Yongseok OH has explored the process of condensing through painting his deep contemplations on the subtle boundaries that exist within the relationships between people, objects, sensations, and desires. Grounded in the recognition that no single event or object can exist in isolation or simplicity, OH’s work visualises the unfamiliar, fleeting moments of complex interference, collision, and transformation that arise at various boundaries through pictorial imagery.
The works presented in this exhibition are all part of the series Water Drops on Burning Rocks. True to the title, these paintings are enveloped in the intense heat of a collision and the instantaneous shift in state that follows. The compositions, which appear to capture magnified fragments of the human body, exhibit an explosive radiance achieved through the stark contrast of orange and blue, alongside scattered, diffusing splatters of deep yellow paint. Elements such as individually rendered muscle fibres, resplendent peacock feathers, and paint dripping upwards infuse this brilliance with a sense of heterogeneous unfamiliarity. It is from within this splendid radiance that a form of love proposed by OH begins to emerge.
As discussed in Erich Auerbach’s (1892–1957) Figura (1938), a figure intrinsically gives visual form to the unrepresentable; it is, in essence, a taboo. Furthermore, figuration possesses the capacity to express that which language fails to articulate. A figure, therefore, inherently embodies the power to allow one to imagine what lies beyond the forbidden. This very power lies at the root of the radiance emitted by the bodily figures in Water Drops on Burning Rocks. As the artist himself states, "My work recognises the impossibility or difficulty of expression, yet it is an epic poem about the things attained by persistently carrying it out nonetheless." In this way, Water Drops on Burning Rocks compels us to imagine the countless taboos writhing at the boundaries of the sensation, desire, and fantasy of love—and what lies far beyond them.
