Boyoung JUNG : BECOMING   /   Emmanuel WOLFS : Impossible Trees

021Gallery is pleased to present a joint solo exhibition by BoYoung Jung and Emmanuel Wolfs, taking place from February 7 to March 29, 2019.

Since 2006 BoYoung Jung and Emmanuel Wolfs have been collaborating on art and design projects within the creative duo WOLFS+JUNG. After working closely together for over a decade, Jung’s focus gradually shifted towards abstract ink drawings while Wolfs has been leading the 3-dimensional sculptural practice under the WOLFS+JUNG label.

In this joint exhibition, both artists create a dialogue between different mediums and their individual artistic investigations. Carefully selected in relation to the 3-dimensional works in the show, BoYoung Jung’s 23 new ink drawings on mulberry Hanji paper draws interesting parallels with the 10 sculptural works of Emmanuel Wolfs: limited-edition bronze sculptures and furniture made between 2009 and 2018.

Emmanuel Wolfs’ solo exhibition Impossible Trees is the first major presentation of the bronze works in Korea after being exhibited in international fairs and exhibitions in Europe and the US. Entitled after WOLFS+JUNG’s ongoing sculpture series of constructed nature, these tree forms at first sight may look as if they had been found as such; but upon close inspection, reveal themselves to be impossible trees, growing in the shapes and directions that could not occur naturally. Sculpted by recomposing hundreds of natural tree bark fragments and casted using lost-wax techniques, these bronze seatings and sculptures explores organic shapes and forms, natural textures, and human perception of nature. These objects are intended neither to look fully natural nor artificial, questioning what we perceive as ‘natural’, reflecting today’s biotechnology experiments and the increasing human manipulation of nature. Trees represent not only a natural material but also nature as an object of philosophical research, his more recent sculpture series ‘Elements’, shows how Emmanuel Wolfs explore further the context of post-nature through more geometric forms reflecting on the influence of modernism.

 
The exhibition also includes ‘A Voice’ (2015) and ‘Silence’ (2016), functional cast-bronze sculptures presented in the form of raised fist in different heights and sizes. The raised fist salute – raising one’s arm in the air with a clenched fist – is a symbolic gesture used throughout historical movements and events to convey crucial human values, representing solidarity, strength, resistance, liberty, rebellion, human rights and call to action. The work offers itself as a reflection on the zeitgeist of our troubled contemporary period.

In parallel to Emmanuel’s sculptural presentations, Boyoung Jung’s exhibition Becoming features her recent abstract ink drawings on Korean traditional paper Hanji. Expanded from her previous sculpture works through which Jung closely studied and observed ‘trees’, the act of drawing and its contemplative process allowed her to investigate her subject further and to become more abstract in her approach. Jung’s process-driven ink drawings incorporate movements that are systematic yet organic, emphasizing the cyclical nature of life and growth.

“Beginning from a dot, the brush orbits its previous position while still wet; each overlapping brush stroke influences and pre-conditions the next one, balancing itself between energy and order, spontaneous and controlled. The circular motion with the slow outward expansion makes continual evolution in each passing moments, accumulating traces of lived experiences that are channelled through breathing and hand-body movement. Residing in between figuration and abstraction, these drawings are the result of a kinaesthetic embodied experience, through which I attempt to encounter and resonate the currents of nature.” (..from artist note)

In her inquisitive process, Jung uses calligraphic brushstrokes and repeated movements marking the traces of time in silent contemplation, and the medium of ink on mulberry Hanji is fundamentally important for its material sensibilities as well as its inherent symbolic significance.

“Absorbing and letting the ink move through its microstructure, the fiber-rich surface of Hanji evokes the attributes of a living tree and its natural processes, while the oriental ink, traditionally made from ashes of burnt pine tree, is spiritually charged; with its black and the countless shades of grey broadening and deepening my contemplation.” (..from artist note)

This is Jung’s second solo exhibition after the Encounters at Gallery EM last year; and Jung and Wolfs, first started collaborating while studying at Royal College of Art, London, will continue joint projects, while allowing each other to venture into his/her own artistic investigations. WOLFS+JUNG has been selected as ‘New generation design leader’ (2006) by KIDP, and their work has recently been included in the collection of M+ Museum, Hong Kong. Since 2008, Emmanuel Wolfs has also been lecturing Design in China and Korea; he is currently a professor in Industrial Design, Kookmin University, Seoul.