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Back The Mark of Time: Tracing the Origins of Eastern and Western Abstraction Gallery Chang in Midtown Manhattan presents the four-artist exhibition The Mark of Time from January 8 to February 17, 2026. Bringing together works by Korean and American artists Cho Yong Ik, Kim Kang Yong, Ed Moses, and Jimi Gleason, the exhibition examines the origins of Eastern and Western abstraction through the shared lens of time as a mode of thought. The Mark of Time does not approach abstraction as a singular style or a linear outcome of art history. Instead, it considers abstraction as a way of thinking that emerged simultaneously across different cultural contexts. The exhibition traces how artists working within distinct environments and traditions have shared fundamental questions of time, material, and action. Here, abstraction is understood not as a finished form, but as a process through which experience accumulates and is recorded. What appears on the canvas is less a completed image than the residue of time—repeated gestures, countless decisions, and moments of choice and withdrawal layered over duration. The exhibition is structured around two interconnected dialogues. The first dialogue brings together the works of Ed Moses and Cho Yong Ik, viewing abstraction as a trace of time. For Moses, painting is not a means of representation but an event shaped by action and decision. His canvases bear not only visible brushstrokes, but also erased movements, hesitation, and the temporal span of the painting’s making. Cho Yong-Ik’s work is likewise formed through repetition, restraint, and a meditative rigor. Rather than completing an image in a single gesture, he gradually builds density through sustained and deliberate actions, allowing abstraction to function as a vessel for the experience of time. The second dialogue connects the practices of Kim Kang Yong and Jimi Gleason, expanding abstraction into a materially constructed world. Kim’s brick paintings are the result of labor, weight, and time meticulously layered onto the canvas. While they evoke physical structures, they operate less as representations than as painterly inquiries into material, structure, and illusion. Gleason similarly constructs his surfaces through repetitive gestures and layered silvery pigments, allowing resistance, reflection, and material tension to shape form. Curator Jinnie Kang explains, “Rather than deeply comparing or opposing East and West, The Mark of Time seeks to show how different modes of abstract thinking, formed within distinct contexts, can converge into a single flow. By viewing abstraction not through cultural divisions but through attitudes toward time, action, and material, the exhibition highlights moments where the artists’ works intersect and resonate naturally within parallel relationships.” https://www.nyculturebeat.com/index.php?document_srl=4174429&mid=Lounge2 < >

Back Shane Guffogg: Part 5, The Life of the Artist and the Creative Process: "Certainty and Truth" SHANE GUFFOGG: PART 5, THE LIFE OF THE ARTIST AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS: "CERTAINTY AND TRUTH" A segment from the studio manager (Victoria Chapman) on Shane’s creative life in the studio, and at the ranch The beginning layers of a new Still Point for Venice 2024 The Life of the Artist and the Creative Process – Part 5 Certainty and Truth A segment from the studio manager (Victoria Chapman) on Shane’s creative life in the studio, and at the ranch In Part 5, we are sharing Shane’s daily routine and how one thought leads to the next and, yes, there is some certainty and truth here. I have heard visitors to the studio say on many occasions, “Shane, this is amazing, things just seem to line up for you.” How does this unfold? As the observer in the room, I can honestly say, it’s not as easy as it may appear. Sure, there is a certain amount of luck, but the reality is there are no shortcuts. Shane works everyday all day, and he doesn’t take holidays. It’s like water that flows from one stream to the next-- it’s automatic for him. Whether he is in his orchard or vineyard tending to the fruit trees, remodeling a building (he is currently creating the “wine room” with two childhood friends), or applying the first layer of gesso to canvas, he is merely being in the moment. Somehow along the way of Shane’s early beginnings, this ability to stay in the moment took shape. And now it’s automatic. Whatever he touches, be it breakfast, a grapevine, or the brush to which he is about to create art, there is a certain consciousness that becomes absolute with all his heart, and in return the universe responds. Sometimes the