Galleria Continua Beijing is proud to present, for the first time in China, a solo exhibition by renowned Korean artist, Kiwon Park.
“My inspirations always arise from space. The primary goal is to project the space as it is. Next is to clean and air the space. And finally, I intend for the audience to get relaxed just like when taking a nap on grass. I take the lead for them to spontaneously reach the boundary between reality and unreality by configuring a balance among the artwork, the space, and the audiences.“ – Kiwon Park
Inspired by this notion, the artist intends to configure the primary face of the exhibiting space, by exploring its physical and perceptional dimensions, while reducing it to its core traits. Park’s site-specific installation, Thickness, will occupy the entire main space of the gallery, which, from ground floor to first and second floor, will be covered in corrugated cardboard, including all walls and floors. The artist perceives ‘thickness’ as a spatial element that represents the most fundamental state of a space, and intends to develop it so as to reach and visualize
the inherency of the space. By covering the walls and floors with cardboard, the space is emptied rather than veiled to emphasize the beauty of the void, and to reveal the deepest essence of a space. “Hidden Surface implies my intention in not trying to conceal the surface, but rather to derive and present each and every surface of the space in equilibrium using cardboard pieces. It is an attempt to recover hidden surface in unseen spatiality. I hope the use of cardboard pieces would well convey an expansion of the space itself, wider and deeper, arousing a subtle change in space from the moment before.”
The upper floors of the gallery will make room for a group of paintings collectively titled Width. Since 2005, Kiwon Park has been carrying out this series to configure spatiality and the concept of void on a flat surface. He divides the surface of traditional Korean paper to represent several specific phenomena occurring within a space. Each surface is divided and filled with innumerable monochromatic lines heading towards different directions, laid one upon another. The artist believes that the series of paintings are reciprocally perfecting each other to function as a
background, composing balance among the audience and the exhibiting space. For him, the works are “expressions of specific spatiality as well, laid on flat surface. The installation ‘Thickness’ and painting works are ultimately interconnected under the issue of surface”.
Kiwon Park is Korea’s representative installation artist renowned for diverse configurations of spatiality by bringing together the nature of everyday materials and the specificity of each space. He was deeply influenced by Post-Minimalism, which focuses on pure property of materials, and has since been realizing his inspirations in site-specific installations with minimalistic features. He also pays attention to the history of a place and its interrelationship with the surrounding environment to ultimately evolve his work into being a part of the space. Witnessing his works, spectators become significant players and contribute to fulfill the work. The artist’s wish is to involve the viewers, invite them to actively interact with the space and, ideally, complement the work with their presence.
Kiwon Park was born in 1964 in Cheongju, Korea. His past solo exhibitions were held at various world renowned institutions including National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon (2010); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2006); Arko Art Center (2006); Museum Folkwang, Essen (2006), and many more. He has also participated in group exhibitions including Esprit Dior, Seoul (2015); Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul (2015); 313 Art Project, Seoul (2014); Galleria
Continua, Les Moulins, France (20142015); East Side Gallery Berlin, Berlin (2014); Amorepacific Museum of Art, Osan (2013); Art 13 London, London (2013); National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon (2012); Soma Museum, Seoul (2011); National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon (2009); Arco Art Center, Seoul (2009); Leeum Samsung Museum, Seoul (2007), The 51st Venice Biennale, The Korean Pavilion, Venice (2005).
