Now through May 27th, 2023 the Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Gallery will be displaying Beyond the Line in their 2nd floor gallery space, featuring the works of Korean Artist Jeong Min Suh. Visit them at 417 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor every Tuesday through Saturday from 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM. For more information on the show, visit their website here.
Korean artist Jeong Min Suh (Jeonnam, Korea, 1962) is known for his singular ability to infuse new life into discarded scraps of traditional Korean calligraphy and literati ink paintings, creating elaborate paper works that blur distinctions between painting and sculpture. Taking its impetus from recent developments in Suh’s practice, Beyond the Line presents a group of three-dimensional compositions in which the artist draws on the simplicity of the line — as both a design element and visual metaphor — to reflect profound principles underlying the natural order of the world around us.
The exhibition includes large-scale relief works composed of thousands of tightly rolled paper units of hanji, traditional Korean mulberry paper, rendering richly detailed surfaces created by the discernible traces of their calligraphic lines. For Suh, the line is a powerful metaphor, denoting more than just an edge or contour; it serves as an agent for the essence of life itself. Amassed paper units concealing endless layers of hidden lines emanate a tension teeming with tiny variations in tone and texture. The artist engages with this dynamic vitality though intuitive applications of color and bold swaths of contrasting black and white space, revealing the presence of a balance and harmony intrinsic to the work itself.