circle is complete, an exhibition is booked, or a painting is sold. With total transparency, there is honesty that goes into a task. When I come across quotes from Hegel’s Phenomenology of the Spirit , it stops me in my tracks to reflect on what is going on in Shane’s life, and studio practice. Inside the Central California studio Looking out the studio window “In grasping the thought that the single individual consciousness is in itself - Absolute Essence, consciousness has returned into itself. Phenomenology of the Spirit page 139 If you have been following this series, you know I am thumbing through Hegel’s Phenomenology of the Spirit . Hegel’s book explores the principles of self-identity and reaches into the dialectic. I will not go into that, but I will share why I keep returning to this book. For me, it has been a proverbial jumping-off place. It is a reminder of why art is made and its process. And then there is the creative flow, which I believe is another intertwined topic. A few days ago, I was reminded of a conversation I had thirty-three years ago with a fellow art student, “How can I make art when I have barely experienced the world myself?” That was a wild thought, and it got me thinking about Shane and his life experiences as it’s translated into art. There have been two films and podcast that have been published about Shane’s studio and ranch life. Some might ask, how does Shane divide his time? What are his daily rituals, shifting from one task or painting to the next. There is minimal separation – separated only by what he touches. How does the physicality of being become the impetus of art making? Creativity is an alchemic process of transforming truth into evidence. We can see it from the beginning in cave paintings, and for thousands of years, this has been observed from stone to iron and now into the information age. Shane wrote an article that touches on this subject, The Art of the Ancients Art Confidential Magazine, April 2023 Notes on the studio wall Shane’s article, The Art of the Ancients In progress .. for 2024 Venice Biennale Artists have always contemplated the landscape. Whether this means tagging the wall or making mental notes, it’s the human condition to observe and document one’s findings. Cezanne spent years painting Mount St. Victore, observing nature, living in solitude, and searching for inner freedom. This practice of recording the world around him created some of the most unique works of art, setting the stage for the 20th century, starting with Picasso, which all began by honoring his truth. As I sit at my desk daily in Los Angeles, I contemplate why art is so important and what it does on an immediate level and for society. I take a break and walk over to another painting studio of Shane’s and gasp while looking at the vast Conscious Occupation of a Praying Mind a painting from the series, At Still Point of the Turning World. As I leave that studio and walk over to collect the mail, I am reminded of the street sounds and the thousands of cars and people trailing up and down Western Ave. daily. Returning to my desk, I glance over to the storage racks in the office, patiently holding Shane’s paintings. The office has become an art storage space as much as an office space. To my left are floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stacked with binders, catalogs, magazine boxes, and numerous books - all relative to Shane and his career on a global level. This man’s markings, documentation, and commitment to his art-making practice serve as a reminder of why art should never be forgotten or misunderstood. It’s been a hectic year thus far while finalizing plans for the 2024 Venice Biennale (Shane’s exhibition will be on display at the Bovolo Museum). There was also a new record set at a Parisian auction for At the Still Point of the Turning World – Only Through Time is Time Conquered oil on canvas, plus various exhibitions, musical concerts that intertwine music and art, and many lectures about the topic of art and how Guffogg is informed and inspired by different composers, that took place in and around Los Angeles. Two of Shane’s paintings are in the group exhibition Circle of Sam at the Bakersfield Museum of Art, where his paintings are featured alongside Ed Ruscha, Sam Francis, and more. This exhibition honors Sam's friendships with fellow artists; it closes on September 9th. Opening on October 19th, 2023, at the Forest Lawn Museum, Glendale, is Shaping Gravity: Abstract Art Beyond the Picture Plane, featuring seven artists. Shane will have six significant works that span 21 years. The Bovolo Museum, Venice, Italy where twenty new paintings will be on display from April - November 