The Korean Cultural Service New York is pleased to present the Call for Artist exhibition of 2015, Light Mapping.
Gallery Korea, with a professional judge panel consisting of those actively working in the New York art field, selected seven artists to feature in the show: Jinkyu Ahn, Namsuk Cha, Ikk Hoon Eom, Kyoungae Jang, Hwayong Jung, Tae Yeun Kim and Sung Lee. 

Light Mapping is a dynamic interdisciplinary exhibition exploring contemporary artists’ works emphasizing the narrative of light and shadow, and transitions from brightness to darkness through art made with diverse mediums such as Korean ink and paper, fiber-reinforced plastic, stainless steel, and digital photography. 

Light is considered such an essential component in all art; this exhibition demonstrates how the artists experiment creatively with light and playfully depict the interplay of light and art. 

In his printed artworks, Jinkyu Ahn collaborates uncontrollable conditions as temperature, humidity, altitude, and controllable conditions such as physical elements and emotions. To express the interactions of the antithetical concepts, he uses various forms of containers to hold the indian ink the artist poured, and continuously imprint the image lingered on the container until the ink dries out. The artist also keep a record of the date, time, weather, pressure to indicate the uncontrollable elements. In other words, the artworks are documents of the vanished and the remains that reflects the artist’s thoughts of life and nature. 

Namsuk Cha is a photographer who focuses on dark and dim places rather than bright ones. The artist studies on the unique beauty of secluded spots, sequestered cracks, and shadowy corners of buildings when the light, at one moment, goes down to these dark places. This can also be symbolized as the encounter with the savior or a guide and the lost beings rupture of communication. The works not only depicts the contrast effectiveness of the two, but also the communion of the ever-changing light and darkness. 

The atypical and abstract forms of sculptures made by Ikk Hoon Eom is made of cold feeling metals. But it is important not to leave out the importance of the light in his artworks. The light first illuminates the physical sculpture that emphasizes the value of the artist’s efforts poured into his works. On the other hand, the shadow of the sculptures casted on the wall creates another image that mirrors the artist’s philosophy on life and universe through the shape of Greek and Roman Myths. The artist’s thoughts are existing in both two dimensional and three dimensional, reality and non-reality, figurative and nonfigurative, and the traditional and the contemporary forms. 

Kyoungae Jang depicts a rainy night of a modern city with Chinese ink and Korean paper based on in brush painting technique. The artist aims to collaborate the tradition and modernity through rainy images that reflects the indwelling emotions of modern urban residents. The wet nocturnal city rather highlights the characteristics of light than weakening. The scattering light through the blurry image of the rainy night blurs the boundaries and harmonize colors to reflect the humanistic point of view of the cold urban cities. 

An artist and a designer Hwayong Jung uses new digital media technologies to create a different kind of visual experience. By using environmental data and generative visual aesthetics through computer code and software, the artist focuses on erasing the borderlines between design methodology and new technology. Through the interactive images, the two becomes more accessible and tangible through the hands of the artist. 

The sculptures of Tae Yeun Kim is a visual expression of both the conscious and subconscious. The artist spots on the dual standard of subconscious mind and feelings that are suppressed by culture and zeitgeist. The repressed emotions on death, sex and life occurs from the cultural and social role as a woman in various cultures. Dissonance occurs when two are met, but the artist also struggles to balance between the two. The error and contradiction but also the interconnection of these two are expressed in her eccentric form of works. 

Sohee Koo makes mixed media installations with objects has a translucent characteristic such as bubble wraps and acetate sheets. The artist consider herself as a “transparent material” that absorbs and alters the surrounding environment rather than having a “concrete” language of her own. In the conservative and traditional Korean society, women could not have direct voices and were required to adapt the surrounding circumstances. The artist finds these features similar to the objects used in her works. Hence, the abstract images of hazy shadows thrown down on the walls reflect the artist’s messages and also invites viewers for multiple interpretations. 

Light Mapping is scheduled to run from January 6th, through February 5th and the opening reception will be on Wednesday, January 6th from 6pm to 8pm.