NYAB Event - “Revitalizing the Hanji Tradition” Exhibition

“Revitalizing the Hanji Tradition” Exhibition

Tenri Cultural Institute

This event has ended.

Tenri Cultural Institute presents the Group Exhibition Revitalizing the Hanji Tradition: Hanho, Seoun Gang Kim, YongWoon Hwang, MinSeon Gu, Choul Gyu Lee, EelKwon Kim, YeonSik Min.

From the bottom of their roots to the end of their branches, trees symbolize and deeply resemble human life. Hanji, is also called a “living paper that breathes”, communicates with the air and sunlight and sometimes lasts for more than a thousand years. Myriad of emotions linger in nature and with different aesthetic sensations, seven great artists are portray their true message through the subject of nature.

Through his work, YongWoon Hwang wishes to understand how to balance humanity and nature with the right mixture of the each. Because Hanji dulls sharp lines and bright colors, he figured photographs on Hanji would appear softer and warmer. Choosing the right type of Hanji for a given photograph gives extra pleasure. Hanho’s Eternal Light in which space is depicted endless, can also be discussed in terms of the fourth dimension or non-Euclidian space which is infinite. Han suggests that there is another space beyond our normal physical perception and that what we perceive of our world, may be only a reflection or shadow of another higher realm. Along these lines, Han has made a computational modeling of space, one with multidimensional perspective increasing the interaction of the arts. Seoun Gang Kim’s Sentiment in Travel series is a journey of her inner self, identity, and the true nature of the world, exploring the essence of her spirit. Her work presents a model displaying traditional color painting’s relation to the spirit and possibility to be raised from figuration to abstraction. Her work’s deep, warm color sense above all enables viewers to experience her painting’s warmth commuting with the body. MinSeon Gu’s detailed style of using the raw material of paper to reveal the spiritual space and pan-naturalism combine with a deep-rooted emotional undercurrent. Together, they characterize the conciseness and textural depth contained in a pristine paper. She has shaped the perception of common-or-garden of life and cultural heritage to make authentic and dramatic paintings. Choul Gyu Lee has been actively using two uncommon techniques in his work: Gae Keum (repainting of gold) and Keum Bak (golden leaf, gilding). Gold, representing the eternal and precious value, has functioned as a means to expel the devil and ghost in traditional Shamanist God figures. In addition, gold represents the symbol of wealth and acquisition.

YeonSik Min captures the essence of trees, but also the different, invisible part that goes beyond a tree’s normal perspective. In his M series he pursues the techniques of Chinese ink painting in his black and white photographs of winter trees. The absence of color captures the dissonance of trees and reality; yet the simple harmony of black and white dares us to recover our lost humanity in its bleakness. EelKwon Kim’s new series of artworks are UV printed photos on Hanji. Kim’s artworks, elegantly balanced with the blank spaces and the details of trees, also communicate with the people by leading them to breathe deeply. Harmony of black and white offers conflicting feelings of serenity, like a shadow behind a white fabric, and the liveliness of sensation at the same time.