Jongsuk Yoon’s Warm Hues and Dreamy Views

Jongsuk Yoon‘s pastel-hued mountainous landscapes offer a joyful vision of South Korea in the warmer months.

The Korean-German artist presents paintings on canvas and paper at Marian Goodman Gallery in Los Angeles for her first solo exhibition in the U.S.

The title, Yellow May (13 July–17 August 2024), alludes to Korea’s spring season, with its longer days and blooming azaleas that carpet the mountains in pinks and purples—scenes the artist remembers from childhood.

Yoon’s works feature whimsical scenes of distant mountains and rolling hills that emerge from translucent shapes, colours, and lines. The candy-coloured forms invoke a sense of nostalgia, with the palette recalling confectionery like marshmallows, macarons, or cotton candy.

Two monumental paintings, April Mai (2023) and August (2024), depict sweeping vistas of amorphous shapes in pinks, yellows, and oranges. Alongside these are smaller oil paintings and gouaches on paper, which demonstrate Yoon’s exploration of scale.

Yoon’s painterly execution is equally exploratory, varying from gestural, textured brushstrokes and thick applications that create tactile depth to delicate strokes that expose the raw texture of the canvas.