Exhibition Information

			A concept grows.

 

Like a seed that has vitality, once a concept is established in human consciousness, it does not stay the same, but grows and changes because of the consciousness that is constantly moving. Hyounsoo Kyung’s new works produced for this exhibition show the growth of the concept ‘debris’ represented in his previous works. As the word ‘debris’ suggests, his previous works highlighted the conceptual presence of the word ‘debris’ by giving a firmly cumulated texture to the meaningless fragmentary shapes. However, the concept of the shape defined as a fragment grew and went through another conceptual transformation. The presence given to fragments acquires a semantic structure called superficiality. The dictionary meaning of superficiality is related to appearance, judgement based on observation of the surface only, instead of the intrinsic meaning. Generally, it is not used to refer to something positive. When we say that a certain state that expresses something is superficial, it can be said that it is a negative concept because it is associated with an indiscreet attitude toward things. However, if it expresses the structure that the concept of superficiality has, it is a different story. It is not superficial to represent the structure of the meaning that the word ‘superficiality’ has because a superficial painting and a painting that expresses the conceptual structure of ‘superficial’ are two different things.

 

The images Kyung used this time are not fragmentary shapes, but basic ones such as circles and squares. He gave surface texture to very basic shapes. Giving surface texture is an act of underlining the substantiality of something. In conjunction with this, it is impossible to infer the concept of superficiality through the association with his previous series ‘debris’. The concept of ‘superficiality’ demonstrates its true value in pictorial expression. We may say ‘superficiality’ can be the thinnest and flattest concept. Flatness is also the concept of a plane, a place containing itself. In the ‘debris’ series, the shape only defined itself within the canvas, but the shape in this ‘Superficiality’ series not only defines itself, but also shows the expandability that it conceptually defines the place called plane where the painting exists. 

 

Hyounsoo Kyung’s paintings stand out in that they show, in a concise form, the harmony created by shapes and concepts. Conceptual continuity, transformed from fragments to superficiality, makes us imagine what it will look like in his next painting.

 

Suejin Chung