1. THE PLANNERS
Yeo Joonsoo currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of 'Gallery Chosun'. Although he did not major in gallery management or exhibition planning during his school years, he finds himself in a position to continue his mother's gallery, which was established independently from his grandfather's 'Chosun Art Gallery'. Amidst this, he developed a friendship with me, a curator and operator of Space Willing N Dealing, and we often engaged in conversations. Occasionally, he expressed his interest in exhibition planning. In the winter of 2023, he requested my participation in curating three exhibitions to be held from 2024 to 2025. He mentioned that this would be a series of cultural exchanges with France, and the participating artists have already been decided.
During a time when the art market was thriving, Yeo Joonsoo seemed to be greatly impressed by the art scene he encountered during his trip to France. While researching various types of exhibition spaces there, he came across Le Wonder, a unique collaborative non-profit organization, which piqued his significant interest. He decided on a collaborative exhibition between Le Wonder's artists and those working with Gallery Chosun, and he seemed to want to see a different landscape from the commercial exhibition he was familiar with. He reached out to an artist close to him who was familiar with France, and through this connection, he contacted Le Wonder. After several meetings, the exhibition was successfully arranged. Subsequently, artists' portfolios were exchanged between Korean and French. Due to the relatively smaller size of Gallery Chosun compared to Le Wonder, two exhibitions were scheduled in Seoul for 2024, each featuring nine artists, and in 2025, all participating artists had the opportunity to showcase their works in Le Wonder's spacious exhibition space. At this stage, contemplating the content of the exhibition, he suggested to me curate the exhibition.
What intrigued me was that, despite the exhibition being already arranged and having all the key elements such as artists and venue in place, the actual content that could be perceived as an exhibition was not yet formulated. The crucial process of how the space and the artists could come together, why, and through what means to create a cohesive exhibition was not progressing. Consequently, my role in this exhibition was clear, and it represented a somewhat different attempt. Interestingly, the keyword "different" seemed to be useful in various ways for this exhibition. I responded to the proposal, and asked Yeo Joonsoo, who had already brought it to a practical state, to also participate as a co-planner for this exhibition.
Returning to the figure of Yeo Joonsoo, despite his educational background being unrelated to his exhibition, he seemed to be grappling with his own solutions to what he should be doing now. His approach appeared rough and sometimes veering off course, but he was gradually carving out his own territory. Having received art education since childhood, majoring in the field of art in high school and college, having built a career as a curator, my background was 'different' from his, as I had built my career in exhibition planning. The context he brought for the exhibition was ambiguous, yet this process led me to reflect and contemplate from a different perspective.
2. MAP
As we navigate our way through living on Earth, we delineate regions by establishing various environments, broadly categorized as countries, provinces, cities, neighborhoods, etc., and officially represent them through maps. This is a naturally occurring, yet sometimes artificially imposed, division considering complex factors like politics, economy, environment, culture, etc. This division is constantly changing due to factors such as wars, agreements, and the influence of the natural environment. The topography of South Korea, in particular, has undergone dynamic changes. After liberation, it was divided into North and South by the Korean War in 1950. Recently, there have been discussions in the news about the possibility of incorporating Gimpo City into Seoul. Hong Kong, which was under British rule, was absorbed into China as a Special Administrative Region in 1997. As of 2024, the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has caused the flight distance between Seoul and Paris to increase from the usual 12 hours to 14 hours, as flights divert around specific regions. The physical distance between Seoul and Paris is approximately known to be 8,976 km. If using other modes of transportation such as cars, ships, or trains, the distance and travel time would be much longer. Flight distance is just one sense of distance among many, and we are aware that, in the era of advanced internet communication, the distance and time for information exchange have converged close to zero. Can flight distance, ground or maritime distance, and the distance for information exchange be defined as absolute criteria for the distance between different regions? It might be impossible to determine and define land and existence through a map divided by a single line.