2024 Venice Biennale Guffogg’s At the Still Point of the Turning World - Only Through Time is Time Conquered oil on canvas, 84 x 108” a record was set at Paris auction ($480,000 USD) on May 4, 2023 Guffogg’s At the Still Point of a Turning World - The Conscious Occupation of a Praying Mind oil on canvas, 78 x 108” will be featured in October 2023 exhibition Shaping Gravity: Abstract Art Beyond the Picture Plane Los Angeles An intimate corner in the Central California Studio, in process paintings Neither Flesh nor Fleshness a stanza from T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets to be featured in Venice during 2024 While supporting Shane’s endeavors, I observe him traveling back and forth from Los Angeles and Central California studios with the occasional business trip to Europe. I often wonder, “Where does Shane get his inspiration, and how does he start his day?” Shane, the tornado, as he sometimes refers to himself, is busily noticing all the tiny and minute, numerous layers around him, seeing and feeling his way around the landscape. Within 12 hours on any given day, Shane not only works on his latest paintings (he usually works on 5 to 7 at a time), but also farming and tending to his Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard, olive trees (yes, he is pressing his olive oil), and 100 plus assorted fruit trees. Shane is moving through time and space. If you could trace his patterns throughout the painting studio and working the earth, one might see a similar physicality and energy that permeates from his surroundings. Cabernet Sauvignon grapevine at the ranch/studio in Central California. Shane personally planted 350 vines. During Part 5 of this series, Shane has been too busy for our usual Q and A and he suggested sharing two videos made by Eric Minh Swenson, Part 1 and Part 2 filmed at the ranch, two years apart. These videos go into detail about Shane’s life and what he was and is planning. And to refer again to Hegel -- while becoming conscious and aware of the world, Shane acknowledges his thoughts, visualizing beauty and the positive wonders of the world. All these elements are the ingredients for his daily practice of art making and life. Victoria Chapman Studio Manager Guffogg Studio Los Angeles The progress today of the big painting for Venice (first image in this newsletter) Tags: #shaneguffogg , #victoriachapman , #thelifeoftheartistandthecreativeprocess , #part5 , #studiolife , #certainity , #truth [Source from VC Projects press release] www.vcprojects.art SHANE GUFFOGG: PART 5, THE LIFE OF THE ARTIST AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS: "CERTAINTY AND TRUTH" — VC PROJECTS A segment from the studio manager (Victoria Chapman) on Shane’s creative life in the studio, and at the ranch < >

Back KIM KANG YONG: SOLD OUT at KIAF 2024 The 23rd edition of Korea's largest art fair, Kiaf SEOUL 2024, kicked off with a grand opening ceremony on the 4th, running until the 8th for a total of five days. On the opening day, it held a joint opening ceremony with Frieze Seoul. Collectors flocked to see Kim Kang Yong from The Columns Gallery, widely known to the public as a brick artist, leading to the complete sell-out of his works featuring vibrant colors. 올해로 23회를 맞이한 국내 최대 아트페어 Kiaf SEOUL 2024(이하 키아프)가 4일 개막식을 시작으로 화려하게 막을 열었다. 8일까지 5일간 진행되는 키아프는 개막일 오전 프리즈 서울 (Freize Seoul)과 공동 개막식을 진행했다. 대중들에게 벽돌 작가로 잘 알려진 더컬럼스갤러리의 김강용을 찾는 컬렉터의 발길이 이어지며 감각적인 색감의 작품들을 완판하였다. [Source from Culturelamp press release, provided by Ryu Eun ] www.culturelamp.kr [2024 KIAF] 4일 개막, 세계로 확장한 한국 미술시장 올해로 23회를 맞이한 국내 최대 아트페어 Kiaf SEOUL 2024(이하 키아프)가 4일 개막식을 시작으로 화려하게 막을 열었다. 8일까지 5일간 진행되는 키아프는 개막일 오전 프리즈 서울 (Freize Seoul)과 공동 개막식을 진행했다. 이 자리에는 오세훈 서울시장, 용호성 The Columns Gallery sold out all of Kim Kang Yong's Brick reality+image pieces , while Kidari Gallery reported that most works by Choi Hyung Gil were sold out. Ocean Gallery also sold out ten pieces by Jenny Park. Seojung Art facilitated the sale of Hong Soon Myung's work for 30 million KRW, and pieces by Park Tae Hoon and Hwang Do Yoo from Kim Ria Gallery were sold for over 10 million KRW each. 더컬럼스갤러리는 김강용의 벽돌 소품 시리즈를 전량 판매했고 , 키다리갤러리는 최형길의 작품이 대부분 솔드아웃 되었다. 오션갤러리도 제니박 작가의 작품 10점을 솔드아웃시켰다. 서정아트는 홍순명의 작품을 3000만 원에 거래했고, 김리아 갤러리의 박태훈과 황도유 작품도 각각 1000만 원 이상에 팔았다. [Source from Newsis press release, provided by Park Hyun Joo ] v.daum.net '키아프가 프리즈 했다'…"달라졌다" 8만2000명 깜짝 [서울=뉴시스] 박현주 미술전문 기자 = "키아프가 프리즈 했다." 3라운드 '키아프리즈'는 이전과 달랐다. 키아프(KIAF)의 달라진 면모로 '프리즈(Frieze)가 키아프 같다'는 반응도 나왔다. '한지붕 두 가족'의 '키아프리즈'는 상생의 아트페어로 거듭났다. 3회 만에 '서울을 글로벌 미술 도시'로 올려 세우며 "아시아 최대 미술장터가 됐다" < >

