Exhibition view of “Moonhyun Jo: Allostasis Surface” at sangheeut, Seoul.
The gallery with the distinctive name sangheeut, which opened its doors in Haebangchon in 2021, has been introducing works by various emerging artists, proclaiming itself as an incubating gallery. The exhibition Allostasis Surface, running until December 3, marks the first solo exhibition of artist Moonhyun Jo (b. 1998).
Jo endeavors to visually express various sensations through painting and seeks inherent significance in his work. The artist has previously presented works themed around surfaces and interiors, and in this exhibition, he explores the surface and interior through the imagery of automobiles.
The title of the exhibition, Allostasis Surface, metaphorically refers to the phenomenon where, much like developing immunity from long-term medication, the existing maintained bodily environment resets its standards due to consistent external stimuli. The artist likens this to the dilemma in painting where the inner self, observed, explored, and expressed through art, resurfaces.
In particular, Jo visualizes sensed but not visible entities, giving them a sense of volume in his artworks. For the artist, the “interior” creates a certain sense of volume. Trapped beneath the surface are our beliefs, ideas, conventions, or invisible functions and technologies, and he suggests that it’s not what’s on the surface that drives us but what’s in the invisible “inside.”
