Gallery KIWA London is delighted to present Breath of White, the first solo exhibition in London by acclaimed Korean artist Ko Younghoon, on view from 17 June to 31 July 2026.
Widely regarded as one of the leading figures in contemporary Korean painting, Ko Younghoon has spent more than four decades exploring the nature of perception, illusion and existence. Renowned for his masterful trompe-l’œil paintings, he has consistently questioned the relationship between reality and image, memory and perception through the depiction of everyday objects.
Within his paintings, objects transcend mere representation and become vehicles for philosophical reflection. Meticulously rendered shadows create the illusion that forms project beyond the surface of the canvas into real space, whilst compositions incorporating pages from books and newspapers further blur the boundary between reality and illusion.
Breath of White brings together seven carefully selected works from Ko’s celebrated white porcelain jar series, a body of work that has occupied a central place in his artistic practice for many years.
For the artist, white porcelain is not simply a still-life motif but a symbolic vessel through which time, memory and the essence of existence are contemplated. Throughout the exhibition, porcelain jars repeatedly emerge across shifting perspectives and temporal dimensions, revealing multiple layers of perception directed towards a single object. Softly overlapping forms and wandering viewpoints suggest that the object is never fixed, but continually reconstructed through memory and experience.
This exhibition marks an important development in Ko Younghoon’s practice. Expansive areas of empty space generate a sense of spatial depth that extends beyond the physical limits of the canvas, creating a subtle tension between actual and illusory space. At the same time, multiple viewpoints coexist within a single composition, whilst fading forms reappear across the surface, visually articulating the passage of time and the persistence of memory.
The title Breath of White refers not only to the white porcelain that has long occupied a central position in the artist’s work, but also to the quiet vitality and spiritual resonance embodied within it. In Ko’s paintings, the porcelain vessel becomes more than an object; it expands into a metaphor for existence, memory and the cyclical nature of life. Rooted in the aesthetic traditions of Korean white porcelain, his work speaks simultaneously to Korean cultural identity and universal human experience.
At the heart of Ko Younghoon’s practice lies a fundamental question:
“If the image within a painting is an illusion, can the image perceived through human vision truly be considered any more real?”
The artist suggests that human knowledge, belief and sensory experience are all mediated through images. Reality itself may therefore be inseparable from perception. Through this enquiry, his paintings extend beyond technical virtuosity to become profound philosophical meditations on the nature of existence.
Breath of White invites visitors into a contemplative space where perception, time, memory and existence converge. Through these seven exceptional paintings from the white porcelain series, audiences will encounter the distinctive visual language and deeply reflective philosophy that Ko Younghoon has developed throughout his remarkable career.