Back Time, Colour, Sound and AI: What Happens When Paintings Sing Time, Colour, Sound and AI: What Happens When Paintings Sing Last month, the art world gathered in Venice for La Biennale di Venezia 2024. Among them is 61-year-old American artist Shane Guffogg, whose experiments in AI have made the impossible, possible. My one hope when people see my paintings is that they're confronted with the silence of colour. - Shane Guffogg In 1911, a then-little-known artist Wassily Kandinsky made steps to unite colour and sound through his seemingly unfinished painting Impressionism III (Concert) which, at its core, acted as an artistic exploration into the neurodiverse condition synaesthesia. Depicting abstract figures and onlookers in a concert setting, it's said Kandinsky was inspired to paint the picture after attending a concert by the composer Arnold Schonberg, feeling compelled to translate the sounds he heard into colour, hence why half the frame is awash with a distinct canary yellow. Despite marking the art world's first attempt at bridging multiple creative disciplines by uniting sound and colour, it certainly wasn't the last, as proven by the California-born and raised artist Shane Guffogg's current Venice Biennale exhibition At the Still Point of the Turning World - Strangers of Time, which uniquely marries all of Guffogg's interests AI, music, painting and poetry. 'Impressionism III' (Concert), by Wassily Kandinsky, 1911 Inspired by TS Eliot's Four Quartets poem, the series is made up of 21 kaleidoscopic paintings, spread over two rooms the first titled Reach Into the Silence and the second, Neither Flesh Nor Fleshless. Dense flushes of colour swirl, bend and melt into each other in quick succession and, depending on their layering, affect each piece's overall hue. While beaming with equal feelings of nostalgia, joy, sorrow and elation, (depending on which colour you hone in on first), each one radiates its own signature rhythm, a feeling magnified via the dimly lit room they're placed in which is nestled within the historic 15th-century Venetian palazzo Scala Contarini del Bovolo in Venice. 'We looked at a lot of different spaces' Guffog tells me when I meet him at the exhibition opening in Venice, an implication that getting the space right was as paramount as the work's creation; something that becomes obvious when you're stood in such an impressive structure as this one. Dating back to 1300, the palazzo lies equal distance from Rialto and San Marco, the commercial and political hubs of the city. What's more incredible is the building's miraculously delicate yet sturdy spiral staircase, commissioned by Pietro Contarini in 1499 to embellish the building even more. Contained inside a 26 meter-high cylindrical tower built in Istrian stone, the series of steps features exposed bricks and is perforated with a number of arches that are flanked by lodges connecting the structure to the adjacent building. 'I like this space, mainly because of the history of it and the staircase's circular movement. This is the context i want my work to be seen within', Guffogg declares. 'Reach into the Silence', by Shane Guffogg It's at the end of the staircase on the second floor where you'll find Guffogg's paintings, nestled tightly together in one room. When speaking of the emotion he wished to evoke with the works, Guffogg made it clear he wanted to stop people dead in their tracks 'and be confronted with the silence of colour' upon walking into the room, similar to how the artist felt when he first read T.S Eliot's Four Quartets poem, something that's reverberated through him ever since. 'There's a line in the poem' he begins, before reciting: At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity, Where past and future are gathered. 'I’ve been reading those lines for about 30 years', Guffogg recalls. 'It’s a blend of East and Western ideologies. And the way Eliot talks about time flickering back and forth, between the past and the future, it's taught me that I, we, need to learn how to be in the moment; these paintings for me are about being in the moment.' It's through wanting to pass on this knowledge to people that has directly informed Guffogg's creation process. 'I knew I wanted these paintings to bypass an intellect of sorts and just force you into the moment. Each work took between three and six months to make and involved me painting day after day, all freehand. I started with a wider brush for the bottom layer and as the painting built up, transferred to using smaller brushes. I kind of think of them like a camera lens that’s focused on the middle where everything is clear but the edges are out of focus; these paintings are intended to quite literally bring you to that still point T.S Eliot comments on.’ 