Sayart.net - [Artist Interview] Under painting, Artist Oh wanseok

Artists turn imagination into reality. To that end, artists repeatedly experiments with various materials and tools. The existence they create through their imagination may or may not exist in reality. Of course, it exists, but you can't see it, or you may have overlooked it unintentionally. Or it may be material or immaterial. In some cases, it may be a feasible possibility in the future.

Here is one artist who is turning imagination into reality. His name is Oh Wanseok. Oh majored in sculpture. He draws pictures borrowed from sculptures and makes sculptures using wood. His work is erratic, like an answer to a nonsense quiz.

▲ Artist Oh wanseok, Photo by Maria Kim

He draws a picture on the back of a glass plate. And He turns the glass back and hangs the opposite side. Then, the audience can see the basis of the artist's painting. The ‘Under painting’ series are works to which his unique ideas are applied.

On the 25th of last month, SayArt met Oh wanseok at a cafe on the 5th floor of the Insa Art Plaza Gallery in Jongno-Gu, Seoul.

In this two-person exhibition of Bae Tae-Joo and Oh wanseok, he presented several works under the theme of 'Underpainting'. After painting layers of color on a glass plate, he flipped it over to show the inside of the painting. He explained that through these works, the audience can see the first scene of the artist's painting. According to his explanation, “the surface of the painting is a variable material world, and the base exists but is like the invisible inner world”. In other words, he is exposing the potential realm to the outside through his work.

▲ 2017 ,땅 밑으로 쌓는 탑 0,1 ,oil on non-reflecting glass ,120x180cm 2ea Courtesy of Oh wanseok

In addition to the two-dimensional works presented in this exhibition, Oh wanseok also presented an installation work called ‘module’. This work is an installation work made with the number 0. He said, “If you look at a circle from the front, it becomes the number 0, and if you look at it from the side, it becomes 1. He explained that if you lay down the 1 again, it becomes a ‘-’ sign, and if you overlap the number 1 and the minus sign, it becomes a plus sign.”

He also said, “The disk in the work takes the form of ‘+, -, 0, 1’ depending on the direction of the ‘x, y, z’ axis. 0 is a number that indicates none, but if you put a minus sign in front of it, I think it is a mysterious number.” -0 (minus zero) is a power that arouses imagination for Oh wanseok and a means of expressing “the latent realm beyond space.

▲ ‘Module’ is an installation work that assembles several discs of the same size. The disk in the work takes the form of ‘+, -, 0, 1’ depending on the direction ‘x, y, z’ axis of the viewer. The artist uses the number ‘-0’ as a means of expressing “the latent realm beyond the space.” Courtesy of Oh wanseok

▲ 2014 ,Case , idea , variable dimension, Courtesy of Oh wanseok

He collected about 5,000 questionnaires answered by audiences from 2011 to the present. His activities like this are to materialize what was only in the audience's head and reveal it to the outside world.

The audience only answered the questionnaire, but he completed the work in an empty case equal to the size of the work they recorded. Regarding his artistic activities, he explained, “It is the process of materializing the thoughts of the audience, who are invisible non-objects.”

1983 Born in Daejeon

Education
2012 BFA Sculpture Chungnam National University

Solo Exhibitions
2020 ,meme gallery, Seoul , art space128, Daejeon.
021 Gallery, Daegu
2019 , Public Gallery, Jongno Tower Seoul, Korea
2018 Sejong Art Center, Sejong, Korea
, Lee Eung-no Museum, Daejeon
2017 , Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, Korea

Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 <20EE Young Thinking>, BRT Small Art Museum / Unexpected Art Museum, Sejong / Jeonju
, Seongsan Art Center, Changwon
, Korea National University of Education Museum Special Exhibition, Sejong
, Soje-dong Official Residence No. 16/17, Daejeon
2021 , Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon
, Perpignan, France
, Yesong Museum of Art, Seoul
2020 , BRT Small Art Museum, Sejong
, Seojeong Art Center, Seoul
, Public Gallery, Concordion Building, Seoul
<-0+S20>, Galaxy Project Samsung Electronics, Yongin
2019 , Bucheon Art Bunkerb39, Gyeonggi, Korea
Artxstay Gallery , Seoul, Korea
2018 Museum of Art Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
, Art Center Ku, Daejeon, Korea
2017 JCC Museum, Seoul, Korea
2016 Schema Art Museum, Cheongju, Korea
2015 Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, Korea
Artist project, Daejeon Art Center, Daejeon, Korea
2014 Daejeon Art Center, Daejeon, Korea
Gwangju International Media Art Festival,
Gwangjucheon, Gwangju, Korea
2013 Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan, Korea
Asia Culture Maroo, Gwangju, Korea
Dongdaemun storytelling project '-0+chair', Seoul, Korea
Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, Korea
Open Space Bae, Busan, Korea
2012 <640>, Open Space Bae, Busan, Korea

Awards
2019 Hello Artist Selection _ Naver Cultural Foundation
2016 Dragon Eyes Selection _ Art in Culture
2015 New Hero Selection _ Public Art
2015 New Face _ Monthly Art
2014 Selected as ‘100 New Faces to Lead Korean Contemporary Art’ _ Monthly Art
2014 Ha Jung-woong Young Artist Award _ Gwangju Museum of Art

Collection of works: Daejeon Museum of Art, Hyundai E&C, GS E&C, Samyang Holdings, and other private collectors

Sayart.net
Maria Kim sayart2022@gmail.com