Ripe Persimmon 2025, brass, ottchil, 48x48x4cm, 2025 

 

 

Professor Do-sik Seo, a long-time educator and researcher in metal crafts at Seoul National University, has continuously reinterpreted the beauty of nature in everyday life through refined forms. The exhibition “In December’s warmth” held at OMAE Gallery, presents a concise glimpse into his recent body of work, focusing on the warm motifs of persimmons and birds while capturing the essence of metal’s warmth and the depth of time.

 

On the first floor of the exhibition, tableware and interior decorations inspired by natural forms create a serene atmosphere. Bowls and cups shaped like birds, along with a tray holding ripe persimmons and a light, evoke the childhood winter landscapes and sensory memories that transcend the cold nature of metal. The artist’s delicate sense of form and warm emotions blend harmoniously, unfolding the space into a lyrical landscape.

 

In the underground exhibition space, Do-sik Seo’s series of metal jars, which he has concentrated on in recent years, is prominently displayed. The exhibition features large persimmon installations embodying the theme, alongside metal jars and relief works that engage in a quiet dialogue through their textures and tones. Viewers will witness the refined techniques of metal surface manipulation, bold uses of lacquer colors, and a deep understanding of materials.

 

Since his retirement in 2021, Professor Seo has consistently held solo exhibitions, firmly establishing his unique sculptural identity rooted in his extensive mastery of metalworking techniques. His work encapsulates emotions, humor, and the simple beauty of nature within the solid substance of metal, offering viewers a warm invitation in December.

 

 

 

Contemplation; the Art of Play 50-1, mixed media on cotton cloth, 91x91cm, 2025

 

 

OMAE Gallery is honored to host the solo exhibition of Ha-kyung Park, the recipient of the 4th Monthly Minhwa Awards ‘Artist of Today’ (2024), from December 2 to December 13, 2025. OMAE Gallery, which seeks to find contemporary art that communicates globally while rooted in Korean tradition, proudly sponsors this exhibition for the ‘Artist of Today’ award winner, an artist who has played a central role in the development of contemporary Korean Minhwa (Korean Folk Painting). We cordially invite you to Contemplation; the Art of Play, a unique showcase of works that bridges the expressive freedom of traditional Minhwa with the bold experimentation of contemporary Korean painting.

 

Ha-kyung Park describes her work as “Paintings that Bring Happiness,” aiming to express happiness, joy, and pleasure. She notes, “What I seek to express in my paintings is happiness, joy, and delight. Hope and the blessing it brings are linked to joy through the power of positivity.” Her canvases are filled with brightly colored, free-spirited compositions where birds and fish are often anthropomorphized to represent family, expressing the fundamental desire for their health and prosperity. The vibrant colors and freely wandering lines are traces of joy, with even a single leaf seemingly to dance. Her process, “Meditation (Contemplation), which begins as a prayer of wish, becomes joy and is expressed as play (Yoohee),” captures this spirit, moving from strong, decisive lines at the start to fine, gentle lines—like a quiet smile—at the finish.

 

A defining feature of Ha-kyung Park’s work is the aesthetic of Gojolham—a beauty found in the seemingly unsophisticated, awkward, or pre-modern, which evokes simple, comforting delight. Critics highlight Ha-kyung Park as the foremost contemporary Minhwa artist to successfully reinterpret this Gojolham for a modern sensibility. Her subjects, seemingly drawn with the untutored hand of ancient folk painters—crooked, spontaneous, and imperfect—are simultaneously rendered with brilliant, clear colors and witty composition, revealing the skillful hand of a master. This paradox—the spontaneous beauty of Gojolham translated into a highly refined, contemporary visual language—is what makes her work unique. Her recent pieces show a tendency towards abstraction through increasing simplicity and conciseness, demonstrating a courageous and sharp spirit of experimentation rarely seen even amid the diverse and experimental trends of modern Minhwa.