'Neither Flesh Nor Fleshless', by Shane Guffogg As for the poem itself, Beethoven's Opus 132 is widely credited as an indirect influence of Four Quartets, creating a tenacious link between both Eliot and the composer that many music and literature scholars have tried unpacking in recent years. Of course, Guffogg's own attempt at bridging the gap between different creative disciplines isn't new, especially when you consider the aforementioned Kandinsky, 'or Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition ' composer and music lecturer Anthony Cardella points out to me when I speak to him about his involvement in the musical process, but the way in which Guffogg has intentionally channelled his synaesthesia into making paintings sing, is. 'There’s never been such a specific case of this', Cardella continues. 'There’s been famous pieces derived from art and vice versa, and we know that Mussorgsky's reasoning behind Pictures at an Exhibition was meant as a tribute to his friend, the Russian artist Viktor Hartmann. But there's one stark difference, those pieces were inspired by the painting, they were not the painting.' 'Neither Flesh Nor Fleshless' by Shane Guffogg Working together, Cardella and Guffogg - along with AI software programmer Jonah Lynch - have come up with a series of musical compositions that are directly linked to the paintings by translating each colour into a specific note. 'Each painting has its own voice and we wanted to translate that physically so everyone else could hear colour along with Shane'. As for the process behind composing music in tandem with the paintings, AI remained a useful tool but didn't take the 'hands-on' feeling away from all those involved. 'It started with zooming in onto a painting and picking just one shade and blowing that up until it covers the entire laptop screen', Cardella tells me. 'It's important to note that for Shane, every colour has a different function. It’s never, "This blue is bread" it’s, "This blue helps us to transcend our current state of emotion", "This red brings us to the depth of our understanding of the way the world is". It was these functions that I felt echoed how in Western music we treat harmony: a cord is never in a vacuum, it has to have a function if it’s in a Western song. So, throughout this process, we were fishing around until we found the right note. And once we got there, it was always a snap moment for Shane, he would know in an instant whether it felt right or not.' Whenever that happened, Cardella would write the note down that belonged to the colour on the laptop screen and before long, something remarkable started to happen... 'we noticed that each shade of colour belonged to the same family of harmonies, just with subtle differences. That was really a penny-dropping moment', admits Cardella. 'Because it was like, "Okay, we're not crazy", you know? These colours really do all have their own sound.' 'Reach into the Silence', by Shane Guffogg Not only do the colours used have their own sound, but they also take reference from the architecture specific to Venice. 'The yellows you see in my paintings represent many of the buildings in Venice, so really, it's a site-specific piece of work', Guffogg Chimes in. 'I've been coming to this city for 20 years and so I was thinking about the different times of seasons and how light changes throughout the day. When you come in the wintertime time, you’ve got this cool greyness with the fog rolling in, which is a stark comparison to when it's summertime here. So I wanted to create this fusion of colour that reflects the way the canal's greenish hue changes to blue and back to green, each line is a memory that embodies this city, its shades and façades...for me, the paintings become a series of memories compressed into one moment.' When you piece all this together, the prevalence of Kandinsky's life and work in art becomes all the more ubiquitous. Particularly when you hark back to the artist's Colour Theory taught alongside Johannes Itten at the Bauhaus, where the pair adopted a synesthetic relationship with color, associating particular colors with both specific geometric shapes and with musical tones and chords. For them, yellow was best expressed as a triangle and a middle C played on a brassy trumpet. In his book, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky wrote: 'Colour directly influences the soul. Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposively, to cause vibrations in the soul.' Although Guffogg refutes the idea he looked at Kandinsky as inspiration for At the Still Point of the Turning World - Strangers of Time, those vibrations Kandinsky speaks of pulse all around the Scala Contarini del Bovolo, thanks to the energy embodied and the poetry reflected. At the Still Point of the Turning World - Strangers of Time is open to the public at the Scala Contarini del Bovolo until 24 November. 'Reach into the Silence', by Shane Guffogg [Source from SHOWstudio press release, provided by Christina Donoghue ] https://www.showstudio.com/news/time-colour-sound-and-ai-what-happens-when-paintings-sing < >

