Sculptor Osang Gwon on exhibiting his private show at Waterfall Mansion & Gallery in New York
2016-09-26 l Hit 3234
Interview
Sculptor Osang Gwon on exhibiting his private show at Waterfall Mansion & Gallery in New York
 Sculptor Osang Gwon exhibiting his private show at Waterfall Mansion & Gallery in New York. |
Sculptor Osang Gwon is having his solo show, titled ‘RECONTEMPORARY,’ at Waterfall Mansion & Gallery, located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, NYC, until October 12th. From ‘Deodorant Type,’ three-dimensional sculptures consisting of hundreds and thousands of cut photographs; to ‘Flat,’ photographs consisting of flat magazine cuttings transformed into three-dimensional structures using thin wires; and ‘New Structure’, artwork combining parts from ‘Flat’ and ‘Deodorant Type’ in order to create objects; the artist Osang Gwon has created work that is considered to have opened up a new world in contemporary sculpture. His work has been well received by critics in the New York art scene and they commented that his work was “fresh and never-before-seen.”
 A scene from the exhibition at Waterfall Mansion & Gallery 1. |
The exhibition is his third private show in the US, following solo exhibitions at Arario Gallery in New York in 2009, and Doosan Gallery in New York in 2010.
In this exhibition, artist Gwon installed 24 pieces of large-scale artwork that display his oeuvres from 2009 to the present.
The artist stated, “Waterfall Mansion & Gallery is a gallery with a very private atmosphere. The space has a high ceiling and the structure is complex. Therefore, I organized the exhibition in such a way as to show and emphasize the large-scale photograph sculptures.”
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His recent work ‘New Structure’ was installed upside-down and hung on the ceiling, a new way of installing the work, instead of setting it up straight on the floor. The hung ‘New Structure’ lent a chandelier or mobile-like effect to the exhibition hall.
Also, the artist installed a large-scale series of flat work that is eight point four meters tall, called ‘Relief,’ to fit into the large exhibition space and creates an overwhelming atmosphere.
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Artist Osang Gwon is holding his follow-up exhibition six years after showing his work in New York in 2010, and said he prepared the exhibition with the mindset of a beginner. He added, “I composed the work that fully represents my oeuvre. I hope the exhibition becomes a chance for an Asian artist to properly show his oeuvre.”
The local art scene responds passionately to the show after the opening. People commented that the combination between flat photographs and three-dimensional sculptures is very fresh. In particular, his interpretation of contemporary sculpture is new and unique. “Reactions to my work from the opening were good. They said it is fresh, since they haven’t seen work like mine in art history. I will continue trying to introduce my work internationally and have museums overseas collect my work.”
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The artist is scheduled to have a large exhibition at Arario Gallery in Shanghai in early November of this year. He has been focusing on creating new work for the exhibition in Shanghai ever since he got back from his show’s opening in New York.
Artist Gwon commented that he feels the responsibility to work more diligently as one of many young artists who are relatively discouraged due to the recent shrinkage of the domestic art market and the fever of Dansaekhwa.
 A scene of the exhibition at Waterfall Mansion & Gallery 2 |
“It is the era that the Internet is well-developed, so it is easy for artists to introduce their work to the world through the web. However, it is also easy to be forgotten, since there is so much information on the Internet. The issue is sustainability. Therefore, I think and try hard to achieve sustainability through my work. There are some difficulties, such as the recession of the art market and the fever of Dansaekhwa, but I will continuously develop my work by investigating the characteristics of the media: photography and sculpture, through my work.”
Written by Hyo-won Kim, a Journalist at Soprtsseoul, eggroll88@hanmail.net
Photographed by artist Osang Gwon
2016. 9. 30 ⓒKorean Artist Project
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《A profile of Osang Gwon》
Artist Osang Gwon (1974~) graduated with an MA and MFA in Sculpture at Hongik University. He created his photograph sculpture series, which combined photographs and sculptures and exhibited them at Insa Art Space in 2001, Union Gallery II in England in 2006, Arario Gallery in 2010, and Aando Fine Art Gallery in Germany in 2011. He was selected as a residency artist at Doosan Residency New York in 2010 and opened his solo exhibition at Doosan Gallery in New York.
