Kim Sang Gyun (김상균) is a contemporary Korean artist known for his sculptures and installations cast in grout. Particularly concerned with the reproduction of the façades of buildings, Kim's works draw from modern and contemporary architecture in Korea as a way of unpacking history.
Read MoreKim begins his works by sketching parts of a building's façade from photographs or life. He then makes miniature moulds using polystyrene and casts them in grout. Once cast, several small units are assembled to form a larger piece. Diverse in size and appearances, Kim's sculptures may be freestanding structures—as in Pattern#180721 (2018), a nearly two-metre-tall rectangular column of intersecting grout casts and white boxes with openings—or mounted on the wall, such as Memory_Pattern#151022 (2015), a collection of grout-cast façades. In other works—such as The Landscape (2008)—miniature façades are presented individually, while The New Castle 1 (2004) features a model of a building perforated with windows.
Of paramount significance in Kim's practice is colonial architecture in Korea constructed during the Japanese occupation of Korea between 1910 and 1945. While many of the surviving buildings have become tourist attractions or cultural heritage sites—the old Seoul Station (1925), for example, became Historic Site 284 in 1981—Kim's outlook is far from celebratory. When speaking to Ocula Magazine in 2016, the artist commented that the favourable transformation of colonial architecture 'seems to dilute the excruciating memories that imperialism inflicted' not only on Korea but also on other East Asian countries that were subjugated by Western powers and Japan. Indeed, when Kim replicates only a portion of a façade, deconstructing the original structure, he metaphorically delegitimises imperial Japan's use of architecture to assert superiority over Korea.
Seoul's cityscape is another recurring source of inspiration for Kim. The works in The Artificial Paradise—his solo exhibition at Seoul's Alternative Space Loop in 2006—specifically concerned the imported architectural styles of the capital city's façades. Even though these façades are integrated into the everyday life of Seoul residents, their alien-ness became apparent when removed from their environments and presented in the exhibition space. By emphasising the foreign origins of his grout-cast pieces, Kim brought attention to Korea's uncritical application of imported architecture in Seoul, suggesting that the city has become a hybrid without a sufficient sense of self.
Kim graduated with a BFA and an MFA from Seoul National University in 1989 and 1996 respectively. In 2002, he received another MFA from State University of New York. He has held solo exhibitions at galleries in Korea, China and the United States, notably Gallery Baton, Seoul (2018, 2015); Gallery Skape, Seoul (2011); Artside Gallery, Beijing (2008); and the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New York (2001). His work has also featured in group exhibitions such as Extension.KR: 10 Contemporary South Korean artists, National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Moscow (2016); Korea Tomorrow, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul (2013); and Changwon Sculpture Biennale (2012).
Sherry Paik | Ocula | 2018