Back The Encounter of Andy Moses and Jeff Koons 제프쿤스(왼쪽)와 앤디모지스. Photo: Gallery Chang 팝 아티스트 제프 쿤스(Jeff Koons)가 최근 맨해튼 미드타운 갤러리 장(Gallery Chang)에서 열리고 있는 추상화가 앤디 모지스의 근작전 'Andy Moses: Recent Works'을 찾았다. 두 아티스트는 앤디워홀, 키스 레어링, 장 미셸 바스키아가 활동했던 1982년 뉴욕에서 활동하며 교류했던 사이다. 갤러리 장 측은 "앤디 모지스의 작품 세계와 제프쿤스의 상업적, 대중문화적 접근은 서로 다른 뒈적을 그려왔지만, 그 출발점에는 예술을 통해 세계와 소통하려는 순수한 열정과 시대를 직시하는 감각이 자리하고 있다"고 설명했다. 2월 20일부터 3월 25일까지 열린 'Andy Moses: Recent Works' 전시에는 앤디 모지스의 빛과 컬러가 유려한 흐름 속에서 어우러지는 대표작들과 함께 1960-80년대 후반 로스앤젤레스에서 로버트 어윈(Robert Irwin), 제임스 터렐(James Turrell)이 중심이 되어 시작된 이 운동은 빛과 공간, 지각의 확장을 탐구하며, 유리, 네옴, 아크릴 등을 소재로 새로운 감각적 경험을 제공했다. 갤러리 장은 "앤디 모지스의 회화는 과학, 자연, 추상의 교차점에 존재하며 관람자의 관점에 따라 변화하고 발전하는 역동적인 구성을 만들어낸다. 화학적 반응, 중력, 점성(viscosity)에 의해 이끌리는 그의 독특한 기법은 물감이 유동적이고 유기적인 형태를 띠게 하여 움직이는 자연력의 덧없는 아름다움을 포착한다"고 밝혔다. 앤디 모지스는 1962년 LA에서 추상화가 에드 모지스(Ed Moses, 1926-2018)의 아들로 태어나 캘리포니아예술대학(CalArts)에서 공부했다. 18세 때 뉴욕으로 이주해 팻 스티어(Par Steir)와 함께 일하기 시작, 1987년 첫 개인전을 열었다. 2000년 캘리포니아로 돌아가 작업해오고 있다. 그는 캘리포니아 해안의 서핑에서 영감을 받은 컬러 팔레트의 추상화로 널리 알려졌다. Press by NYCulture beat https://www.nyculturebeat.com/index.php?document_srl=4147047&mid=Lounge2 < >

Back The Essence of Perception: Group Exhibition www.nyculturebeat.com 갤러리 장 3인전(김강용, 김세중, 셰인 구포그) 'The Essence of Perception: 시간, 현실, 그리고 빛'(12/12-1/18, 2025) - Lounge - NYCultureBeat The Essence of Perception: 시간, 현실, 그리고 빛 셰인 구포그, 김강용, 김세중 2024년 12월 12일-2025년 1월 18일 갤러리 장(Gallery Chang): 50 West 55th St. 맨해튼 미드타운의 갤러리 장(Gallery Chang)이 할러데이 시즌을 기해 12월 12일부터 1월 18일까지 셰인 구포그(Shane Gufforgg), 김강용(Kim Kang Yong), 김세중(Kim Sea Joong) 작가의 3인전 'The Essence of Perception: 시간, ... < >

Back REALITY + IMAGE: Revisiting the Works of the 2010s Gallery Chang in Midtown Manhattan (Gallery Chang, NYC) presents the solo exhibition REALITY + IMAGE: Revisiting the Works of the 2010s by hyperrealist painter Kim Kang Yong, on view from September 30 to October 22. This exhibition introduces the works Kim Kang Yong most rigorously experimented with and developed during his stay in New York in the 2010s, when he redefined the possibilities of painting through his unique visual language known as “sand painting.” In particular, the paintings that explore the ambiguous gap between materiality and image continue to feel vivid and sensorial even in today’s New York. Using sand as if it were a brush, this artist, both unfamiliar and profound in vision, has drawn an independent trajectory within Korean contemporary art. From a distance, his works resemble photographs; up close, the surface grains begin to speak. Within them are bricks and sand—scenes where temporality and narrative, Korean material sensibility and international formal language, merge on a single plane. The tension in Kim’s paintings arises precisely at that boundary. His work has been described not merely as material experimentation, but as “visual thinking” that challenges the grammar of art history. Born in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province in 1950, Kim Kang Yong studied Western painting at Hongik University in the 1970s under the master of Dansaekhwa, Park Seo-bo (1931–2023). After earning his MFA from Hongik University Graduate School, he served as a professor there. In 2004, he left academia and worked as a full-time artist in New York for ten years. He has held solo exhibitions at venues including Park Ryu Sook Gallery, Gana Art Center, Seoul Arts Center, Sungkok Art Museum, and the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. His works are in the collections of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea; Seoul Museum of Art; Sungkok Art Museum; Hongik University Museum of Art; Park Soo Keun Museum; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Korea; Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office; and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation (LA), among others. This exhibition marks the fifth collaboration between Gallery Chang and Kim Kang Yong. Curator Jinnie Kang commented, “I believe the works from this period represent the artistic peak of Kim Kang Yong. Presenting them again in New York today feels not like a simple retrospective, but like a response that reactivates the accumulated time and energy within them. I hope this exhibition becomes a point of reconnection between Korean visual language and the world. I am delighted to introduce the trajectory of Kim Kang Yong to more audiences in New York.” https://www.nyculturebeat.com/index.php?mid=Art2&document_srl=4165362 < >

