Kiki Smith and Alejandro Piñeiro Bello at Pace Gallery Seoul

By now, Seoul is quite familiar with the work of Kiki Smith. Her exhibition at Pace Gallery swiftly follows her presentation of over 140 works in the exhibition Kiki Smith - Free Fall (15 December 2022–12 March 2023) at the Seoul Museum of Art—her first solo exhibition at an institution in Asia.

Spring Light (17 May–24 June 2023) offers a more intimate presentation that is nevertheless bursting with all the charm and magic Smith has brought to art-making over the years.

The German-born American artist's enchanting works on paper depict constellations, moons, and far away galaxies that suggest the vastness and power of nature. In Evening Star (2023), Smith frames a soaring owl with an opalescent sky scattered with stars and crystals.

Downstairs, Pace Gallery is exhibiting the Cuban artist Alejandro Piñeiro Bello in the exhibition Viaje en Espiral (2–24 June 2023). For his first solo show in Korea, the artist presents new paintings and works on paper that investigate Caribbean culture and history.

A close look at the painting El Tropico Salta Y Su Chorro Invade Mi Cabeza (2023) reveals how the artist works oil paint in various strengths and strokes into the raw linen. Fantastic colours coalesce in thick lines and swirls to reveal a figure bathing in a tropical sea.

Main image: Kiki Smith, Evening Star (2023) (detail). Aqueous archival inkjet, acrylic archival inkjet, white gold leaf on Hahnemühle rag paper. 152.4 cm x 109.2 cm. Courtesy the artist and Pace Gallery, Seoul.