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2019 04

황규태 Hwang Gyutae 개인전

by PhotoView posted Mar 15, 2019
Extra Form
전시제목 픽셀 Pixel
전시기간 2019. 3. 7 ~ 4. 21
전시장소 아라리오갤러리 서울 l 삼청 ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL l SAMCHEONG
갤러리 주소 서울특별시 종로구 북촌로 5길 84 (03053)
갤러리 홈페이지 http://www.arariogallery.com
관람시간 Tuesday-Sunday : 10am - 7pm
Closed on Mondays, January 1st, New Year's and Chuseok holidays
ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL l SAMCHEONG presents the solo exhibition of Hwang Gyutae(b.1938), an iconoclast and pioneer in Korea’s avant-garde photography, from March 7 to April 21. This exhibition focuses on illuminating his recent work in the [pixel] series, which has been continuing since the 1990s. As an established yet incessantly innovative artist, HWANG has been extending his reach in the realm of photography by pursuing experimental approaches rather than complying with dominant conventions ever since he began his work in the 1960s. HWANG’s interest in digital images in the 1980s led to new frontiers, such as digital montage, collage, and compositing. Through an extended cycle of experimentation, he found ‘pixels’ – the base unit of images in the form of dots, in the digital images. Drawn to the infinite possibility and visual potential of these geometric images, he launched his [pixel] series. HWANG’s [pixel] series lacks, or falls short of the basic process of “recording” in photography, and instead harbors “choice” and “magnification.” In other words, his works move away from the traditional process of capturing an object and making it appear on the sensitive film strip, and instead focus on discovering a wide variety of pixels in different forms and colors as they appear in the process of choosing and magnifying images and monitors. That already exists for disparate reasons, ultimately visualizing and materializing them through a range of methods. In this process, the products arising from the original image multiply. It does not matter whether these processes are shown in the photographs or not. His total directional work, which he describes as “chosen pixels rather than made products,” must be understood in the larger context of “image” studies rather than seen through the narrow lens of conventional “art” or formal history. Another aspect of note is how HWANG connects his [pixel] series with the Russian artist “Kazimir Malevich.” By discovering a link to the extreme minimalism and hard-edge style of Malevich’s hand-painted work in the digital images he found, Hwang revives the philosophy of Suprematist art in the Digital Era, bridging a century of time lapse. Like Malevich’s Suprematist paintings, where he arrives at the pure composition of basic colors and forms such as squares and circles by completely removing all traces of representation, the world of colors and planes in the pixels derived from repeated magnification instantiate infinite time and space for images in the age of the digital, exploring abstraction to the extreme. In this context, HWANG calls his work “post-hard-edge.” Reflecting on his [pixel] work over a period of two decades through select pieces that crystalize his efforts and endeavors from the past two year, the exhibition offers an opportunity for the viewers to explore the identity of images and their directionalities in the era of digital culture.
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
  • ⓒ황규태 Hwang Gyutae
아라리오갤러리 서울 l 삼청은 2019년 3월 7일부터 4월 21일까지 한국 아방가르드 사진의 선구자이자 예외적 작가 황규태(b.1938)의 개인전 [픽셀 Pixel]을 개최한다. 본 전시는 작업 초기인 1960년대부터 주류나 유행에 타협하기보다 자유롭게 실험과 혁신을 추구하며 사진 영역을 확장해온 원로 작가가, 1990년대 이후부터 현재까지 지속적으로 진행중인 [픽셀] 시리즈의 최근 결과물들을 보여주는 데 집중한다.

황규태 작가는 데뷔 이래 언제나 실험 사진의 최전방에서 다양한 시도들, 예를 들어 1960년대에 이미 필름 태우기, 차용과 합성, 아날로그 몽타주, 이중 노출 등을 시도해 문제적 작가로 그 이름이 오르내렸다. 이후 1980년대부터 시작된 디지털이미지에 대한 관심은 디지털 몽타주, 꼴라주,합성 등의 다양한 실험으로 이어졌다. 그 긴 과정의 끝에서 작가는 이미지를 이루는 가장 작은 단위인 네모 모양의 작은 점들을 일컫는 ‘픽셀’을 디지털 이미지들 속에서 발견했고, 그 기하학적 이미지들의 무한한 가능성과 시각적 유희에 매몰되었다. 그렇게 [픽셀]시리즈가 시작되었다.

