Barely Visible… "Take Your Time to Look Closely"

[Anchor]

A solo exhibition is underway by artist Koo Jeong-A, who represented the Korean Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Visitors entering the exhibition hall may discover the artworks or simply walk past them, leaving each person with a completely different experience.

Reporter Kim Gyeong-hui has the details.

[Reporter]

[Koo Jeong-A: OUSSSMOS / Through Dec. 27 / Leeum Museum of Art]


Something glimmers between the retaining walls visible through the museum window.

Depending on their vantage point and the weather, visitors may either discover 50 crystals hidden in the crevices of the stones or walk right by them.

Artworks placed throughout the ancient art galleries also require careful attention to be found.

The 1,001 drawings hidden inside 77 boxes cannot be seen all at once, either.

Only seven drawings are rotated and exhibited each month, while the rest remain stored inside the boxes.

A massive structure newly created for this exhibition makes visitors experience the space differently depending on their perspective.

Even when viewing the same exhibition, people inevitably see and experience different things.

[Kim Sung-won / Deputy Director, Leeum Museum of Art: You can view it with the meaning that missing something holds the same value as actually seeing it. The moment we realize what we have missed is when we can gain much more.]

[Koo Jeong-A / Artist: We cannot show everything, of course. While I have a strong desire to show everything, I believe it is impossible to show it all.]

In the mid-1990s, the artist coined the word "ouss," meaning energy and vitality, and has built a unique artistic world based on it.

Works utilizing magnetic forces that simultaneously repel and attract, along with those using fragile yet durable objects like thin pencil leads or sugar cubes, demonstrate the world of ouss where contrasting energies coexist.

Running through the end of the year, this largest-scale domestic exhibition brings together 30 years of Koo's work, ranging from her early pieces to her latest creations.

(VJ: Oh Se-gwan | Video Editing: Park Na-young | Footage Courtesy of: Ahn Yu-sun, Seo Ji-won)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.