In A Certain Scenery, Shim Moon-Seup presents a body of paintings that draw on memories of the sea and the quiet persistence of natural rhythms. The exhibition, composed mainly of works from his ongoing series The Presentation and Re-Present, invites extended viewing, offering moments of subtle beauty, though occasionally lapsing into uniformity.
Each canvas features horizontal bands of acrylic, painted in restrained palettes of blue, gray, and black. In The Presentation (2022), shifts in tone across the bands recall the slow undulation of waves. Other works approach full monochrome, invoking the obscurity of night or the sensation of vanishing into horizonless space. This repetition of form and palette may evoke meditative stillness, or, for some, a sense of stagnation.
Shim’s early work as a sculptor remains palpable in his treatment of surfaces. The brushwork accumulates like sediment, as though pulled across textured resistance. This physicality suggests a transformation between material and gesture. However, without the grounding context of his sculptural practice, the paintings occasionally risk becoming aesthetically resolved but emotionally remote.
Rather than aiming for traditional representation, the show engages with sensation and presence. Shim does not depict the sea so much as evoke its pulse, steady, unresolved, and quietly insistent. These paintings do not demand attention but instead reward patience, returning the viewer’s gaze with a kind of hushed persistence.
Although I didn’t attend the show, this review conveys the tranquil, meditative qualities I would expect from experiencing the work in person. I appreciate the artist’s choice to evoke the rhythm of the ocean without depicting it literally. It seems like the kind of work that requires sustained attention to fully appreciate its depth, nuance, and subtlety. It also makes me curious about how the treatment of the surface would feel in person, and whether its texture and material presence further enhance the work’s quiet intensity.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your descriptive language, it does justice to the feelings that this exhibition evoked. You perfectly captured the still meditativeness felt within when seeing these pieces, yet their being grounded movement visually. To comment on Nina's observation, the thick texture of the paint added very much to the work, and helped to contextualize the pieces as relating to water and the ocean. The streaking of the paint and raised edges of each painted square segment added an extra element that creates more interest to the works overall. I do agree as well that some of the pieces as stand-alone pieces felt visually pleases and one note, but when seen in the context of the entire collection, is much more emotionally triggering.
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