 

The works in Contemplation; the Art of Play, while situated in the realm of contemporary Minhwa, resonate strongly with the lineage of modern Korean painting (Hangukhwa)—including masters like Park Saeng-gwang, Hwang Chang-bae, and Kim Sun-doo—characterized by the Powerful Freedom of Line, Rich Korean Coloring, and a Sense of Space and Rhythm. We invite you to experience the exhibition and consider for yourself how Ha-kyung Park’s playful expression of joy and hope connects the deep tradition of Minhwa with the dynamic future of Korean contemporary art.

 

 

 

 

Artist Dae-hoon Kim translates the elemental forces of clay, water, and fire into a pictorial language, unfolding a sculptural meditation on existence, memory, absence, and trace. His practice is defined by a ‘multilayered structure’ where the materiality of ceramics overlaps with a painterly sensibility. The fired clay surface becomes a space for subtle language play, a visual field where oxides and chlorides are poured, rubbed, and layered, acting simultaneously as material, painting, and text.

 

This solo exhibition, 《No Reason》, investigates the presence of objects and the surrounding absence through cubic and rectangular forms that evoke ‘boxes,’ ‘chairs,’ ‘chests,’ and ‘houses.’ Images of a bowl of rice, a rocking horse, a home, or an apple appear on the clay canvases—fragments from the artist’s memory, sometimes left as collaged images, embedded texts, or engraved seals that testify to his inner landscape.

 

Kim states that the act of working with clay and firing it is a process of affirming existence, a relentless journey of searching for the ‘self’ even as images and words are erased and blurred. He weaves his own fundamental, ontological questions into the fabric of matter, painting, and language.

 

《No Reason》 is a field of new material sensation where craft and painting, form and language, abstraction and memory coexist—a record of artistic impulse that is pure because it is without reason, and yet absolutely necessary.

 

 

Cube Peony #1, 92x82cm, paper, hangi, pigment, 2024

 

 

Eunjung Rhee constructs dimensional reliefs from folded paper, layering them with hanji and then painting motifs from traditional Korean minhwa—symbols of prosperity and beauty. Her process merges the meditative discipline of origami with the tactile depth of traditional craft, transforming flat geometry into vibrant fields of structure and color.

 

In her compositions, geometric abstraction becomes both a framework and a metaphor. The cube—precise yet infinite—multiplies across the surface like a rhythmic code, creating optical movement and spatial illusion. Beneath and within these modular forms, Rhee paints the lush imagery of minhwa, allowing the organic and the constructed, the spiritual and the material, to coexist in dynamic tension.

 

The result is a poetic geometry where tradition breathes within abstraction—a contemporary reinterpretation of bu-gwi-yeong-hwa (富貴榮華, wealth and glory) that invites viewers to discover harmony between order and life’s blooming vitality.

 

 

Sweet Dreams

Light and Rest — Fragments of a Sweet Dream

 

The solo exhibition Sweet Dreams by artist Sun-joo Chung unfolds the wish for sweetness and deep rest that blossoms within the ordinariness of everyday life. Grounded in Korea’s traditional mother-of-pearl (nacre) craftsmanship, the artist engraves familiar motifs such as hearts, candies, and pillowcases onto her surfaces, seamlessly traversing the boundaries between tradition and modernity, East and West. The delicate shimmer of nacre oscillates between day and night, reality and dream, offering viewers tender and dreamlike moments of light.

 

For centuries, Korean pillowcases have been embroidered with auspicious patterns—flowers, butterflies, and mandarin ducks—symbols of good fortune and blessing. Chung reinterprets these motifs through a contemporary visual language, conveying a timeless message of blessing and serenity to those living today. In her compositions, popular icons like candies, hearts, and M&Ms are transformed through the iridescent luster of mother-of-pearl, gaining new emotional depth and resonance.

 

Sweet Dreams does not merely sing of sweet illusion. It is another name for the peaceful rest, the beautiful dream, and the quiet prayer for happiness that everyone longs for amid a weary and busy life. Like a warm pillow that rests on the border between reality and dream, Sun-joo Chung’s works offer each of us a brief moment to drift into a gentle, sweet dream.

