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Buen Calubayan

BUEN CALUBAYAN

Amoy Araw: Rhythms of Play and Labor Arario Gallery 26 February–12 April 2025 Seoul
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Press Release

ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL presents Amoy Araw: Rhythms of Play and Labor, a solo exhibition by Buen CALUBAYAN (b. 1980, Philippines), from 26 February 2025 (Wed) to 12 April 2025 (Sat). This marks the artist’s solo exhibition in Korea in six years, following his previous solo exhibition at ARARIO GALLERY Ryse Hotel in 2019.

Featuring over 20 new works across painting, video and installation, CALUBAYAN delves into the themes of critical pedagogy and sensory practices. The phrase ’amoy araw’ meaning ‘smells like sun’ in Filipino, evokes the lingering traces of rhythm on children’s bodies after a day of outdoor play or on workers after completing their labor. At the core of CALUBAYAN’s recent practice is the concept of rhythm, understood as a fundamental force shaping the rhythm of light, bodily movements, environmental shifts and changes in land, as well as the transmission of knowledge across generations. This exhibition offers an expansive exploration of the fluid, interwoven rhythms that underpin learning, memory, and shared experience.

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About the Artist

Buen CALUBAYAN (b.1980) investigates the mechanisms of world-making and the techniques of perception—of what happens in-between the self and the world in terms of mediation, image-making, and the production of devices that enable such operations. In art history through landscape painting, picturing of nature and of the world around us is skillfully employed with the renaissance technique of linear perspective. He took as an entry point this diagrammatic approach in reading 19th century colonial paintings in the Philippines to plot the coordinates of a specific regional context within what was becoming the broader art world. The method involves the rethinking of the notions of the horizon, the vanishing point, and grounding as well as the mechanisms that make it visible such as framing, archiving historiography, and accessibility.

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Also Exhibiting at Arario Gallery

All Exhibitions
GROUP EXHIBITION
GROUP EXHIBITION The Other Measure Arario Gallery 10 July–5 September 2026 Shanghai
Jihyun Lee
JIHYUN LEE Fantasma: Restless Silence Arario Gallery 1 July–15 August 2026 Seoul
Lim Subeom
LIM SUBEOM LIM Subeom: Last Night’s Golden Dragon Mirage Arario Gallery 1 July–15 August 2026 Seoul
About the Gallery

ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL opened its doors in Sogyeok-dong in 2006. Since then, it has established its foothold as a leading contemporary art gallery in Korea and across Asia, continuing to be at the forefront of the international art scene through its efficient representation system and bold exhibitions. In March 2014, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL relocated near the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. In April 2018, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL RYSE HOTEL, a second exhibition space in Seoul, opened in the Hongdae area. Running concurrently with its primary location until November 2019, the project space aimed to mirror the experimental spirit of the neighbourhood through its innovative programming. In 2022, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL ended its Sogyeok-dong era. However, the various experimentation and ventures carried out in the gallery’s previous spaces continue to shape its future at its current location in Wonseo-dong, which reopened in February 2023. Through the preemptive discovery of young artists, steady support of represented artists, and the realisation of meaningful and original exhibitions, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL aims to continually grow and contribute to the growth of the contemporary art scene in Korea.

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Address
85, Yulgok-ro
Jongno-gu
Seoul
South Korea
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11am – 6pm
(1)
Seoul 85, Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu
Arario Gallery contemporary art gallery in Seoul South Korea
Arario Gallery
85, Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
+82 2541 5701
http://www.arariogallery.com

Opening hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11am – 6pm
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