Exhibition Information

			The Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art has been consistently presenting Art Jeoji, a participatory exhibition series, by transforming an idle outdoor space into the “1 Pyeong Museum”—a compact structure designed for a solitary viewing experience. Since 2021, the museum has planned multifaceted exhibition content to widely promote the works of various contemporary artists. For its tenth project, it has selected artist 50Bell Oh Young-jong.

Artist Oh Young-jong, who works under the name 50Bell, focuses on the unique nature of photography. Although a photograph captures a single moment, it also holds within it the meaning of eternity—a sense of duration that persists over time. As such, the artist explores the essence of photography at the intersection of transience and continuity. For him, photography is not merely documentation; it is also an attitude of living “the moment” when the immediacy of observing a subject encounters the decisive act of releasing the shutter. In the end, a photograph becomes a window into the artist’s thoughts and way of being, while at the same time embodying the external world. The exhibition title Gaze, Beyond encapsulates this artistic perspective. “Gaze” refers to the objective act of observing what is visible; “Beyond” suggests a process of reinterpreting and expanding the seen. Through this approach, the artist invites viewers to reflect on how we often become entangled in the past or future and, in doing so, miss out on the present. Through his photographic practice, the artist anchors himself in the “here and now,” offering the possibility that the very act of facing the moment can bring healing to life. This exhibition presents a video work composed of photographs produced over several years. As images unfold, the audience is naturally drawn into the process by which the “gaze” expands “beyond,” and comes to experience how photography becomes a lens through which to reimagine the present.

The artist’s work goes beyond a mere reproduction of reality, focusing on the visualization of subjective thought. Rather than adhering to realistic depictions, he reconstructs images that reflect emotions, ideas, and philosophy. In this process, visual devices such as symbolism, metaphor, and distortion come into play, while composition, arrangement, optical illusion, and visual disorientation serve to dismantle traditional perspective. As a result, the concrete realism of the subject fades, while color and texture emerge with greater intensity to fill the frame. Instead of seeing familiar reality as it is, viewers are led into a new perceptual experience. In art, the representation of space usually follows the rules of a single viewpoint, yet the artist deliberately deconstructs them. Through multiple perspectives, the emphasis on flatness, and distorted spaces, he conveys the message that “the world is not only seen in this way.” This becomes both an artistic metaphor that creates another reality beyond the constraints of time and space, and a revelation of interpretive freedom and infinite possibilities of expression. Ultimately, the artist’s photographs become “my own photographs,” offering each viewer an opportunity to confront their own moment and to imagine new dimensions of time and space.

This exhibition presents each viewer with a personal and distinctive sensory experience. Through it, one’s way of seeing the world is expanded, and perception becomes enriched. Furthermore, it seeks to awaken new questions and inspirations within everyday life, while providing a venue to directly experience the boundless freedom and interpretive possibilities that art can hold.