HONG SEUNG-HYE

Kukje Gallery is pleased to present Hong Seung-Hye’s solo exhibition, On the Move, on view at the gallery’s Busan space from 24 April to 14 June 2026. Marking her first solo exhibition at the Busan space following her 2023 exhibition in Seoul, the show brings together works from various periods that are recontextualised through the concept of “movement,” offering a multifaceted view of the evolution of her practice.

Hong describes this exhibition as “a report on the movement of geometric images developed since entering the digital realm.” The latent sense of movement first detected in the Organic Geometry series, initiated in 1997 using digital pixels—the fundamental unit of the computer screen—began to acquire actual temporality and rhythm with the Flash animation The Sentimental 1 (2002). This trajectory continues through My Garage Band (2016), a video installation in which the artist choreographed the movement of pictograms—generated in Photoshop—to sound she composed using GarageBand; the performance Practice (2021), directed by the artist; and Silent Battle (2024), in which Hong participated as a performer. Across these works, movement expands from the motion of pixels to that of the human body, becoming a central sensibility that runs throughout her practice. Originating from the artist’s personal experience of witnessing the transformation of geometric forms on screen through the computer’s “undo” function, movement has since become a central focus in her practice.

On the Move at Kukje Gallery Busan presents a selection of the artist’s video works that she has explored extensively. These include Snoopy in Space (2019), which reimagines Snoopy—the character from the comic Peanuts—and his cosmic journey through refined geometric forms; and Light Upon (2021), which functions as a device that alters the atmosphere and perception of static sculptures through the changes in light. It further features MOVE (2022), which unfolds as if inviting the viewer to move along, and Searchlight (2023), previously shown in conjunction with the suspended Dancer (2023) sculptures in the exhibition Over the Layers II at Kukje Gallery, where it evokes the atmosphere of a ballroom. Also, Emotical Practice (2025) is on view at the gallery, which draws on emoticons—one of the primary modes of communication in the digital age—to translate human emotions into a concise geometric language. Each video work, while grounded in simple visual elements, expands and transforms the meaning and function of images through movement, rhythm, and repetition.

Minimising narrative and special effects, Hong’s videos generate a profoundly emotional resonance through a concise yet restrained structure, in which simple geometric forms move in a slow, measured rhythm. This sensibility reflects her approach of “constructing forms in accordance with space, as if arranging musical notes.” The musical structure and rhythm embedded within the screen lend her work an almost magical capacity to shape emotion beyond language or signs.

The movement of geometric imagery in her practice is not confined to video but further extends into physical space, where images move beyond the monitor into furniture and installation. The exhibition features Organic Geometry (2014), printed on paper while retaining an illusory sense of movement, alongside the sculptural work Frame Type Relief (2026), which incorporates movable elements. It also includes movable furniture pieces such as Bench (2023) and Back Stool (2023), which offer a functional setting for viewing the videos. By bringing together works from different periods across media, formats, and methodologies, the exhibition reveals “movement” as a consistent presence in her practice across multiple layers, while extending it toward the meaning of “mobility.” In particular, the sense of movement found in the seemingly static images of Organic Geometry, when placed in dialogue with the video works, demonstrates how the artist’s long-standing inquiry into image, movement, and mobility has unfolded over time.

Centered on video while spanning two-dimensional and sculptural works from early to recent periods, the exhibition traces the evolution of the concept and methodology of movement that has shaped the artist’s practice. For contemporary viewers, for whom moving images in digital environments have become almost second nature, the exhibition recalls the artist’s first encounter with geometric forms in motion—some thirty years ago, when such forms first began to move on a computer screen—and the sense of exhilaration she experienced in that very moment, as well as the journey that has since unfolded across and beyond the monitor. Hong Seung-Hye thus remains—still and always—on the move.