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Lot Essay
Born in 1957, Rhee Ki-Bong received his B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Western Painting from Seoul National University. He was awarded the Grand Prix at the National Art Exhibition in 1986 and has exhibited extensively since. Selected public and private collections include the Korean National Museum, Hoam Art Museum, and Leeum Samsung Museum in Korea; ZKM Museum and Jill Sander Collection in Germany; Mitchell & Fran Harwood and Neuberger Berman Collection in USA. Rhee has been included in the Busan Biennale 2010, Biennale Cuv?e 2009, the 2008 Sevilla Biennale, and the Singapore Biennale 2008 among many other notable international exhibitions.
Rhee explores a multitude of media and genres in search for the right means to embody his concept of existential impermanence. It is, however, not only an inventive and dexterous use of materials, but also a sublime visual vocabulary and refined sense of detail that characterize his works. Inspired by flux and impermanence, his paintings and sculptures explore the conceptual meaning and mechanics of change. Rhee's work focuses on the point where physical phenomenology can elicit a transcendental experience by reflecting a restless physical process found in nature, arousing a sense of beauty, desire, and nostalgia. Especially fascinated by manifestations of water, Rhee's poetic tableaux evoke a rare balance of sensuality and meditation. The artist explains that it is not surprising that water, sometimes in a state of humidity or fog frequently appear in his works when considering his studio situated in a humid mountainous area.
Featured here, Too Far Too Near (Lot 2407) and The Hole (Lot 2408) are the most representative pieces from his series, composed of thin layers interspersed with empty spaces. The works exquisitely reflect Rhee's fundamental interest in impermanence, embodied by his depiction of humidity. Both trees are hidden behind a few layers of acrylic boards and the foggy atmosphere in between those layers seems to stimulate the viewer's memories. Humidity depicts the world as it changes into clouds, wind, air, light, and the like, and reveals itself as a substance that continuously circulating the earth as well. In Too Far Too Near, humidity acts as the mechanism of circulation synonymous with the "empty space" of traditional Asian painting. Humidity in Rhee's works is also a representation of fear of extinction. In his more recent work The Hole, this fear is expanded and applied to the extinction of letters. The uniform dots juxtaposed with a foggy willow tree remind the viewer of braille texts due to their pattern and composition. Contrary to our assumption, those dots merely signify water drops, thus they are meaningless and unreadable. Rhee has been developing diverse fake braille texts ranged from bubble type to flat dots as seen in the work, taking a hint from the traces of humidity left behind when wiping condensation from windows or water tanks that form a text-like pattern, a tactic which, for Rhee, has been an effective way to convey the absence of meaning. Furthermore, several spaces piled on top of each other reveal empty spaces between them: in-between spaces also function as visual instrument that encapsulate the meaning of absence. Devised with many layers of meaning and technique, Too Far Too Near and The Hole exemplify the way Rhee brings the boundary between life and death into the planes of his painting, his pursuit of themes of nature. He has stated, "I attempt to approach connections of nature and human beings with a realistic and definite manner."(Chong Yi Yeon Publishing, About Vanishing, Seoul, Korea, 2002, p. 129)
Rhee explores a multitude of media and genres in search for the right means to embody his concept of existential impermanence. It is, however, not only an inventive and dexterous use of materials, but also a sublime visual vocabulary and refined sense of detail that characterize his works. Inspired by flux and impermanence, his paintings and sculptures explore the conceptual meaning and mechanics of change. Rhee's work focuses on the point where physical phenomenology can elicit a transcendental experience by reflecting a restless physical process found in nature, arousing a sense of beauty, desire, and nostalgia. Especially fascinated by manifestations of water, Rhee's poetic tableaux evoke a rare balance of sensuality and meditation. The artist explains that it is not surprising that water, sometimes in a state of humidity or fog frequently appear in his works when considering his studio situated in a humid mountainous area.
Featured here, Too Far Too Near (Lot 2407) and The Hole (Lot 2408) are the most representative pieces from his series, composed of thin layers interspersed with empty spaces. The works exquisitely reflect Rhee's fundamental interest in impermanence, embodied by his depiction of humidity. Both trees are hidden behind a few layers of acrylic boards and the foggy atmosphere in between those layers seems to stimulate the viewer's memories. Humidity depicts the world as it changes into clouds, wind, air, light, and the like, and reveals itself as a substance that continuously circulating the earth as well. In Too Far Too Near, humidity acts as the mechanism of circulation synonymous with the "empty space" of traditional Asian painting. Humidity in Rhee's works is also a representation of fear of extinction. In his more recent work The Hole, this fear is expanded and applied to the extinction of letters. The uniform dots juxtaposed with a foggy willow tree remind the viewer of braille texts due to their pattern and composition. Contrary to our assumption, those dots merely signify water drops, thus they are meaningless and unreadable. Rhee has been developing diverse fake braille texts ranged from bubble type to flat dots as seen in the work, taking a hint from the traces of humidity left behind when wiping condensation from windows or water tanks that form a text-like pattern, a tactic which, for Rhee, has been an effective way to convey the absence of meaning. Furthermore, several spaces piled on top of each other reveal empty spaces between them: in-between spaces also function as visual instrument that encapsulate the meaning of absence. Devised with many layers of meaning and technique, Too Far Too Near and The Hole exemplify the way Rhee brings the boundary between life and death into the planes of his painting, his pursuit of themes of nature. He has stated, "I attempt to approach connections of nature and human beings with a realistic and definite manner."(Chong Yi Yeon Publishing, About Vanishing, Seoul, Korea, 2002, p. 129)