Back Kim Kang Yong: “These Days, Even When I Paint with a Brush, People Still Call It Bricks” Exhibition of Hyperrealist Works from the 2010s, When Color Was Added to Monotone “I can’t force the meaning of a work onto the viewer. If people can imagine many things when they look at a painting, that alone makes it a good painting.” Kim Kang Yong, who is currently holding the exhibition Reality + Image: The 2010s at Gallery Chang in Manhattan, New York, said this in an interview with The Korea Economic Daily on the 10th. The exhibition, which runs through the 22nd, focuses on his works from the 2010s. Kim is widely known as the “brick painter.” He creates his works using a technique in which he sifts sand he has collected himself, mixes it with adhesive, and spreads it thinly over the canvas. At one point, his paintings were so hyperrealistic that they looked as if real bricks had been embedded into the wall. In his own words, these days he simply adds shading with a brush to repeatedly depict cubic forms, yet people still see them as bricks. “Even though I no longer paint bricks, people still interpret them as bricks,” he said. “But I don’t bother denying that interpretation.” He added that if people can imagine many things when they see his paintings, that alone is enough for him. “I don’t really care who evaluates my work—whether it’s a journalist or a viewer,” Kim said. “Sometimes, through their interpretations, I even learn things about my inner self and my paintings that I didn’t know.” His philosophy is to remain faithful to visual images in painting and leave all other interpretations to each individual. Kim first began painting bricks in 1976. While searching for his own subject matter and technique in order to debut as an artist, he eventually settled on bricks. He drew inspiration from construction sites, sand, and bricks that were everywhere during the era of industrialization. He worked with affection for each grain of sand. To him, sand symbolized human beings—each born with their own value. After abstract painters such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko reached their peak in the 1940s and 1950s, hyperrealism emerged in the 1970s as a reaction. The art world, considering the direction of painting after abstraction, chose a “return to reality.” Kim’s work followed this larger flow. Around this time, he introduced transition into his work. Whereas his earlier paintings were monotone, he began adding soft colors. This was influenced by his fascination with the diversity of New York. “There was no single identical building, no single identical person,” he said. “I wanted to express that feeling in my paintings as well.” Even as he introduced these changes, his works overall retain a warm image. Even when he expresses shadows, they strongly evoke the feeling of natural sunlight. This differs from the colder atmosphere of much contemporary hyperrealism, which often conveys modern urban chill, human absence, or loneliness. “I myself am a positive and optimistic person,” Kim said. “I can’t help but let my inner self show through in my paintings.” Kim said he hopes to continue his international activities through opportunities like this exhibition. “Most artists my age have retired, but I still want to paint,” he said. “I still have the desire to surpass my teachers.” Gallery Chang has been consecutively presenting Kim’s works since February of last year to help audiences better understand the full scope of his practice. In January next year, the gallery will hold a joint exhibition of works by American abstract painters Andy Moses and Ed Moses alongside Kim’s works. www.hankyung.com 김강용 "요즘엔 붓으로 그려도 벽돌이라고 하네요" 김강용 "요즘엔 붓으로 그려도 벽돌이라고 하네요", 인터뷰 - 뉴욕서 전시회 연 '벽돌 화가' 김강용 모노톤서 색감 입히기 시작한 2010년대 극사실주의 작품 전시 1976년부터 벽돌로 작품 활동 누구의 평가도 상관하지 않아 작품 의미해석은 관람객 자유 상상 자극하는 그림 계속 그릴 것 < >

