The Hover Maneuver series, the focal point of this exhibition, exudes a spontaneous expression of a chain reaction stemming from simple image associations or sensory responses ignited by improvised lines and colours. As articulated by the artist himself, this entire creative process unfolds as a sequence of relatively impromptu responses. Consequently, the paintings emanate an aura of seeking to convey an attitude—a playful demeanour—rather than delving into profound contemplation or constructing complex symbolic structures and metaphors. It's a paradoxical dynamic: PARK's paintings, adorned with lightly floating, buoyant, and hovering images, paradoxically evoke somewhere else beyond.
As someone noted, paintings have been arduous since ancient times. It was difficult, serious, onerous, and a subject of concern. This is because it had to contain magical aspirations and prove the greatness and sanctity of God, and it had to contain energy. Over the past century or so, its death and return have even been repeated several times. The playful attitude of the Hover Maneuver series is almost a reaction to this historical gravity. Painterly aspects and cartoon lines are juxtaposed, and figurative foreground and abstract background are combined. The hidden subtitle of the exhibition, "Abstract Play," aligns with this context. It is a playful and simultaneously strategic attitude. By confronting the desire to be light or the obsessive will to be light, images hover, and the hierarchy, like an afterimage, collapses. The spontaneous and playful attitude presented by the Hover Maneuver is nothing other than this quite subversive sense.