I had to consider whether the term Yeo Joonsoo consistently emphasized, "cultural exchange between two countries," was indeed an effective expression under the current status. To convey the meaning of 'exchange' as he desires, it became clear that distinct entities must coexist. Before exploring cultural exchange between different regions, I had to confront the fact that the process of creating an exhibition by me, a curator Kim Inseon, and the form of the exhibition pursued by Yeo Joonsoo were in different states. Recognizing the organic conditions that could connect different regions involved acknowledging that the two institutions, two planners, and artists operating in different areas should first acknowledge their distinct realms. The word that came to mind was 'map.' The departure from the traditional exhibition production process led to the emergence of another form. The title "As the Sharpen Narrative Fades, an Unveiling Map Emerges " was born out of this realization.
Given these circumstances, this exhibition required careful consideration, particularly in the process of mutually exchanging cultural and artistic content between specific regions. It was essential to gauge mutual understanding and the functioning within the exhibition content through the works presented by the two institutions' selected artists. Upon revisiting portfolios, I selected works from each artist to be grouped according to different sections. The artists included in this exhibition have shaped their respective domains through various types of work formats and developed concepts to create their uniqueness. Various elements for building the exhibition - planning, design, communication, photography, promotion, distribution, etc. - will manifest in a flexible manner as they interweave with each other for each exhibition, creating a specific structure. Through this exhibition series, new exhibitions, texts, videos, etc., will be produced, presenting a dynamic map where constantly moving individual elements can be revealed.
3. Gallery Chosun and Le Wonder
Let's rewind the process of the exhibition. In the two cities located in East Asia and Europe, with each gauging the distance between them, we speculated on the distance covered by the artworks during their transfer. We exchanged information about the participating artists' works and prepared for the exhibition. The two institutions hosting this, Gallery Chosun and Le Wonder, have been drawing their unique topographies as contemporary art exhibition spaces for many years.
Since its opening in 2004, Gallery Chosun has introduced experimental works by domestic contemporary artists for over 20 years, entering the art market. Located in Sogyeok-dong, Seoul, Gallery Chosun has persistently pursued experimental exhibitions among the surrounding large commercial galleries, thereby accumulating a distinctive recognition. In other words, it has presented works by selectively considering the artists' inclinations, the gallerist's tastes, meaningful concepts in contemporary art, and customer preferences. Since 2019, the gallery has been expanding exhibition spaces available to artists, striving to embody a comprehensive gallery structure physically. Moreover, surpassing the 20th anniversary in 2024, Gallery Chosun ambitiously aims to initiate a large-scale international exchange exhibition, expanding its scope of activities significantly. Additionally, through collaboration with guest curators, the gallery intends to establish a more profound context for exhibitions. The exchange exhibition with the overseas non-profit organization Le Wonder, selected as the first program, will tightly integrate the scenes of contemporary art in Korean and French contexts.
'Le Wonder' was established in 2011 as an artist-run space for French artists. It operates as an artist-run space, continuing the tradition of an artist collective primarily consisting of artists active in France. Unlike typical alternative spaces, it clusters individual artists on an organizational level, currently playing the role of an institution with a systematic system as its scale expands. To maintain smooth organization, it makes operational decisions through fair voting while strictly separating administration and creative activities, resembling the concept of an association or art center. The collective, consisting of around 60 members, is currently situated in a large closed factory building in the suburbs of Paris. They have transformed this place into a space for experimenting with artistic and political thinking. Le Wonder is a free, independent, and experimental space. It provides large and affordable working spaces outside Paris, shared facilities for interdisciplinary collaborations, and equipment for large projects. Additionally, it offers ample space and programs for producing various contents of contemporary art, including exhibitions, seminars, lectures, residencies, and performances, contributing to shaping the contemporary art scene.
