French artists open first Korean show

By Ines Min

Staff reporter

The presence of darkened silhouettes fills the absences in a sparse room. Sensually spherical, brightly-colored glass beads "strung" with lengths of metal cascade to the floor. French artists Jean-Michel Othoniel and Xavier Veilhan bring their first show in Korea to the Kukje Gallery, in an exhibition of 20 subtle, moving pieces.

The show is part of a rare exhibition exchange between Kukje Gallery in Seoul and the Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris.

Othoniel is known for his public art in such areas as the Paris metro entrance at the Palais-Royal ("Le Kiosque des Noctambules") as well as collections ranging from the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York to the Pompidou Center. The artist, who works in glass using techniques from the renowned Venetian island of Murano, employs spheres to create forms both recognizable worldwide ― earrings and necklaces to abstract lamps _ as well as imbue an optimistic emotion and abstractness within simple shapes.

"The idea of the sphere was non-aggressive, delicate," he said at the gallery Thursday, ahead of the exhibition open. "So a person could put their hand on it," and be drawn in with sensuality.

Othoniel starts his works with sketches, which are an intimate process for him. "It is like composers putting their work on paper, then when I actualize the piece, it is like giving that piece of paper to the orchestra." Only about 10 percent of his drawings end up realized as finished works, the artist said.

Superficially, they are objects easily labeled, but a sense of fantastic idealism is seen in their inherent paradox: The seemingly floating glass beads are burdened in sheer weight, requiring technicians and detailed calculations of balance to build the works that seem ephemeral.

This sense of ironic solidity is conveyed best by Othoniel's larger works like "Twin Lovers." Unlike smaller, ready-made structures hung from the ceiling, some pieces are installations that must be placed delicately from bottom-up. Yet, even the heaviest endeavors depict a lightness reflected in the beautifully blown glass.

"In fact, there are a lot of 'utopian' pieces," he said with a smile when asked about his archive of sketches. "And they will never be realized because they are too big, so I have to stop."

Just as Othoniel's work offers an analysis of the physical states, fellow artist Veilhan serves to remind viewers of the dichotomy of that space's occupation.

Veilhan, who has experimented in painting, sculpture, installation and photography, has been exhibited at the gardens of Versailles as well as the Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal in Canada. His larger-than-life works are all based on friends, acquaintances and, occasionally, the artist himself.

Massive silhouettes defined in three-dimensional cubist surfaces create a stream of steady presence in the cavernous space of the gallery's second floor. Faceless, colorless, the figures remind one of the phantoms carried with every step of daily life, whether they are our own or others.

The sculptures are brought to life by filming an individual in a full body scan, then rendered into a digital format that is completed to become a form comprised of polyurethane.

"I'm interested in physical existence, like when you feel someone is behind you," Veilhan said, which is the tying characteristic that unifies the collection. In one piece, the concept of space is confronted with a metal stick that is exactly 1-meter-long (the rod defines space, just as the space defines the rod). In another work, a photograph composed of pointillism squares a la Georges Seurat, was created by removing the negative space first.

"I'm interested in the different boundaries and lines of art, like body, the concrete and the physical," he said, adding that the best part of any exhibition is "finding traces, evidence of people there."

"The world is hard to read, but art should actually help in the understanding of the world."

The exhibition by Othoniel and Veilhan runs through June 26 at Kukje Gallery, located near Anguk Station exit 1, on subway line 3. For more information, visit www.kukjegallery.com.