Back Does Beauty Exist Even in Moments of Rupture?Beautiful Rupture Gallery Chang Manhattan is presenting the five-artist exhibition Beautiful Rupture from June 20. The show features Bret Price, Kelly Berg, Mark Acetelli, Kimi Kim Wittling, and Moon Insoo, exploring the concept that beauty exists not in perfection, but in moments of rupture and transformation—visualizing an “aesthetics beyond the fracture.” Bret Price challenges perceptions of fixed form through sculptures of steel, bent and twisted into fluid shapes. Kelly Berg presents paintings that symbolically capture perceptual shifts and the energy of nature. Mark Acetelli’s abstract works convey the latent emotions and passage of time beneath the calm surface of the sea, leaving a lasting impression. Kimi Kim Wittling questions the illusions of consumption and beauty through ceramic sculptures inspired by luxury handbags, while Moon Insoo evokes silence, memory, and traces of erosion through paintings with rough, layered surfaces reminiscent of concrete textures. Curator Jinnie Kang of Gallery Chang explained, “The exhibition title Beautiful Rupture reflects an attempt to move beyond the obsession with perfection and to explore truth and beauty found in imperfection. The artists capture these liminal moments using different materials and sensibilities, creating a space where fragmented narratives and sensations harmonize.” Beautiful Rupture runs through July 22, 2025. https://www.nyculturebeat.com/index.php?mid=Lounge2&document_srl=4156359 < >

Back Revisiting the Essence Beyond Dansaekhwa: Knowing Cho Yong Ik Before Korean abstraction solidified into a recognizable “style,” one artist relentlessly pursued the fundamental nature of painting itself. That time is being called back into focus with a solo exhibition that squarely reexamines the practice of Cho Yong-Ik, long overshadowed by the label of Dansaekhwa. Gallery Chang announced that it will open the year 2026 with a solo exhibition of Cho Yong-Ik, titled Knowing Cho Yong-Ik . The exhibition runs from January 6 to January 31 at Gallery Chang Seoul. Moving beyond the long-held designation of Cho as a “Dansaekhwa artist,” the exhibition asks anew about his essential position in the formation and expansion of Korean abstraction. Cho Yong-Ik is regarded as a key figure who helped lead the currents of Art Informel and abstract painting during the formative years of Korean contemporary art in the 1970s and 1980s. As Dansaekhwa later became institutionalized as a distinct movement and gained international recognition, Cho gradually drifted away from the center of attention—not due to any lack of artistic achievement, but largely because of his chosen path as both an educator and an artist who continued to work outside institutional frameworks. This exhibition does not divide Cho’s practice into a “before” and “after” Dansaekhwa. Instead, it closely traces the continuity of his painterly experiments and thought, revealing how his inquiries evolved over time. In doing so, Cho is reread not as a peripheral figure, but as a central presence who persistently explored the very essence of Korean abstraction. Cho Yong-Ik’s work began to receive renewed international attention following a Christie’s auction in 2015, which sparked a dramatic reassessment of his practice. Since then, his works have been presented by prominent overseas galleries such as Kiang Malingue and shown in major exhibition spaces in New York, leading to sustained international reevaluation. Paradoxically, Cho came to be recognized first abroad as a “hidden master” before gaining wider acknowledgment in Korea. While his name has recently become more familiar domestically through Frieze and major museum exhibitions, in-depth discussions of the depth and art-historical significance of his work are only just beginning. This exhibition marks an important moment in bringing that international reassessment back into a Korean context. Positioned as the first exhibition of 2026 at Gallery Chang Seoul, Knowing Cho Yong-Ik serves as a declarative opening that sets the tone for the year ahead. At the same time, Gallery Chang New York will present a four-artist exhibition in January 2026 featuring Ed Moses, Cho Yong-Ik, Kim Kang Yong, and Jimi Gleason. That exhibition will situate Cho’s work within a broader international dialogue on Eastern and Western abstraction. If the Seoul solo exhibition offers an in-depth view of the continuity and internal rigor of Cho Yong-Ik’s practice, the New York group exhibition places him at the center of a global conversation on abstraction. Together, the two exhibitions reposition Cho not on the margins of Dansaekhwa, but as a core figure who forged an independent trajectory within the shared yet diverse histories of Eastern and Western abstraction. Park Jungeun, Director of Gallery Chang Seoul, explained, “ Knowing Cho Yong-Ik is not a retrospective of a forgotten artist. Through the work of an artist who relentlessly questioned the essence of painting before Korean abstraction hardened into a fixed style, this exhibition asks how we should reread Korean contemporary art today.” Cho Yong-Ik’s paintings are only now beginning to be read anew. www.bzeronews.com ‘단색화 너머의 본질’ 다시 묻다… 〈알고 보니, 조용익〉 - 불교공뉴스 한국 추상이 하나의 ‘스타일’로 굳어지기 이전, 회화의 본질을 집요하게 탐색해온 한 작가의 시간이 다시 호출된다.단색화라는 이름 뒤에 가려졌던 조용익의 작업 세계 < >