4. THE ARTISTS
The exhibition, As the Sharpen Narrative Fades, an Unveiling Map Emerges, is an ongoing project structured in stages that involve reexamining predefined or regulated territories, reconstructing them, exploring unknown territories, and setting individual areas from a microscopic perspective. This reflects the ever-changing reality of terrain due to political, economic, environmental, and other factors, similar to the constant shifts in the physical form of maps. The field of art is no exception. For example, an artist who painted realistic scenes yesterday might seek a transformation towards abstraction. Contemporary art reveals diverse multimedia formats by traversing genres. The term "modernity" in art, reflecting on or transforming the past, has constantly evolved through various perspectives and research processes in art history. In the realm of art, reaching a clear conclusion through precise descriptions is nearly impossible. In this exhibition, by witnessing the various terrains presented by each artist, each constantly seeking change, and simultaneously aiming to erase clear descriptions, we will encounter and observe another set of maps skillfully drawn and continuously evolving.
4-1.
For artist Ahn Sanghoon, the 'gap' is both a subject for his paintings and the environment in which the paintings exist. Placing his paintings in spaces where additional meaning can be drawn from the existing environment, he aims to reject or transform the conventional presentation methods of painting. The images he creates are composed of elements found in the subject's appearance, constructed with derived lines and colors through multiple layers. The image, derived from the original form, gradually loses its recognizable shape as colors are accumulated, and the canvas is filled with various colors and lines. The artist documents this process and sometimes reveals it through different media. In terms of form, he has transformed various elements of the exhibition space into a background for images, not limited to the canvas. In this exhibition, the canvas is erected without a wall, standing without a wall, lying down, and hanging from the ceiling, actively guiding the viewer's gaze. This reflects Ahn Sanghoon's expansive thinking and experimental attitude towards painting, suggesting the possibility of incorporating the surroundings where painting exists as painterly elements.
4-2.
Dealing with various media such as sculpture, photography, and video, Min Sunghonghas recently created three-dimensional installations reminiscent of revolving doors. He intersects the boundaries between inside and outside, constructing symmetrical structures that operate within the confines of a certain limit, offering clues that can be interpreted as ecological phenomena. The new work presented in this exhibition actively utilizes the combination of images formed by breaking thin, sculpted ceramic panels and transforming through the resulting cracks. The movement of the scattered and reassembled pieces, depending on the angles within the frame and glass, embodies a sense of freedom in form, yet paradoxically reveals a wandering within a predetermined area.
4-3.
Woo Minjungsculpts and erases a surface made of soil, different from the canvas surface of common painting style, to create images. This method visualizes memories fading away over time and also expresses the essence of this world, where everything in the universe undergoes repeated annihilation and change. It differs from the act of carving to leave a mark. The artist comprehends change by incorporating multiple layers of lines and colors, revealing the process of transformation and disappearance while handling new images. By directly shaping the wall with soil, scraping and refining it, and erasing the original form during the process, the materiality becomes increasingly clear, allowing one to sense the primal texture of the screen. The repeatedly etched images metaphorically represent the momentary changes, acquiring temporality and dynamism.
4-4.
Park Bona, who has expressed the ambiguity between daily life and art through installations, videos, and performances, particularly showcases 4 Elements (ASMR Performance Video, 4K Video, Sound, 20mms 58secs, 2021) in this exhibition. This video work depicts the unboxing process of objects symbolizing the elements of air, water, earth, and fire, delivered to the movie worker Lee Chung-kyu. The gestures of feeling the box when receiving representative objects from around the world and the process of dismantling the box, despite being everyday actions, appear as a kind of ritual when closely observed in the sequence of certain gestures. When the common and conceptualized elements that constitute the world are transmitted from a specific region and directly touch the performer's body, we perceive the materiality that has been concretized.
4-5.
Araks Sahakyanis a visual artist who engages in diverse forms of work, including marker pen drawings, performances, multimedia installations, and tapestries. Her culturally rich artworks are filled with personal trajectories, memories of family, and reflections on hybrid identities. Growing up in Armenia, a former Soviet state in the Caucasus region, the artist immigrated to the southeastern part of Spain. She became interested in art through translation, considered as a form of creative practice. Rather than directly revealing the identity issues that interest her, Sahakyan explores them through communication with others, intimate relationships between bodies, and broader issues such as violence in nature, violated bodies, environmental destruction, or the impact of war.
4-6.
