In a Trance: Kwon Yeo Hyun Solo Exhibition

K&L MUSEUM is proud to present a solo exhibition featuring the acclaimed Korean artist, Kwon Yeo Hyun, who has been at the forefront of Korean contemporary art. Over the span of nearly four decades, Kwon, who has seldom laid down his brush, has embarked on a multifaceted artistic journey, consistently delving into the profound exploration of the essence of painting. From the late 1980s to the 1990s, his introspective reflections on the self-evolved into a broader inquiry into the existential questions of human existence within societal and psychological realms since the early 2000s. During this period, mythic imagery emerged in earnest, intertwining with the primal forest, as he skillfully fused elements of postmodern philosophy, sociology, and psychoanalysis into his paintings, showcasing an intellectual prowess comparable to that of a scholar.

In this exhibition, encompassing a total of 77 works, we aim to reevaluate the art-historical significance of Kwon's passionate artistic journey and the profound undercurrents that permeate his entire body of work. Centered around the overwhelming large-scale painting, Deviators in Uncanny Place (2023), which captivates the gaze like a festival of forms, the showcase will explore key points in Kwon's oeuvre. This includes his recent series Deviators(2020-), a fusion of contemporary memes, internet culture, 1960s and 1970s counterculture, hippie movement, hard rock, mythical motifs, forests, and philosophical themes, and the series See Medusa in the Blind Forest(2018-20), which delves into primordial forests, darkness, life, and existence. It will also feature major works from the 1990s like Illogical Triangle(1991) and significant later works on the self, such as the series Vomit(1998-2002), examining the central motifs that have undergone explosive transformations and expansions with each artistic phase.

The title, In a Trance, encapsulates Kwon's rigorous yet transcendental process of thought, which extends beyond linguistic constraints that confine existence and towards the untainted grounds of reason. Kwon represents various narratives, including myth and philosophical themes, through multilayered symbolic forms. His works inherently embody ambiguity and indeterminacy, resisting singular interpretations and intentionally escaping the realms of reason, rational analysis, and the meaning network of language. Kwon's artistic process and reasoning, akin to the expressive dance of the body, are flexible, free, and existential. The theme of 'dance' in Kwon's paintings is intrinsic to the brushstroke and the 'painting's nature.' Kwon has explored ways to reveal the properties of paint, allowing the flow of pigments to harmonize with forms or simply traversing the canvas with brushstrokes, showcasing freedom and serendipity within the form itself. The artist refrains from rigidly controlling or confining the form to a structured completion, permitting freedom and chance within the very essence of the figure.

Kwon's artistic exploration has led him away from trends, safe paths, and predefined categories, seeking meanings that cannot be easily defined through entangled thickets of damp forests, paths without direction, invisible points. Ultimately, Kwon's most crucial message revolves around the yearning for the realm of thought, akin to dance, where human freedom, dreams, the world of senses, and the abundance of non-verbal representations converge without constraint. We hope that through this exhibition at K&L MUSEUM, viewers will experience the rhythmic beauty and sensation emanating from the free flow of diverse forms and countless brushstrokes within the captivating shapes depicted in Kwon's works.