    Our Story, acrylic on canvas, 126x126cm, 2025

 

The Sacred & the Profane: Radiant Ecstasy
OMAE Gallery is pleased to present The Sacred & the Profane: Radiant Ecstasy, a solo exhibition by artist Mi-yeon Jung, on view from September 16 to October 2, 2025. This exhibition revisits one of the most enduring themes in both art and religion—the tension between the sacred and the profane—asking anew, within the realities of our time, what kind of light illuminates the human condition.

 

Jung’s works resist reducing the sacred and the profane to a simple opposition. Instead, they explore the luminous moments that emerge when boundaries collapse and worlds intersect—between Buddhism and Catholicism, tradition and contemporaneity. In her compositions, the ten disciples of Seokguram appear alongside female nude croquis; Buddhist symbols are transposed into Catholic contexts; and the interplay of blue and gold unfolds as a metaphor for the relationship between divinity and humanity. For the artist, the nude is not merely a drawing of the human body but the most direct and beautiful form of truth revealed in human existence.

 

For many years, Jung has explored the intersection of faith and art as a painter of Catholic icons. Through her iconography—published in the Archdiocese of Seoul Weekly Bulletin and integrated into church commissions—she has sought to create what she calls “paintings that strike the heart,” capturing the vitality of lived spiritual experience. In this exhibition, she extends that journey by bringing together the Buddhist legacy of her hometown Gyeongju with her Catholic faith, re-examining the sacred and the profane on an existential level.

 

As religious historian Mircea Eliade once wrote, “The sacred reveals itself through the profane, and in that moment, objects and places acquire an entirely different dimension.” Likewise, Jung reveals the radiant light of being that emerges where the sacred and the profane converge. More than an art exhibition, The Sacred & the Profane invites each viewer to discover new meaning in these dualities within their own lives, and to share in the radiant ecstasy that arises from that encounter.

 

 

Soo-young Seo, Heritage Code 41, 75x75cm, 24k gold leaf, gold alloy leaf, stone pigment, Ink, 2025

 

 

OMAE Gallery is pleased to present Heritage Code, a series of works by artist Soo-young Seo, on view at the Collectors’ Lounge from August 26 to October 2, 2025.

 

This special presentation highlights Seo’s distinctive approach to contemporary painting, where traditional aesthetics and motifs are reinterpreted through a refined, modern sensibility. Her Heritage Code series unfolds as a dialogue between past and present, weaving cultural memory into vivid visual codes that resonate with today’s audiences.

 

Throughout the exhibition period, OMAE Gallery will also host a range of exclusive programs for collectors, offering opportunities for deeper engagement with the artist’s practice and works.

 

 

Soo-young Seo, Heritage Code 38, 72.5x61cm, 24k gold leaf, gold alloy leaf, stone pigment, Ink, 2025

 

 

Soo-young Seo, Heritage Code 39, 72.5x61cm, 24k gold leaf, gold alloy leaf, stone pigment, Ink, 2025

 

 

Soo-young Seo, Heritage Code 42, 45x45cm, 24k gold leaf, gold alloy leaf, stone pigment, Ink, 2025

 

 

Soo-young Seo, Heritage Code 45, 45x45cm, 24k gold leaf, gold alloy leaf, stone pigment, Ink, 2025

 

 

Soo-young Seo, Heritage Code 50, 52x32cm, 24k gold leaf, gold alloy leaf, stone pigment, Ink, 2025

 

 

Soo-young Seo, Heritage Code 50, 52x32cm, 24k gold leaf, gold alloy leaf, stone pigment, Ink, 2025

Mi-suk Kim, Breadth of Memory, ottchil and mother-of-pearl on wood, 90x122cm, 2025

 

 

Gi-won Yoon, Sexy Guy, acrylic on canvas, 162×130.3cm, 2024

 

 

OMAE Gallery presents Layers of the Self, a two-person exhibition by Mi-suk Kim and Gi-won Yoon that reimagines the possibilities of contemporary portraiture.

