October Gallery presents an exhibition of new works by Jukhee Kwon. This will be her first solo exhibition at October Gallery, London.

Born in South Korea, Kwon studied Fine Art at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, before obtaining an MA from Camberwell College of Arts, London. She has exhibited across Europe, first showing with October Gallery last spring. She now lives and works in Italy.

Kwon creates captivating works, quite literally, from the printed page; using abandoned and disused books she shreds the pages by hand to create magnificent ‘book sculptures’. These effervescent sculptures, brimming with energy, flow from their spines in the form of cascading waterfalls. Each book, thus deconstructed, attains to a new existence through this transformational creative process. Much of her large scale work aims to return the object to its original form - from tree to book, from book to tree; teasing with ideas of destruction and re-creation.

Kwon’s cutting and slicing techniques become a performance with each fragile page demanding attention. Although unseen by the viewer, her intricate actions during this process are projected through the complexity of the finished piece. Kwon’s imagination is realised through the adaptable structure of the book which transcends its original purpose. The act of the book’s expansion alludes to a feeling of freedom and movement, mimicking in a sense, her migratory experience. As she cuts each strand, the process becomes a means to travel the tracks of half-held memories and to retrace those first conscious steps towards the creation of a new life.

This exhibition focuses primarily on Kwon’s latest creations. Not only is the book an object brought back to life, Kwon transforms it with colour to become a life derivative of its past and its narrative - the idea of a book retaining an essence of its previous owner, each emanating an individual past. Bold blocks of colour ignite the pages of her work, and her choice of colour is informed by these memories or by the book’s own imagined memory. As Kwon notes, “For me, each book has individual personality and it has narrative and history like a human being.”

October Gallery
24 Old Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury
London WC1N 3AL United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 72427367
info@octobergallery.com
www.octobergallery.co.uk

Opening hours
Tuesday - Saturday
From 12.30pm to 5.30pm

Related images

  1. Jukhee Kwon, Fluxus, 2013. Book paper, dimensions variable. Photo. Cosimo Trimboli. Image courtesy the artist
  2. Jukhee Kwon, Falling Book, 2013. Book in french, ca. 150 x 50 x 20 cm Image courtesy October Gallery London
  3. Jukhee Kwon, fromthebooktothespace, 2012. Paper and book case, dimensions variable. Image courtesy October Gallery, London
  4. Jukhee Kwon, Arlecchino l'egoista (detail), 2013. Book in Italian, ca. 350 cm Image courtesy October Gallery London
  5. Jukhee Kwon, Carnival, 2013. Book paper and acrylic, 100 x 100 x 15 cm. Photo. Cosimo Trimboli. Image courtesy the artist
  6. Jukhee Kwon, Arlecchino l'egoista (detail), 2013. Book in Italian, ca. 350 cm.Image courtesy October Galelry London