On the occasion of KOO JEONG A representing the Korean Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Pilar Corrias is delighted to present a virtual exhibition of film, paintings on paper and sculptures that explore the artist's reflections on the senses and systems of connection between a place and people.

Koo Jeong A

Risen Eyebrow at Speechlessness

2013

Watercolour on paper

Unframed:
150.5 x 252 cm
59 1/4 x 99 1/4 in
Framed:
164.6 x 255 x 4.5 cm
64 3/4 x 100 3/8 x 1 3/4 in

Enquire

KOO depicts abstracted formations of volcanic rock in this series titled DMZ. The subtle tonal variations in a range of colours create a sense of depth and a suggestion of an ambiguous topography. The wider landscape is erased, leaving the rocks floating and untethered in a void. KOO sees this void, an atmosphere of clarity and emptiness, as an essential component of the paintings.

Koo Jeong A

It is not yet an Universe where Saturn is

2013

Watercolour on paper

Unframed:
150.5 x 238 cm
59 1/4 x 93 3/4 in
Framed:
168.5 x 260 x 6.5 cm
66 3/8 x 102 3/8 x 2 1/2 in

Enquire

Koo Jeong A

Miraculous Efficacy

2013

Watercolour on paper

Unframed:
150 x 247.5 cm
59 x 97 1/2 in
Framed:
160 x 258 x 6.5 cm
63 x 101 5/8 x 2 1/2 in

Enquire

Although enigmatic in its depiction, this series is based on a specific geography, the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that divides North and South Korea. KOO made a series of watercolours based on her work Consciousness Dilatation (2013), an installation of basalt rocks of varying sizes collected with residents from the fields surrounding Cheorwon, a small military town just south of the border. These rocks were then spread in a constellation-like form across the DMZ Peace Plaza. KOO sees this installation as utilising the internal energies of the volcanic rocks, like a connecting force field, as a means of re-connecting the two Koreas.

Koo Jeong A

Brighten World

2013

Watercolour on paper

Unframed:
150.5 x 240 cm
59 1/4 x 94 1/2 in
Framed:
158.2 x 248 x 4.5 cm
62 1/4 x 97 5/8 x 1 3/4 in

Enquire

Koo Jeong A

Untitled

2013

Watercolour on paper

Framed:
51.9 x 67.1 x 4.5 cm
20 3/8 x 26 3/8 x 1 3/4 in

Enquire

Koo Jeong A

Untitled

2012

Watercolour on paper

35 x 50 x 4.5 cm (framed)

Enquire

These magnet sculptures represent a culmination of the artist's exploration into the formal, conceptual, medicinal and architectural properties of ferrite magnets. This series evolved through the artist’s research into English architect Cedric Price’s unrealised project, Magnet (1997), which employed ‘anticipatory architecture’, where public amenities would stimulate patterns of public movement. Magnets for Price function as a conceptual framework and metaphor for thinking about city planning and for emancipating destitute architectural sites.

Koo Jeong A

4/2018

2018

Ferrite magnet and Portland stone

31.5 x 40 x 70 cm
12 3/8 x 15 3/4 x 27 1/2 in
4250 magnets

Enquire

Koo Jeong A

5/2018

2018

Ferrite magnet and Portland stone

13 x 30 x 50 cm
5 1/8 x 11 3/4 x 19 3/4 in
180 magnets

Enquire

The sculptures are all made from pre-cut sized magnets, they are generic and can be purchased by anyone. By employing these standard sized, easily accessible magnets, KOO, like Cedric Price, began their work through an examination of that which is overlooked or abandoned.

In the film MYSTERIOUSSS, KOO evokes the layers of David Deutsch’s theories of quantum physics, in which "the laws of physics are expressible entirely in terms of the physical transformations that are possible and those that are impossible”. The characters' movements are slow and smooth, as if from another time or place, further disorientating our comprehension of the space they inhabit. Bodies morph into eachother and disappear into clouds or voids from which they have emerged. The visible and invisible coexist, as in KOO’s work as a whole - there are no boundaries.

Koo Jeong A

MYSTERIOUSSS

2017

3D animation, 3min.
black and white

3 x 4 m LED screen

Enquire

The series of Invisible Hands paintings depict various characters enacting gestures associated with brokers who work in the stock exchange. The title of the series is a reference to Adam Smith’s invisible hand theory which is the presumed regulatory force that underpins free market economies - each individual acts in their own personal interest but this competition benefits the many. This theory is the basis of liberal and unregulated economies. The characters’ names in the paintings are taken from the trading names of small companies.