Rhee's 50 new paintings, installations presented at Kukje Gallery's Seoul and Busan venues
By Park Han-sol
Artist Rhee Ki-bong lets the otherworldly natural landscapes, with not a living soul in sight, speak for themselves.
The haunting and ethereal vistas enveloped in a blanket of fog at the break of day are like those straight out of a gothic fairytale.
“So there are, in fact, two paintings that make up a single piece. The two different layers ― one of sheer fabric and the other of canvas ― correspond with one another to create a phantasm of sorts,” Rhee said at his solo exhibition entitled, “Where You Stand,” which presents some 50 new works simultaneously at Kukje Gallery's Seoul and Busan locations.
Artist Rhee Ki-bong / Courtesy of Kukje Gallery
Rhee, who was awarded the Grand Prix at the National Art Exhibition in 1986, began depicting nature veiled by impenetrable mist in the early 2000s to evoke a sense of the uncanny and the ephemeral. His latest works from the series are on view at Seoul gallery's K1 space.
He recalled being struck by Caspar David Friedrich's 19th-century masterpiece, “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog,” which shows a man, with his back turned, gazing out on an infinite stretch of haze-covered mountains, around the time he started the series.
But of course, unlike Friedrich's oil painting, the artist creates a convincing illusion of depth and an oneiric scenery that seems to transcend time through physical layers of sheets.
That is why the artist is not so much interested in the symbolic meanings behind each subject of his pieces ― trees, lake or foliage ― but rather in the space itself and the sense of depth it can potentially create.
“My common motifs such as trees are more like props to me,” he said. “Instead, I throw my heart and soul into making this one-centimeter-wide vacuum between the canvas and the sheet hovering over seem like an infinite stretch of space.”
Installation view of Rhee Ki-bong's solo exhibition, “Where You Stand,” at Kukje Gallery in central Seoul / Courtesy of Kukje Gallery
In addition to such hazy vistas that he has devoted himself to producing for the last two decades, Rhee showcases a new selection of paintings at the Seoul gallery's K2 space with both a philosophical and a visually daring touch.
In this series, the landscape, which has been brought to life on canvas in much darker tones, has been reversed left-to-right or top-to-bottom ― evoking images of reflections in water.
“While the adjective that I would use to define my older series is 'murky' or 'blurry,' I would describe these new paintings as 'chaotic,'” the artist said.
He added that the framed works on display at K2 all depict the same scenery, just in different visual manners ― like Claude Monet's Rouen Cathedral series, where the French Impressionist icon portrayed the facade of the Roman Catholic church repeatedly under different light and weather conditions.
Rhee Ki-bong's “Stand on Shadow No. 9-3” (2022) / Courtesy of the artist, Kukje Gallery
An element of philosophical musing is added in the polyester fiber hovering over the canvas as Rhee has chosen to silkscreen quotes taken from Austrian-British thinker Ludwig Wittgenstein's magnum opus, “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.”
The book, considered one of the most influential texts of the 20th century, sparked the artist's intellectual curiosity ever since his university years.
“Wittgenstein explores the limits of language, arguing that we humans can fundamentally view and comprehend the world only insofar as our existing linguistic structures and texts allow,” Rhee noted.
He thus visualizes the philosopher's argument by turning quotes from “Tractatus” into a translucent fabric that acts as a filter for the audience to see the painted world behind it.
The 65-year-old creator said the series marks just one chapter of his continued creative exploration.
“My ambitious childhood dream was to become Picasso himself. I still want to be like him in a way, working to paint until the day I die.”
“Where You Stand” runs through Dec. 31 at Kukje Gallery Seoul and Busan.
