HITE Collection: “Klingsor’s Last Summer”

Seoul, September 11 – December 12, 2015, http://hitecollection.com

Artists: 강서경 (Suki Seokyeong Kang), 김영은 (Young Eun Kim), 로와정 (RohwaJeong), 박형지 (Hyungji Park), 이은우 (Eunu Lee), 정희승 (Heeseung Chung)

Each of the works in this exhibition was special in its own way, but as a whole it felt a bit bland. I am guessing it is a result of trying too hard to balance and smooth out everything: Media employed, size of the artworks, spatial distribution, etc. It may be the influence of having a corporate foundation gallery in a corporate building, and I have a similar feeling when visiting Samsung’s Plateau exhibition space: The exhibitions are perfect, yet they blend in too well with the environment.

Out of the artists, Young Eun Kim attracted my attention by taking the largest space for her sculptural/sonic installation, which could not be heard very well during the opening unfortunately, yet it was interesting in how it appropriated space, creating a dialogue with Rohwa Jeong’s barely noticeable architectural interventions and Eunu Lee’s sculptural objects, which I was also very excited to see. Prior to this show, I only came across Eunu Lee’s artist book 300,000,000 KRW (2010) and I found that very intriguing, so it was great to see her sculptural work in the show, strongly referencing minimalism, but also fusing in with the post-internet art trend. Heesung Chung’s presence reminded me of the 2013 Artsonje exhibition of his/her’s I saw, but was not able to relate to much. I recognized his/her style again, of very precise juxtapositions that are impossible to verbalize. Suki Seokyeong Kang’s paintings made me press the camera shutter, even though that did not shout for attention as much as the huge orange monster sculpture in the center of the space, which even did not seem to be part of the exhibition (I could not attribute it to any of the artists).