Pablo Réolcombines images collected from public spaces in France and various regions with music and video. In this process, he seeks to understand, capture, and discover the beauty of confusing situations, vulnerable moments, intimacy, wandering, and the paradoxical closeness encountered. He often reveals the non-verbal violence and power emanating from the language of street drawings. The ironic situations depicted in his work are not vastly different from our everyday experiences. Aimed at dismantling ideological symbols that can be easily encountered everywhere, his work confronts viewers with irony that invites a gaze full of skepticism.
4-7.
Collectif Grapainpresents the uncertain and contradictory state of the world in crisis. Depicting a poetic and fictional outline of a dystopian future, the collective uses imagination to weave scenarios for a recoverable future. Since 2011, the group, known for their installation works using Ethernet cables, has showcased pieces where entangled remnants of preserved plastic cables resemble archaeological artifacts. Drawing inspiration from the modern zombie motif, symbolizing the world through landscapes and the dead, they consider the shape of computer data as a futuristic myth in which humanity coexists.
4-8.
Wendie Zahibouses photographic works as a metaphor to express the depth of emotion associated with the identity of being Black. Hailing from the Caribbean region with roots in the cultures of Ivory Coast and Central Africa, the artist takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the world based on her identity. Connecting her body with the universe, she aims to break down the barriers between imagination and reality, constantly seeking answers to the questions about existence. The artist combines photography and sound, exploring new experiences, chance encounters, unexpected events, and moments of astonishment in an ongoing exploration of body and soul. Using language, images, body, stage, and sound, she creates spaces of encounter.
4-9.
Yan Tomaszewskiis a visual artist and filmmaker based in Paris. His narrative projects combine research-based methodology with public experiments centered around sculpture and film. The video and sculpture work presented in this exhibition, The Good Breast and the Bad Breast (HD Video, 22' 22'', 2019), revolves around the mysterious real events surrounding a specific building called Maslon House. The narrative explores how the surrounding environment of this building influences the human psyche, investigating how architecture provides a sense of stability, protection, and comfort, and how it can play either a positive or negative role. Adopting a documentary format, the work delves into the impact of the architectural structure on the psychological well-being of individuals.
5. Clear Description for Now
The exhibition As the Sharpen Narrative Fades, an Unveiling Map Emerges is a collaborative event organized by 'Gallery Chosun' and 'Le Wonder,' fostering cultural exchange between France and Korea. Similar to the inaugural exhibition held by Korean first-generation gallery 'Chosun Art Gallery' in 1983 to mark its 10th anniversary, which showcased international collaboration with France, the exhibition hosted by 'Gallery Chosun' in 2024 follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, symbolizing the expansive activities of the next generation gallery.
The event aims to reevaluate predefined or regulated areas and explore the roles and meanings of each artist, institution, and activity unit through the exhibition, symbolizing the legacy of Gallery Chosun as the next-generation gallerist. It seeks to showcase the flexible nature of art. The exhibition not only examines the geographical concept of a 'map' based on the locations of each institution leading the exhibition in Korea and France but also aims to create a new terrain map by delving into the individuality of exhibition components from a micro perspective.
In 2024, the exhibition will consist of two group shows in Korea, divided into the first and second halves, featuring Korean and French artists (Part1^*^ and Part2^**). In 2025, Part3***^ will be organized at Le Wonder in France, featuring all participating artists. The three exhibitions, divided but centered around a common theme, will progressively expand the concept, showcasing stages such as daily life and art, existence and virtuality, and another terrain map created through art. The planners of the exhibition are Kim Inseon and Yeo Joonsoo.
*********In Part1 : Ahn Sanghoon, Min SungHong, Park Bona, Woo Min Jeong, Araks Sahakyan, Collectif Grapain, Wendie Zahibo, Pablo Réol, Yan Tomaszewski will participate.
**********In Part2 : Jeong Jeong-ju, Yohan Hàn, Choe Sooryeon, Axl Le, Antonin Hako, Martha-Maria Le Bars, Pierre Gaignard, Elias Gama, François Dufeil will participate.
***********Part3 will feature a total of 18 participating artists exhibiting in France.
Press release courtesy Gallery Chosun.
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