[This Week's Exhibitions] Ha Jung-woo Solo Exhibition "Either act or forget", Choi Eunyoung Solo Exhibition "What Will I Be Doing When I Die?" and More

Editor's NoteThis week's exhibition roundup introduces a selection of diverse and captivating exhibitions from across the country that can be enjoyed during the week.

So Hyun Park's "Unsended Letter". This work evokes a pictorial space where personal narratives, absent presences, and historical memories overlap in time. Shinhan Gallery

Shinhan Young Artist Festa 'I Am Only Singing a Swan Song'

Loss only reveals the contours of the world after it is gone. "I Am Only Singing a Swan Song" at Shinhan Gallery features six artists—Ye Dam Kim, Hyunji Nam, Sohyunia Park, Suyeon Park, Jihia Seok, and Kyungmin Lee—each exploring themes of loss, absence, and uncertainty through their own mediums. The title is inspired by the old belief that a swan sings just before death, as well as by Hélène Cixous's interpretation of art and death in the works of Franz Kafka. Rather than focusing on the 'final song,' the exhibition emphasizes the present progressive tense—"am only singing." It highlights the idea that the act of creating continues toward something still unknown and impossible to fully reproduce.

Suyeon Park's "Jeongga, Pansori, Contact, and Narrative." This is a performance work that evokes emotions, memories, and the sense of touch unreachable by language through bodily movements. Shinhan Gallery

Ye Dam Kim strips still lifes of meaning and context to capture the sheer 'existence' of objects, while Jihia Seok treats painting as a body by detaching and reattaching gel medium. Suyeon Park evokes emotions and memories unreachable by language through movements of the body. Hyunji Nam reveals both comfort and anxiety through images of family, space, and similar bodies as safe havens. Sohyunia Park weaves together memories where personal histories and historical events intersect, using painting and video. Kyungmin Lee uses the form of clouds to portray the gap between reality and its hidden facets. The exhibition runs until September 9 at Shinhan Gallery, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Jung-woo Ha's 'Untitled'. Through the shapes of face and mask, it expresses the human persona wavering between external gaze and inner desire. The Shop Gallery

Jung-woo Ha Solo Exhibition 'Either act or forget'

The more a face is concealed, the more is revealed. Jung-woo Ha's solo exhibition "Either act or forget" explores the theme of 'HUMAN,' investigating human existence and the inner persona. The title, borrowed from a line in the movie "The Godfather," conveys an attitude of acting or letting go, rather than complaining or hesitating. As an actor who has embodied countless characters, the artist now translates these experiences into masks, face coverings, and patterns in his artworks. Through intuitive lines and bold colors, he depicts everyday people and objects, aiming to restore the raw purity and primal vitality of humans, suppressed within modern civilization.

Jung-woo Ha's Untitled. A work that reveals human inner emotions and energy by arranging characters, numbers, symbols, and repetitive patterns into intense color planes. The Shop Gallery

Repetitive lines and geometric patterns inspired by carpet design, along with images drawn from ceramics and traditional masks, transcend decorative surfaces. The mask functions both as a tool for concealment and as a gateway expressing inner desire. This exhibition, held in collaboration with Hyundai Livart, arranges furniture together with artworks to create a space resembling an ordinary room. As the boundaries between art and daily life grow blurred, viewers are not just seeing paintings—they are invited to imagine the place of the person within them, and to connect with the energy that fills their own everyday lives. The exhibition runs until October 4 at The Shop Gallery, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Choe Eunyoung's 'Seed and Leaf - Yeduk Tree'. It depicts the creation and extinction of Jeju's nature and the continuous cycle of life through delicate plant images. Jeju Gallery

Choe Eunyoung Solo Exhibition 'What Will I Be Doing When I Die'

Death may not be an end; it may simply be a return to the earth. Choe Eunyoung’s solo show, "What Will I Be Doing When I Die," begins with a question the artist posed to herself upon experiencing the sudden loss of loved ones. After relocating to Jeju, the artist came to see life and death as cycles, rather than opposites, while observing plants bloom and wither, and seeds return to the soil. The layers of ink and powdered pigment on Korean paper depict the rough basalt earth and the traces left by silent existences passing over it.

Eunyoung Choi's "Long Hike." This work captures the time of existence passing over the rough earth using ink and powdered pigments on Korean paper. Jeju Gallery

New works such as "Color of the Wind," "Long Hike," "Corner of Solitude," and "Step Wave" portray land left vacant by human absence and the passage of time marked by footsteps. The undulating shapes of basalt rocks are like subtle yet unmistakable traces of life, much as a snail leaves a trail, and countless footsteps accumulate into a landscape. In the participatory installation "Where Footsteps Stop," visitors leave behind their own questions and answers about life, adding their unique traces to the exhibition. The question "What will I be doing when I die?" ultimately becomes "How will I live today?" The exhibition runs until August 30 at Jeju Gallery, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.