NOMAL LIFE_ BE NORMAL AND PEOPLE

HEESOO KIM SOLO EXHIBITION

Part 1_BE NORMAL : 2021. 9. 1 - 10. 17

Part 2_PEOPLE : 2021. 10. 23 - 11. 28

1-3F, 80, Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea




Artist Heesoo Kim

Exhibition Raises Questions about Normal Life Lost in Pandemic

 “NORMAL LIFE” Depicted in Paintings, Ceramics and Installations

 

Gallery Afternoon is proud to host NORMAL LIFE: Be Normal and People—a solo exhibition of Korean artist Heesoo Kim (b. 1984)—from September 1 to November 28, 2021. 


Based on his careful observations of everyday life, Kim explores and conveys various aspects of human existence using bold colors and uninhibited lines. Under the key theme of “Normal Life,” his works continue to raise questions about what constitutes an ordinary life. His aim is share a renewed discourse on “ordinary” and “everyday” elements, which have been threatened and undermined amidst the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.  


After majoring in media design at university, Heesoo Kim worked in the field of image and photography. Around the age of thirty, he set off on a new journey to become a full-time artist. His portrait paintings soon caught the eyes of art aficionados. The artist has since established his own creative style by venturing into the realm of three-dimensional art encompassing woodblocks, ceramics, and sculptors. 

 

This new two-part solo exhibition can be said to be the most vivid and extensive exploration of his best-known series NORMAL LIFE. Over the course of three months, visitors will have a chance to encounter his canvas paintings of various sizes as well as watercolor paintings, sculptors and installations. 


Part One (September 1 ~ October 17) presents some sixty canvas paintings under the sub-theme of “Be Normal”, thereby offering a rare opportunity to see the artist’s representative works, which are imbued with joys and sorrows underneath the façade of everyday indifference. Some of the selected works are as large as 193.9 x 130.3 centimeters. 


The images of people with their eyes closed or fixed somewhere else evoke diverse senses, memories, emotions and imagination. As a result, Kim’s works urge us to recognize our own reflections in them, and thus strike a chord with a wider audience. Furthermore, Kim foregrounds his characters against abstract backgrounds. Each character captured on canvas with such bold lines and subtle colors reveals their own condensed narrative. 


Part Two (October 23 ~ November 28) showcases his watercolor paintings and large-scale installations collected under the theme of “People.” In particular, Kim’s latest watercolor works carrying humorous and light-hearted portraits of some 100 people from various walks of life serve as a link between the two parts. 


The exhibition is further complimented by a large installation embodying Kim’s atelier in Yangsu-ri. During the exhibition period, the artist will give live drawing performances in a pop-up format.



김희수 작가는 일상에 대한 탐구와 사유를 기반으로, 다양한 인간 군상의 모습을 자유롭고 대담한 선과 색채로 표현하는 작업을 이어오고 있습니다.


'Normal Life' 라는 대주제 아래 평범한 일상이란 무엇인가에 대해 물으며 꾸준히 작품 세계를 선보여 온 작가는, 코로나19로 인한 글로벌 펜데믹의 장기화로 더욱 간절해진 '평범함'과 '일상적임'에 대한 이야기를 화두로 던지며 다시금 관객들과 소통하고자 합니다.


<NORMAL LIFE> 2부 전시는 <PEOPLE>이라는 주제로 이어집니다. 평범한 일상 속 인간군상의 모습은 관람객 각자의 기억과 경험을 소환하며 다채로운 감흥을 불러 일으킵니다. 


전시장 곳곳에서 만나는 화구와 가구들은 모두 작가의 소장품입니다. 양수리 작업실에서 그림을 그릴 때 쓰는 화구들이며, 작가가 수년간 수집하여 실제 쓰고 있는 가구들로, 작가의 숨결이 고스란히 배어 있습니다. 작가의 일상 속으로 깊숙이 들어가 그의 여정을 경험할 수 있는 뜻깊은 시간이 될 것입니다. 


전시장 3층에 마련된 드로잉 룸 역시 작가가 직접 기획하고 제작했습니다. 이 안에는 늦은 밤 외딴 작업실에서 SNS를 통해 관객들과 소통하며 진행해왔던 라이브 드로잉 작품들이 포함되어 있습니다. 캔버스 작품의 밑그림이 되는 수백장의 드로잉들을 통해 작가가 자신만의 회화적 이미지를 구축해가는 과정을 만나볼 수 있습니다. 


치열하게 고민하고 때론 고통스러울 정도로 작업에 천착하며 자신만의 독보적인 이미지 세계를 구축해 나가고 있는 김희수 작가는 한국을 대표하는 젊은 페인터이자 향후 그의 작품세계가 어떻게 발전해 나가는지 주목해야 할 아티스트 중 하나입니다.

ART WORKS

Heesoo Kim
Untitled

Acrylic on canvas

53 x 41 cm


Heesoo Kim
Untitled

Acrylic on canvas

41 x 31.8 cm


Heesoo Kim
Untitled

Acrylic on canvas

145.5 x 111.5 cm

Heesoo Kim
Untitled

Watercolor on paper

21 x 15 cm

2021


Heesoo Kim
Untitled

Acrylic on panel

100.5 x 80.5 cm


Heesoo Kim
Untitled

Acrylic on panel

124.5 x 93.5 cm