An artist’s inscription on a finished canvas is as much a signature as it is a pledge renewed; a writing of oneself into the folds of art history, its pressures, its gains, to the beck and sway of its heaping tradition. Unwittingly or no, those who practice [A]rt are thought to consign themselves to the confines of the grid. Light and Crystalline, a group exhibit of five young artists, suggests an alternative:
“Let’s treat art light [sic] as if it’s a joke,” writes the exhibition notes for One and J. Gallery’s new show, “With more transparency. Let’s become oblivious of the bygone days that press us down.”
Showcasing the paintings of Heejoon Lee, Heemin Chung, Sikyung Sung, Seeun Kim, and Noh-wan Park, the works attest to a difference-for-itself. A plane of existence ostensibly liberated from what can only be the anxiety of influence bearing down: “It might as well have been better for history to be left undocumented, for the sake of a light and crystalline life of the present.”
