Tree logs, hanji used to embrace empty space at separate galleries
Left: Brazilian artist Carlito Carvalhosa’s installation, “Sala de espera,” or “Waiting Room,” is now on display at Kukje Gallery’s K3 space in the art zone east of Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul. It is made of old light posts from Brazil. Right: Korean artist Kim Ho-deuk’s “Wave of Mind” is part of his solo show at the Kumho Museum of Art. Provided by the galleries
Two galleries in the art zone east of Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul are showing installation works that are overwhelming in size but rather calm in color, texture and material.
Both of the works embrace empty space as a part of their installation.
One is Brazilian artist Carlito Carvalhosa’s “Waiting Room,” now on display at Kukje Gallery’s K3 space in central Seoul. The other is Korean artist Kim Ho-deuk’s “Wave of Mind, Awakening Moment - Feeling Space” at the Kumho Museum of Art.
Carvalhosa’s work consists of tree logs, originally used as street light posts in Brazil. With their ends embedded in the walls or floor of the gallery’s K3 space, the thick 8- to 12-meter-long (26- to 39-feet-long) logs cut through the gallery’s white cube room. From a distance, they look like giant, bold brush strokes in the air. Viewers can walk between the logs, touching and smelling them.
“At first, they were trees in forests but came to have a new meaning as they were used as posts for street lighting,” the 52-year-old Carvalhosa said at Kukje Gallery last week. “And then they have become material for my work. Every object gains a new meaning, as it is installed in a new space.”
“Carvalhosa’s work seeks to transform architectural space and subtly disrupt the viewers’ experience,” the gallery explained in a release. “In doing so, he is able to reframe the everyday materiality of our urban landscapes and evoke a poetic feeling.”
While “Waiting Room” by itself makes up Carvalhosa’s solo show, Kim’s “Wave of Mind” is the highlight of the veteran artist’s solo exhibition, encompassing paintings in eastern and western styles through installations and works on the border between painting and calligraphy.
“Wave of Mind” consists of many sheets of Korean traditional paper, or hanji, hanging from the ceiling in a line with subtle changes in height and a square pond full of dark water below them.
The spaces between the hanji sheets, their delicate movements, their shadows on the water and the walls also complete the work.
“My installation started from a simple motive,” the 63-year-old veteran artist, who had focused on flat paintings in East Asian style in his earlier days, said last week. “I wanted to free my paintings on hanji from the traditional frames and from the wall. So I began hanging them 3 centimeters [1.1 inches] apart from the walls, and later, came to suspend them in the air.”
“Then, I got excited from transforming two-dimensional works into three-dimensional and creating space. So I came to actively make installations with hanji sheets.”
*Kim Ho-deuk’s show runs until Nov. 3. Admission is 3,000 won ($2.82). Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays. It is closed on Mondays. For details, visit www.kumhomuseum.com or call (02) 720-5114.
Carlito Carvalhosa’s show runs through Nov. 10. Admission is free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and until 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit www.kukje.org or call (02) 735-8449. Both galleries are a 10-minute walk from Anguk Station’s (line No. 3) exit No. 1.
BY MOON SO-YOUNG
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