Kim Chanil, Line 007 (2017), acrylic on canvas, 80 x 160 cm © Kim Chanil, courtesy of the artist and Mizuma Gallery

Highly influenced by the Dansaekhwa painters of South Korea, Kim Chanil is known for his monochromatic works that distinctively transcend the two-dimensional space of a flat plane canvas. His style of incorporating various materials such as paper and rivets onto his paintings creates irregular contours and illusionary forms. Kim’s paintings are known to evoke a sense of tranquility and, though the rhythmic waves of lines and dots, stimulating the viewer’s senses of sight and touch.

His exhibiting series, Line, lies within the boundary between a painting and an object. He first orderly arranges pieces of paperboard of various sizes that were soaked in ‘rubber’ onto the surface of the canvas creating a rhythmic flow of lines and contours. After solidifying them on the canvas, he proceeds to coat the canvas surface with oil paints or pigment powders, which he then meticulously scraps off to reveal a faded three-dimensional image. Kim treats some works with an additional layer of metallic glaze, to enhance the hypnotic lines running across the canvas. Through Kim’s systematic production onto a skin-like canvas, he creates an “interference” with the two-dimensional space, extending it to a third dimension. These elevations on the canvas crack through the picture plane, giving a certain volume to the otherwise flat surface.

Kim’s paintings also showcase his unique use of colours, with most of them consisting of multiple thin overlapping layers of monochromatic colour schemes, with subtle traces of gold or silver. Due to this “interference of colour” underlining each work, their colours and tonality change according to the position and angle of the viewer. The many pieces of paperboard that protrude the physical space oscillate across multi-toned surface, stimulating the duality in perspective: light and dark, indentations and protrusions, concentration and dispersion.

This exhibition will present Kim Chanil’s selected paintings from 2005 to his most recent works.

Opening Reception: 9 December 2017, from 4 – 7 pm

Venue: Mizuma Gallery, 22 Lock Road #01-34, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108939, Singapore

Gallery Hours: Tue – Sat: 11 am – 7 pm
Sun: 11 am – 6 pm, Closed on Mon and Public Holidays

When: 6 - 23 Dec 2017,

By: Mizuma Gallery