》 (Drawing Space Apricot, 2018) and 《Yes. Five Mirrors》 (Drawing Space Apricot, 2016). He also held a two-person exhibition 《Orange Sleep》 at ONE AND J. Gallery (2023). Group exhibitions include shows at Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art (2023); Wooson Art Center, Cheongju (2022); Lee Kangha Art Museum, Gwangju (2022); ONE AND J. Gallery, Seoul (2022); Space So, Seoul (2021); HITE Collection, Seoul (2020); Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art (2018); Seongbuk Art Center, Seoul (2017).

Yunhee Choi (b. 1986) earned her BFA in Painting from Gachon University and completed her MFA at Korea National University of Arts. She has held solo exhibitions including 《Mute》 (A Lounge, 2023); 《To the Distant Beginning》 (Project Space Sarubia, 2021); and 《Recording Pattern》 (OCI Museum of Art, 2019). Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at Daejeon Museum of Art–Daejeon Creation Center (2023); ONE AND J. Gallery, Seoul (2022); Amado Art Space, Seoul (2022); P21, Seoul (2020); Mimesis Art Museum, Paju (2019). She was selected for the 2021 Project Space Sarubia Exhibition Support Program and won the 2019 OCI Young Creatives Award.

References

• 프리즈 런던에서 열리는 서동욱, 이안리, 최윤희 그룹전 : 《Acquainted with the Night》
  Frieze London with Dongwook Suh, Ahnnlee Lee, and Yunhee Choi: 《Acquainted with the Night》)