《BECOMING》 · 2026 · Historical listing

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Information for this edition

Dates

Oct 1, 2026 — Oct 31, 2026

Place

Gallery Jo Eun 3, Itaewon-ro 55-ga-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea Gallery Jo Eun

Admission at the time

Free

Facts last checked

2026-10-19

First preserved here

2026-10-22

Published programme

Gallery Joeun presents BECOMING, a solo exhibition by Kwon Yong-rae (b. 1964), from October 1 to 31. Focusing on his longstanding exploration of light and metal, the exhibition introduces 16 new works in a distinctive formal language crossing painting, sculpture and installation. Stainless steel is more than a material in Kwon's practice. Flat metal units become one pictorial element in his hands; hundreds to thousands are accumulated one by one on canvas to construct the picture. Only upon encountering light do they form one image and scene. Stainless steel becomes image, plane becomes space and light becomes form. As the scene changes continuously with viewers' positions and gazes, the work becomes a presence continually generated and transformed rather than one fixed form. BECOMING encapsulates this essence. After studying Western painting at Seoul National University and its graduate school, Kwon sought new materials and expressive methods beyond his early paintings. While experimenting with silver foil, aluminium and other materials, encountering light reflected and scattered from crumpled foil in a dark studio proved a turning point. He began to centre the phenomena generated by light itself rather than simply objects revealed by light. This interest led to his current stainless-steel-unit works. He hammers the flat surfaces of laser-cut metal units to create subtle curves, coats them with pigment, then attaches them individually to gessoed canvas. What appears to be a repetition of identical units is in fact delicate, continuous labour requiring different force, angles, colours and spacing at every moment. For Kwon, light is a formal element completing the work, rather than an external condition illuminating it. Cold, hard stainless steel shimmers in light, while light flowing and dispersing among the metal units forms one shape anew. The work exists between material and immaterial, plane and space, fixed form and changing phenomenon. Eternal Flame exemplifies this practice. Countless metal units and the light crossing between them evoke a flame's fleeting movement, transforming a momentary scene into an enduring image. Rather than representing a particular object, the work evokes time and existence through the process of light appearing and disappearing. Kwon's practice demonstrates that beauty emerges not only in a finished result but also through the repetition and transformation producing it. Repeated labour condenses into one scene, while unchanging metal continually takes different forms through light. BECOMING traces his practice while presenting ongoing pictorial experiments: the process of becoming something, a completed state that changes again, light continually generated within fixed matter. Moving beyond traditional painting materials and methods, Kwon continues to investigate painting. On his canvas, metal becomes image, light becomes colour, and the viewer's movement becomes part of the work. At every moment of viewing, the work becomes something different again.

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