[비즈한국] Artist Kwon Young-ha will hold a solo exhibition titled 'Looking at a Place That Is Not Here: Traces that remain' at Tte Art Gallery in Pyeong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, from the 20th to March 4th. The exhibition, themed around time, space, and place, unfolds a blend of reality and virtuality.
The artist incorporates fragmented memories of cities she had to leave just as they became familiar, along with the longings of life, into her work. Areas in Seoul's Yongsan District, Singapore, Clarksville in Tennessee, USA, and New York served as motifs for her work.
To symbolize the subjects (spaces) themselves, the artist has excluded the narrative and symbolic elements seen in last year's solo exhibition 'Within the Void,' focusing instead on the essence of painting—lines and planes—and the structure of space. The spaces in her works have no exits or entrances, and no clear distinction between inside and outside. Elements that could be perceived as external become internal due to misaligned arrangements and distorted structures. Through these inescapable places, she expresses complex emotions such as deep longing and nostalgia.
Furthermore, geometric elements (hallways, windows, steel frames) appear repeatedly in the works. Through this, she captures fleeting moments of memory that distort or vanish the more one tries to hold onto them. The spaces appearing on the canvas have a 'non-place' character, where various memories are mixed rather than representing a specific city. No specific functions, times, or landscapes are revealed in the subjects expressed in monochrome.
The artist's perspective highlights personal and familiar structures, evoking a sense of nostalgia. In doing so, she invites the audience to summon their own 'lost places.'
Artist Kwon Young-ha received her BFA in Fine Art from the School of Visual Arts in New York. She held a solo exhibition 'Within the Void' (Gallery Is, Seoul) last year and has participated in over 10 group exhibitions in Korea and France, including Gallery M (Seoul, 2025), Insa 1010 Gallery (Seoul, 2025), Gallery Eun (Seoul, 2025), and Espace Maison Blanche (France, 2024).
The exhibition runs until March 4th at Tte Art Gallery in Pyeong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and admission is free. The opening ceremony will be held on Saturday, February 21st, at 4 PM.