CARSTEN HÖLLER

^{Image: Carsten Höller. Octopus, 2014. Purple-coloured polyurethane, brown glass eyes, 40 x 171 x 120 cm. © Carsten Höller. Courtesy the artist and Gagosian Gallery.}

PKM Gallery proudly presents 50%, the first solo exhibition in Korea by the internationally renowned artist Carsten Höller (b.1961) from November 25th to December 31st, 2015. The exhibition consists of over 20 recent works.

Reflecting his profound knowledge as a former entomologist, Höller invites viewers to interact with his experimental work which stimulates the basic human senses. Test Site was an installation of giant slides in Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in 2006 where visitors were actually able to enjoy delightful rides. This work uprooted the conventional perception of space and opened up a new chapter in installation art. In 2011, he received sensational response and international acclaim for the work Untitled (Slide) from his solo exhibition at New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. The slide penetrated through the floors of the museum, transporting participants from the fourth floor to the second floor at a blink of an eye. The participants experienced exhilarating movements and changing sensations during the ride.

At the 10th Gwangju Biennale in 2014, Höller presented Seven Sliding Doors, an installation comprising 7 automatic sliding mirrored doors. In the isolated space that expands and contracts with the doors constantly opening and closing, participants were confronted by their own reflections which evoke the emotions of excitement of being the main characters as well as the fear of entrapment.

Höller’s solo exhibition at PKM Gallery presents the representative works from the Giant Triple Mushroom and other important series which challenge the conventional perception and cognition. The large mushroom shaped sculpture is composed of two parts of which one is the red-and-white fly agaric mushroom and the other half is the combination of two different mushrooms. Inspired by the psychoactive components of fly agaric mushrooms which is found in the history of shamanism, this eccentric and potent sculpture symbolically alludes to the possibility of another culture and its evolution beyond our perception. The Upside-Down Goggles which turn the world upside down and the animal shaped sculptures of Octopus and Reindeer also offer viewers unfamiliar experiences of objects and places, questioning our way of understanding and seeing the world.

Carsten Höller was born in Belgium, and currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. His works have been shown in solo exhibitions in prominent art venues around the world including New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Tate Modern, London, and Le Consortium, Dijon. Höller has also participated in various group exhibitions including the 50th and 51st Venice Biennale in 2003 and 2004, the 8th and 10th Gwangju Biennale in 2010 and 2014, as well as at Centre Pompidou, Paris, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and Mori Art museum, Tokyo. Recently, Höller has received international kudos for his permanent outdoor sculpture Vitra Slide Tower which functions as a clock tower and a slide on the Vitra Campus, Germany.