Jinhee Kim, In the Theatre, 2023 ©Jinhee Kim, courtesy ThisWeekendRoomPACE Gallery Seoul presents “Time Lapse”, an exhibition of figurative paintings by eight Korean artists, on view through March 13. The intergenerational group of artists in the show – which is curated by Jee Young Maeng and spans all three floors of the gallery – includes Jungwook Kim, Jinhee Kim, Noah Ryu, Gwangsoo Park, Suh Yongsun, Woosung Lee, Jaeheon Lee, and Soojung Jung.
These artists, who presents paintings created between the 1990s and the present day, have examined societal shifts and changes as subjects in their work, meditating on how paradigmatic transformations take shape over time. Some of the paintings in “Time Lapse” focus on the contemporary era, some use the human figure as means of exploring psychic and emotional landscapes, and others are more lyrical, blurring the boundary between reality and fantasy through otherworldly plays of color and form. PACE’s presentation of “Time Lapse” reflects its commitment to spotlighting work by Korean artists as part of its program in Seoul.
Each of the artists showing work in the exhibition offers a unique perspective and sensibility with their figurations. On the gallery’s first floor, paintings by Suh Yongsun and Woosung Lee are exhibited in conversation with one another, presenting different views of Seoul both aesthetically and temporally. In Suh Yongsun’s works from the 1990s, flattened, anonymous figures move through semi-abstract urban spaces. Meanwhile, Woosung Lee is interested in examining individuals’ experiences of both interior and exterior worlds in his paintings, which range from intimate portraits to large-scale, densely populated, mural-like compositions. Works by Jungwook Kim, Gwangsoo Park, Noah Ryu, and Jaeheon Lee, whose paintings of inner landscapes deal with existential anxieties, will be on view on the second floor.
The third floor will showcase works by Soojung Jung, whose layered landscapes are fantastical worlds unto themselves; Jinhee Kim, whose dynamic, radiating paintings center on moments of uncertainty in daily life; Jungwook Kim, who unites figuration with geometric abstraction to investigate enactments of fragmentation and connection in an increasingly globalized world; and Noah Ryu, whose elegiac and atmospheric paintings lean into a contemplative mood. Together, these paintings speak to the visible and invisible forces that have shaped their makers’ understanding of the world and their place within it.
