Soohyeok Shin
b. 1967, Korean
Majored in painting at Hongik University, Soohyeok Shin had his first solo exhibition at the Yoon Gallery in Seoul in 1995 when he was a graduate student. Since then, the artist has built a reputation by holding numerous solo exhibitions. He also participated in the Prix Whanki nomination exhibition as one of three young artists under 35 in London, Venice, and Seoul.
He said he started longing for questions about essence and nature when he watched the attack in 2001 at the US Trade Center live and has constantly been telling the experiences of time and space encountered in daily life. Having returned to Korea after completing his Ph.D. in painting at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2008, he developed his main motifs of buildings or places in the city. The blue-colored illusions and memories are constructed on the canvas, focusing on the sense of structure, space, blank space, and light in architecture. Recently, he has been continuing his abstract work that is closer to the essence by gradually emptying the form from the screen.
Shin draws horizontal and vertical lines on the canvas and repeatedly stacks, erases, and refills the lines one after another. It reflects on the relationship among people, places, and society and captures the relationship with a keen sensitivity. By expressing the space of the abyss through overlapping layers, and nonmaterial elements such as light, flow, and emotion, Shin replaces the records of those invisible moments with blue and melts them into the work.
Engaged in teaching as a professor at Hongik University and painting at the same time, Soohyeok Shin has held exhibitions at renowned art museums and festivals around the world, including the Sejong Museum of Art in Seoul (2019), Pohang Museum of Steel Art (Korea, 2012), Musee F (Tokyo, 2008), and the 3rd Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (2006).
