Installation view of “Pillar Rock Standing in Midstream (砥柱中流)” ©Leeahn Gallery
Leeahn Gallery presents a solo exhibition “Pillar
Rock Standing in Midstream (砥柱中流)” by Kim Tschoon-Su, through December 31. This solo exhibition
features 10 new works from the artist’s representative series, ‘Ultra-Marine’.
The exhibition's title, “Pillar Rock
Standing in Midstream” is an archaic Chinese phrase that refers to a person or
an act that keeps fidelity in the face of difficulty, an appropriate language
for Kim.
Installation view
of “Pillar Rock Standing in Midstream (砥柱中流)” ©Leeahn Gallery'Repetitive performance, Aimlessness, and
Layers of Korean beauty' are the characteristics of the artist's monochromatic
paintings. 'Blue/Clear Light' (both pronounced as Cheong in Chinese
characters)' which Kim has focused for more than 30 years, could be described
as a state of 'practical unity between ego and painting' where the artist uses
his fingers and palms rather than a brush to create the speed and texture of
the strokes.
Notable in this exhibition is the emergence
of a 'delicate matière' in which the energy of the ripple's vibrant colors is
integrated into the canvas.
Installation view of “Pillar Rock Standing in Midstream (砥柱中流)” ©Leeahn GalleryKim's blue is not a single color, but rather a 'boundless freedom that unfolds infinitely' that liberates our closed thoughts. To achieve this, he emphasizes a “centered mind". For the artist, Ultra-Marine is a color and light like an alter ego, 'a real heart that sticks in the mind'.
Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.
