Installation view of 《From Eggs to Apples》 © Shinhan Gallery

From July 19 to August 30, 2023, Shinhan Gallery presents an exhibition 《From Eggs to Apples》, featuring the works of the ‘2023 Shinhan Young Artist Festa’ group competition, Gwen Seol, Hyunmo Yang, Hyundoo Jung, and Iljun Choi. The paintings of the four artists borrow implications from the concept of abstract paintings. Can we say paintings that emphasize distinct shapes are necessarily realized based only on the aspirations of the conception?

Conversely, can we say that there is no exploration of form, be it an object or a landscape, behind an abstracted representation? In fact, it may be that abstract paintings are the result of a debate over the boundaries of a particular concept, or that they originate from an abstract imagination that changes infinitely in the process of painting, rather than being confirmed by the resulting surfaces. This exhibition examines the ways in which painting is defined as abstract by focusing on the implications inherent in the term ‘abstract painting’, namely, the differentiation of the processes that painters mobilize in between when they share ‘painting’, as the beginning, and ‘abstraction’, as the end.


Installation view of 《From Eggs to Apples》 © Shinhan Gallery

Rather than starting their work with a clearly defined concept of abstract painting, the four artists use their abstract imaginations throughout the production process for a single outcome. They use their own methods ― arm movements (Hyundoo Jung), workings of perception (Hyunmo Yang), digital tools (Gwen Seol), and effects of chemicals (Iljun Choi) ― to lead their imaginations into paintings.

Jung starts with an image in his mind, referencing various places such as his painting experience, art historical knowledge, and everyday life, and explores how it is transferred to the screen and transformed into a trace or another shape through his body.

By focusing on the detailed workings of vision and perception, Yang experiments with the state of an image that oscillates between opposing senses of blurriness and clarity.

Seol senses the homogeneity between experiences on the internet and experiences in real life, and utilizes digital tools to create new images as a crystallization of sensations.

Choi is preoccupied with the phenomenon of distortion and illusion surrounding reality, questioning the order of boundaries between binary concepts.


Installation view of 《From Eggs to Apples》 © Shinhan Gallery

“From eggs to apples” is a phrase that captures a custom that was once common in the dining culture of European cities including Rome. At banquets of the time, it was customary to have eggs for appetizers and apples for dessert. This phrase, which combines the simple names of the ingredients with a preposition, establishes the universal role of eggs and apples as first and last, regardless of region. At the same time, what is erased in-between the names of the two ingredients suggests the place of many foods served in different cities.

Like this phrase, in which the names of various foods are erased and only eggs and apples remain, 《From Eggs to Apples》 assumes that the paintings of Gwen Seol, Hyunmo Yang, Hyundoo Jung, and Iljun Choi share the same beginning and the end: painting and abstraction. As an exhibition, it suggests looking at the processes that must have occurred in the interim to move their paintings toward abstraction.

References