황규태 작가의 [픽셀] 시리즈에는 사진의 기본인 ‘촬영’과정이 기본적으로 부재하거나 현저히 부족하다. 대신 ‘선택’과 ‘확대’가 존재한다. 다시 설명하자면, 그의 작품은 여느 사진 작품처럼 대상을 카메라로 촬영해 그 형상을 감광막 위에 나타나도록 하기 보다는, 다른 목적으로 이미 존재하는 이미지나 모니터 등을 자유자재로 선택하고, 확대할 때 발현되는 다양한 형태와 색상의 픽셀을 집요하게 발견하고 기록, 그리고 여러 방식으로 시각화, 물질화 하는 것이 기본 골자다. 그 과정에서 전통 사진의 주요 쟁점인 ‘지표성’의 가치는 희소해지고, ‘선택’과 ‘확대’라는 방법의 특성상 원본 이미지에서 파생되는 결과물들은 무한해진다. 이 모든 과정을 사진으로 보느냐 마느냐는 문제의 핵심이 되지 않는다. “나는 만들지 않았고, 픽셀들을 선택할 뿐”이라고 말하는 그의 전방위적 작품들은 ‘예술’의 전통적인 범주나 양식사적 접근으로 축소해서 볼 게 아니라, ‘이미지’ 연구의 관점에서 조금 더 넓게 살펴볼 필요가 있기 때문이다.

또 한가지 흥미롭게 살펴볼 지점은 작가가 주장하는 [픽셀] 시리즈와 러시아 미술가 ‘카시미르 말레비치(Kazimir Malevich) 작품과의 연결고리다. 자신이 찾아낸 전자 이미지들 속에서 말레비치가 손수 그린 극한의 미니멀한 하드엣지 작품과의 유사성을 발견함으로써, 백년의 간극을 넘어디지털 시대에서 절대주의 조형성의 철학을 다시 논한다. 구상적 재현의 흔적을 모두 제거함으로써 사각형, 원 등의 기본적인 형태와 색채만의 순수한 구성에 도달한 말레비치의 절대주의 회화처럼, 원본 이미지에서 확대에 확대를 거듭해 도달한 픽셀들의 미니멀한 추상 색면의 세계는 디지털 시대에 가능한 이미지의 무한 시공간을 현시하고 순수 추상을 탐구한다. 이러한 맥락에서 작가는 자신의 작품을 ‘포스트 하드엣지’라 일컫는다. 작가가 [픽셀] 시리즈를 시작한 지 약 20여년이 지난 시점에서, 그간의 치열했던 고민과 연구가 응축된 최근 2년간의 작품을 선별한 본 전시가 동시대 디지털 문명에서의 이미지 정체성과 그 방향에 대해 성찰해볼 수 있는 계기가 되길 바란다.
ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL l SAMCHEONG presents the solo exhibition of Hwang Gyutae(b.1938), an iconoclast and pioneer in Korea’s avant-garde photography, from March 7 to April 21. This exhibition focuses on illuminating his recent work in the [pixel] series, which has been continuing since the 1990s. As an established yet incessantly innovative artist, HWANG has been extending his reach in the realm of photography by pursuing experimental approaches rather than complying with dominant conventions ever since he began his work in the 1960s.

HWANG’s interest in digital images in the 1980s led to new frontiers, such as digital montage, collage, and compositing. Through an extended cycle of experimentation, he found ‘pixels’ – the base unit of images in the form of dots, in the digital images. Drawn to the infinite possibility and visual potential of these geometric images, he launched his [pixel] series.

HWANG’s [pixel] series lacks, or falls short of the basic process of “recording” in photography, and instead harbors “choice” and “magnification.” In other words, his works move away from the traditional process of capturing an object and making it appear on the sensitive film strip, and instead focus on discovering a wide variety of pixels in different forms and colors as they appear in the process of choosing and magnifying images and monitors. That already exists for disparate reasons, ultimately visualizing and materializing them through a range of methods. In this process, the products arising from the original image multiply. It does not matter whether these processes are shown in the photographs or not. His total directional work, which he describes as “chosen pixels rather than made products,” must be understood in the larger context of “image” studies rather than seen through the narrow lens of conventional “art” or formal history.

Another aspect of note is how HWANG connects his [pixel] series with the Russian artist “Kazimir Malevich.” By discovering a link to the extreme minimalism and hard-edge style of Malevich’s hand-painted work in the digital images he found, Hwang revives the philosophy of Suprematist art in the Digital Era, bridging a century of time lapse. Like Malevich’s Suprematist paintings, where he arrives at the pure composition of basic colors and forms such as squares and circles by completely removing all traces of representation, the world of colors and planes in the pixels derived from repeated magnification instantiate infinite time and space for images in the age of the digital, exploring abstraction to the extreme. In this context, HWANG calls his work “post-hard-edge.” Reflecting on his [pixel] work over a period of two decades through select pieces that crystalize his efforts and endeavors from the past two year, the exhibition offers an opportunity for the viewers to explore the identity of images and their directionalities in the era of digital culture.