FABLES OF TIME

There is an element of nostalgia, mystery and fantasy in the artworks showcased in this exhibition. Using a host of disciplines, leaning mainly towards painting, but employing also techniques such as collage, sewing, writing, and even resorting to rust as an artistic resource, this selection of artists – some forty young Koreans and a small sample of artists from China, France, Australia, the United States and Germany – attempts to address this intimate and transcendent topic – an eternal mystery. ● A relatable delicate, warm memory of times past steers artworks in the style of those crafted by Shin Joo Ho. It is time as reminiscence; the emotional matter channelled through an infant's clumsy first steps, which we contemplate from behind. In other instances, that memory takes shape as a tired, aching body, curled up in the intimacy of a home, caught up in a constant process of remembrance, limiting human beings to mere thought machines, as Sunny Lee seems to suggest. Jeon Esther ventures further afar, with a body expressed in pure flesh and violence. ● Lee Jin A attempts to capture the moment in detailed colourful shapes on paper, in the manner of chains of light and emotions. Other artists freeze time in their creations: Na Hyoung Min renders a scene mid-air, part celebration, part abrupt end. ● The artists in the show also touch upon time as a shared experience, as hours spent talking and waiting with others, as a collection of remnants that can be sewn together with needle and thread, as in Gisoon Kim's collages. A street, a group of people exiting the subway, or a rainy day in the big city can also conjure up images of a daily routine that will linger on as a memory, as in Lee Sun Mi's art. ● The immensity of time becomes tangible upon contemplating human beings dwarfed by the solemnity and permanence of the mountains, as captured skilfully by Sul Park. Chae Hyo Jin presents a bird's-eye view of a small house in the middle of a grey field. Never will we see ourselves from these perspectives, despite often feeling within them. ● The flowers and the arrival of spring that Bae Han Na paints as evidence of the cycles of life; or water trickling over stones and fish in Lee Jung-Yeon's work are also interesting approximations to this topic. Time as the fabric of marvels, fables and fantasy appears in Seong Tae Hun's eye-catching pieces, in Ju-Youn Gu's quasi-mythological animals, and in the nostalgic sadness of Seo Jae hyun's wolf-youths, among others. ● Many of the artists on show have specialised in Eastern painting, their work revealing a renewed artistic impulse that announces interesting future developments. In the meantime, let's enjoy these multiple interpretations of time and space; nothing is both as elusive and fascinating at once. ■ BEGOÑA RODRÍGUEZ

Vol.20130607a | FABLES OF TIME-국제현대회화교류展