We presents the 2020 summer special exhibition, "SUMMER OF ART STARTS HERE." This annual summer exhibition features five passionate and dynamic artists, showcasing a total of ten paintings. Through this exhibition, we highlight the works of Jhe You-sung, Lee Hyun-ho, Shin Chang-yong, Cho Won-kang, and Kim Kee-tae, offering a glimpse into the current landscape of contemporary art. At the same time, we invite the audience to immerse themselves in the unique visual spaces created by each artist, experiencing their passionate energy firsthand
Jhe You-sung
Jhe You-sung's works resemble a canvas densely packed with tiny toys. This imaginative world, existing solely within the realm of painting, presents surreal situations that defy reality. In his artwork, anything can be imagined and realized-there are no boundaries or taboos. He uses small unitary objects, infinitely multiplying them to construct landscapes and scenarios. Over an extended period, he meticulously fills the canvas, humorously alleviating the psychological weight and pressure of real life.
Lee Hyun-ho
Lee Hyun-ho explores how to capture modern landscapes and life by integrating traditional Korean mulberry paper (Jangji), banners, and small wooden miniatures into his compositions. The sturdy, weighty Jangji serves as the foundation of his work, onto which he applies countless brushstrokes and layers of color to depict familiar landscapes. His works feature old houses in the Itaewon residential area, landscaped trees in apartment complexes, reservoirs visited for fishing, and nameless mountain ridges seen through a car window.
Shin Chang-yong
Shin Chang-yong's "I Am Technology" series features well-known heroes, using them as a means of portraying imaginative self-portraits and creating a playful narrative on canvas. His "Road Fighter" series, inspired by classic video games, showcases his sharp and intricate brushstrokes, capturing even the tiniest details, such as thumbnail-sized cars. Both series break away from conventional painting compositions, transforming cityscapes into digital game-like imagery.
Cho Won-kang
Cho Won-kang translates his 17 years of life in New York into various series of works. As both a foreigner and an artist, his experience of New York-through museums and streets-becomes an intimately personal perspective, reflected in his artistic self-portraits. His work captures the city's winding alleys, quietly placed flowers, diverse human figures with their pets, and fragmented moments at various intersections, all reimagined through deep angles and snapshot-like reflections.
Kim Kee-tae
Kim Kee-tae's work explores the inherent mystique of photography and painting through a complex creative process. He prints photographs onto canvas and then overlays them with acrylic and oil paint. At first glance, his works may appear as simple oil paintings, but once the creative process is understood, their depth becomes more evident. His paintings convey a dreamlike, ethereal atmosphere-too mystical to be considered realistic yet too grounded to be entirely surreal. Like lenticular images, they shift in appearance depending on the viewer's perspective. His work playfully presents a visual paradox, offering a layered experience that feels both intriguing and slightly eerie.
This exhibition offers a chance to explore a wide spectrum of contemporary art through five unique artistic perspectives. We invite you to wander through these diverse visual spaces and experience the energy embedded within each piece.