[This Week's Exhibitions] Solo Exhibition by Seongyong Hong, "Preserved Memory," Solo Exhibition by Sangjun Park, "Sea and Butterfly," and More

Editor's NoteThis week's exhibitions highlight a diverse and captivating selection of shows on view across the country this week.

Sungyong Hong, Preserved Memories - Itaewon Usadan, 2026, Lacquer Technique on Canvas, 105 × 142 cm. Geumsan Gallery

Solo Exhibition by Seongyong Hong, "Preserved Memory"

Memory does not remain only as vivid scenes. Some memories spread like stains, while others cling to the surfaces of objects and linger for a long time. Seongyong Hong's solo exhibition, "Preserved Memory," captures the traces of memories that fade over time through lacquer painting. On the canvas, images such as children, zebras, ducks, flowers, gramophones, chandeliers, and old chairs—each as if arriving from different points in time—are scattered. Rather than constructing a single narrative, these images emerge like fleeting moments when forgotten sensations suddenly resurface.

Hong Sungyong, Preserved Memory - Jacob, 2026, Lacquer Technique on Canvas, 60.6 × 60.6 cm. Geumsan Gallery

For the artist, "preservation" is not about fixing the past for storage, but about recalling fading sensations into the present. The repeated process of applying and drying lacquer resembles the passage of time, in which memories accumulate and transform. On surfaces layered in gold and brown, motifs build up in ways that feel stranger and more tangible than an old photo album. Through 44 paintings, the artist overlays experiences, places, and the emotions permeating objects onto a single surface. On view until August 15, at Geumsan Gallery, Jung-gu, Seoul.

Sangjun Park Solo Exhibition 'Sea and Butterfly' Artwork. It embodies wounded innocence and hope to soar again through pottery. Gallery Hangyeol

Solo Exhibition by Sangjun Park, "Sea and Butterfly"

A butterfly standing before the sea is a fragile and innocent being. Sangjun Park's solo exhibition, "Sea and Butterfly," begins with Kim Kirim's poem and translates the passage of innocence wounded by reality into ceramics. In the poem, a white butterfly, mistaking the blue sea for a green barley field, flies toward it and is hurt. The artist does not leave this scene as a tragedy. For the butterfly attempting to cross the sea, he places pebbles and stepping stones, providing a pause—a moment of respite before taking flight again.

Exhibition view of Sangjun Park's solo exhibition "The Sea and the Butterfly." This exhibition, inspired by the poem "The Sea and the Butterfly" by Ki Rim Kim, artistically expresses innocence hurt by reality and hope to soar again through ceramics. Gallery Hangyeol

The stones that appear repeatedly in this exhibition are not simply natural objects but represent both resting places and the bare minimum of hope needed to fly again. The ceramic works, made using slip casting techniques, reconstruct the poem's symbolism into three-dimensional sculptural language. If the white butterfly stands for purity, the sea is cold reality, and the stone is a small sanctuary helping to endure that reality. Sangjun Park poses the question of what unfolds after being wounded. Where does a dejected being find rest, and from what strength do they take off again? On view until August 16, at Gallery Hangyul.

Sungmin Park_Evolution_Oil on canvas_53×45.5cm. Superior Gallery

Solo Exhibition by Sungmin Park, "When Gaze Becomes Thought"

At first glance, the works appear abstract. Borders of black and blue, blushes of pale pink, and slippery surfaces resembling porcelain glaze fill the canvas. Yet, Sungmin Park's solo exhibition, "When Gaze Becomes Thought," begins not with the autonomy of abstraction, but at the very edge of hyperrealistic painting. The artist persistently observes and intensely magnifies the texture, cracks, and color seepage on actual porcelain surfaces. The subject is not erased, but dissected through prolonged observation—broken down into color, materiality, and traces of brushwork.

Sungmin Park_Evolution_Oil on canvas_32×32cm. Superior Gallery

In an era when AI can finely generate and replicate images, this exhibition raises the question of what painting can still achieve. Sungmin Park does not abandon representation; rather, he pushes it to the brink, transposing it into the realm of contemplation. While the earlier "Ice Capsule" series captured congealed time within ice-bound fruits and plants, his recent focus on porcelain surfaces draws forth tactile sensations and memories embedded within objects. Rather than identifying what is depicted, viewers are first drawn to the duration and intensity with which the works ask to be seen. On view until August 10, at Superior Gallery, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

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