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CHOI YOUNG WOOK
KARMA: rites
Helen J Gallery is thrilled to present KARMA: rites, Korean artist Choi Young Wook’s second exhibition with the gallery. The works on view cement Choi’s role as a leading figure in Korean contemporary art, and showcase his latest forays into his ongoing Karma series.
Karma 6-53, 2019
Karma 5-47, 2023Choi Young Wook’s compositions come into focus only gradually.
Profiles of porcelain vessels appear first, followed by scattered multicolor stains and networks of hairline fissures. For Choi, these details are neither technical lapses nor demonstrations of photographic fidelity. Instead, the marks that cover his painted ceramic forms are the culmination of past experiences, indexes of lifelong karmic accrual. Moon jars, his characteristic motifs, are prized for their variable hues, skewed gaits, and unadorned exteriors. With these anthropomorphic traits in mind, Choi executes his works as if a diarist, opting for inward observations over assembly-line uniformity.
Choi Young Wook and his painting After more than two decades, Choi’s preferred format — a moon jar placed at eye level against a clouded backdrop — has blurred the line between routine and rite. Offshoots of his customs are guided into less familiar territory. In his pitch-black Karma 3-60, a moon jar is discernible only by the fine white lines of the glaze’s inverted cracks. Elsewhere, Choi’s field of vision centers on close-ups that could pass for mountainous scenery.
Karma 3-60, 2023, Mixed Media on Canvas, 21⅝ x 18⅞ in ︎ Inquire
Clay has always been adept at record-keeping, capturing microbes in fossilized seabeds and forming the bulk of the world’s archeological finds. By foregrounding the preserved histories and identities of his moon jars, Choi finds an outlet for his painterly nous and pensive disposition. His mottled surfaces become character studies of subjects whose inner contents are unknown but whose past is on display.
His fascination with the moonjar begins as he meticulously recreates its form on a canvas.
In his moonjars, paint plays multiple roles, serving as the base clay, glaze, and kiln that ignites a fire. He approaches the canvas with utmost precision, treating each stroke as delicate as handling fragile eggs. Consequently, the Moonjar, which is white, blends seamlessly with the white panel, creating the illusion of a moon.
Choi Young Wook‘s
planning process
Choi Young Wook’s painting processHis works as vivid reflections of his memories and life. Through the act of borrowing an object, he has gained a profound understanding of its essence. Choi has a deep understanding of the traditional Confucian aesthetic found in the moon jar and has skillfully given it a fresh and meaningful symbolism.
Karma: rites opening reception photoIn the realm of Buddhism, the notion of "karma" is intricately tied to the intricate web of cause and effect.
It encompasses the belief in the soul's journey through various lives and acknowledges that our past, present, and future are all shaped by karmic forces and the inescapable hand of fate. In his artworks, the artist explores the intricate paths of life, revealing a profound connection between the self and others.
Within this world of the white porcelain moon jar, Choi Young Wook portrays one image after another, infused with his distinct artistic philosophy and perspective. Although the traces of every painting may appear recognizable, the true path of its existence remains elusive. A distinct pattern emerges, resembling the intricate map of a person's destiny, the intricate portrait of a complex relationship, or a microcosm of the human experience in the modern era of globalization.
Karma 3-14, 2023
Karma 1-24, 2024
Karma 3-2, 2024
Karma 2-6, 2024“The lines on the porcelains are the paths upon our life journey. Those lines I depict continue yet split, they meet again at some point, and separate: we are alike yet arguably different, and we can be unified into one despite these differences” -Choi Young Wook
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