[비즈한국] A solo exhibition by artist Kim Yu-kyung, who captures what lies beyond the landscape through black-and-white paintings, is now open. ‘Gallery Goong,’ located in Haeundae, Busan, is hosting Kim Yu-kyung’s solo exhibition ‘Gamu-hyeon (Unseen)’ until October 25. The exhibition features paintings, installations, drawings, and video works centered on the ‘Wrinkled Night’ and ‘Promontory’ series, which the artist worked on in 2025 and 2026. Through these works, the exhibition sheds light on the unseen layers of time and existence.
The exhibition title ‘Gamu-hyeon (玄)’ encompasses meanings beyond the color black; it signifies the border where inside and outside, seen and unseen, meet, as well as thresholds that are difficult to distinguish. The Korean word ‘gamul-da’ (faint/dim) is also connected to the term ‘gamul-gamul-hada’ (flickering or fading). The artist focuses on the energy and traces embedded in time rather than sharp, distinct forms, viewing them not as disappearances, but as another form of existence.
Kim Yu-kyung has consistently explored the time accumulated in specific locations and the unseen landscape. Her paintings, which feel like both landscapes and abstractions at first glance, capture the state just before clarity or disappearance, inviting the audience to imagine what lies beyond the scenery.
The ‘Wrinkled Night’ series stems from the artist’s extensive exploration of land where traces of colonization and the Cold War overlap. To the artist, this land is a vibrant space where the time of the past and present, human and nature, intersect. The black land, rocks, roots, and trees in the works are painterly outcomes that condense the history, traces of life, and unseen energies layered there. In this exhibition, the artist collaborated with a video artist to attempt to expand the multi-layered meanings of ‘Gamu-hyeon’ through new temporality and movement.
‘Promontory’ began with the experience of re-encountering places from the artist’s memory in her hometown of Busan. The coast where she spent her childhood was reclaimed and turned into land, and the familiar scenery changed as well. In this strangely transformed place, the artist encountered an old forest and discovered traces of life that have continued despite the changes. Black lines, layered repeatedly over white space, capture these subtle movements. These lines intertwine and connect, breathing vitality into the canvas.
Through the traces of time revealed in her black-and-white paintings, the audience will be able to encounter another world that lies beyond the passing of time and the present landscape.
Artist Kim Yu-kyung graduated from Hongik University’s College of Fine Arts with a degree in Oriental Painting and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from the same institution. She has held numerous solo (6 times) and group exhibitions and has received awards including the Busan Young Artist Award and the E-Land Cultural Foundation Young Artist Award. She was also selected for ARKO’s Young Artist Support and public art projects.