 

Mi-suk Kim incorporates mother-of-pearl and lacquer into painting, transforming female figures into luminous images that embody dignity and resilience. Gi-won Yoon explores the resonance of color, expressing psychological depth through layered hues and fluid brushwork.

 

Together, their works expand the tradition of portraiture beyond physical likeness, offering fresh interpretations of the human spirit through light and color.

 

• Special Event on Samcheong Night

As part of this exhibition, OMAE Gallery will host a special Opening Reception on Thursday, September 4, 2025, from 7:00 to 10:00, in celebration of Samcheong Night during Frieze Week. The main program will take place from 8:00 to 9:00, featuring a meeting with the artists, wine and refreshments, music, and special events. Guests are also welcome to enjoy the gallery during the free session hours before and after the program.

 

 

 

 

Mi-suk Kim (b. 1983)

Misuk Kim is an artist who reinterprets Korea’s traditional materials—mother-of-pearl and lacquer—into contemporary portraiture. Her paintings portray captivating images of women, infused with elegance and resilience. With refined craftsmanship and a sophisticated sense of color, she creates unique surfaces where light and material harmonize. The subtle iridescence of mother-of-pearl and the depth of lacquer lend lyrical qualities to expressions and moods, forming an aesthetic that intersects tradition and modernity, decoration and painting. Through this practice, Kim expands the language of Korean beauty for the present day, offering viewers a visual experience that is at once powerful and graceful.

 

 

Gi-won Yoon (b. 1974)

Since graduating from Hongik University’s Department of Painting in 2003, Giwon Yoon has dedicated more than two decades to portraiture. His ongoing practice has unfolded through series such as Friends, Portraits of Artists, and FACE, which explore human relationships, psychology, expression, and aura. Using layers of color and fluid brushwork, Yoon reveals the emotions that lie beneath outward appearance, extending the traditional Korean concept of jeonsin—capturing the spirit—into a contemporary context. Yoon’s portraits synthesize figure, background, and the resonance of color into organic compositions, exploring the sensory and emotional possibilities of painting today.

 

 

Roentgen Garden, mother-of-pearl coloring on hanji canvas, 130x160cm_2025, each

 

 

OMAE Gallery presents Roentgen’s Garden, a solo exhibition by artist Ki-chang Han, who has uniquely visualized the intersection of tradition and modernity through his distinctive artistic language.

 

Han’s work captures the image of a garden that traverses the boundaries of life and death, pain and healing, shadow and light—expressed through lines and colors painted onto X-ray film. These works are acclaimed for offering deep consolation to those who have passed through inner darkness.

 

The exhibition features new pieces that highlight the aesthetics of Eastern spatial emptiness, based on traditional motifs such as mother-of-pearl and hwajohwa (bird-and-flower painting).

 

Additionally, installations using lightboxes invite viewers to experience a shifting “garden of light,” revealing Han’s unique vision of Korean identity through light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oasis, cloisone, silver, bronze, 110x110cm(frame), 2023

 

 

OMAE Gallery presents The Song of Fire and Flowers, a solo exhibition by artist Soo-kyung Lee (b. 1946), who has inherited the tradition of Korean cloisonné and expanded it into a contemporary art form. Lee, who was trained in royal cloisonné techniques at Nakseonjae in Changdeokgung Palace during the 1960s, has dedicated 58 years to this singular path and was recognized as Korea’s first Grand Master in the field of cloisonné.

 

‘Cloisonné’ is a decorative art in which glassy enamel is applied to metal and fired at high temperatures. Lee has developed over 100 unique colors, establishing a singular and distinctive artistic world.

 

Through Soo-kyung Lee’s cloisonné art, which harmonizes tradition and modernity, technique and emotion, craftsmanship and artistic vision, OMAE Gallery seeks to illuminate the depth and richness of Korean craft.