Installation view of 《Unfolded: Fictions》 © Kyobo Art Space

Kyobo Art Space presents its summer special exhibition 《Unfolded: Fictions》(Kyobo Art Space, 2024) from July 12 to September 1.

This exhibition begins from the same question as the exhibition of the same name held last summer, 《Unfolded.》: “What books are artists reading these days?”

Accordingly, as last year, the title “Unfolded” was intended both to describe the movement of reading a book and to signify “the flow of turning over and unfolding what had been closed and not yet seen, then discovering it.” This year as well, the exhibition introduces works by painters together with the books selected by the artists.

Installation view of 《Unfolded: Fictions》 © Kyobo Art Space

This year, however, the word “Fictions” is connected to “Unfolded.” The exhibition defines the outcomes of the process by which painters who work with images expand their worlds through book texts as “fictions.” “Fiction” is a broad term used in many different ways.

In this exhibition, the word “fiction” appears as a metaphor for “something” drawn without distinguishing between reality and fiction, or drawn on the boundary between reality and fiction. That “something” may be an object that exists in reality with a sense of actuality, such as a landscape, object, or person, or it may be an instinctive and irresistible sensation caused by such objects.

In expressing these things, colors and forms combine freely and become a single formal language. The works of the artists, “drawn as if written” in that language, are described as “fictions,” much like the classifications of literary genres.

The five artists participating in 《Unfolded: Fictions》(Kyobo Art Space, 2024)—Kim Minsu, Kim Suyoun, Lim Nosik, Choi Sujin, and Choi Yoonhee—summon various books that allow them to take deep breaths as they continue their work, or that support them in protecting the everyday moments when they are not working.

Books such as 『Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again』(Kim Whanki), 『To Try on Someone Else’s Shoes』(Brady Mikako), 『From Sisun』(Chung Serang), 『The Wind Blows, Go』(Han Kang), and 『One Hundred Shadows』(Hwang Jungeun) appear on the artists’ book lists. The books of artists who work and continue to think through uncertain times make us perceive anew books we had already known.

They also arouse curiosity about the books connected to the works, and once again lead us to consider the question, “What can a book become for creation?” As viewers observe each artist’s works and turn the pages of the books, they may discover points where the artists’ stories and their own stories connect.

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