CHOI Byungso
CHOI Byungso (b.1943) employs a unique methodology of transforming substance materiality through the erasure of newspaper content by repetitive and executive mark-making with ballpoint pen and pencil, a process he has continued for over forty years. Choi holds a very special position in Korea’s contemporary art world, for the intellectuality and engagement found within his works fall in line with the monochrome paintings that dominated the Korean art scene in the ‘70s. His participation in major Korean monochrome art exhibitions, including A Facet of Contemporary Korean Art (Tokyo Central Art Museum, 1977), École de Seoul (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon 1976-79) and Korea’s Modern Paintings (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, 2012), brought him to be designated as a member of the monochrome movement, but that is only a fragmentary categorization.
Earlier works, such as an arrangement of iron pins on the floor with one hanging from the ceiling; decaying mackerel within the exhibition space; reading photographs as text, and more, lay their roots in the Korean experimental art movement. Alongside Park Hyun-gi and Lee Kang-so, Choi was a featured artist in 1974’s Experimental Korean Art Exhibition; he also led Daegu Contemporary Art Festival for five years, and belonged to the 35/128 Group, a powerhouse of Korea’s avant-garde movement. In his work Untitled (Bird) (1975) (previously exhibited at ARARIO GALLERY Cheonan), Choi examines the relationship between image and language by listing six words, ‘sky, cloud, wind, birds, flying, meeting,’ beside a National Geographic photo of two birds; this, too, fits well into the context of Korean experimental art.
CHOI Byungso ‘s materials (paper, newspaper, magazines, banknotes, airplane tickets, clothes hangers, makeup samples, etc.) are everyday objects found close at hand. His pens and pencils of choice are more writing utensil than art material. However, unlike other conceptual work emphasizing these materials as objet, Choi’s artwork seeks to produce a new materiality through motions repeated to excess. The artist joined Park Seo-bo, Yoon Hyung-geun, Lee Kang-so, Lee Dong-youb, Chung Sang-hwa, Chung Chang-sup, and Ha Chong-hyun as a representative of Korean monochrome art in Europe’s first Dansaekhwa exhibition, KM9346: Corée-Morbihan 9,346km, at Domaine de Kerguéhennec. His solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Saint- Étienne, France, 2016) and Galerie Maria Lund (Paris, France, 2016) followed with success.
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0220423 Untitled, 2022
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0210401 Untitled, 2021
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0210602 Untitled, 2021
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0211002 Untitled, 2021
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0211108 Untitled, 2021
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0200221 Untitled, 2020
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Untitled 0200904, 2020
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Untitled 0170712, 2017
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Untitled 0170917, 2017
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Untitled, 2016
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Untitled, 2016
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Untitled 0160102, 2016
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Untitled 998, 1998
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Untitled 9750000-2, 1975/2020
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Untitled, 1975
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Untitled 9750000-1, 1975
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Untitled 9750000-2, 1975
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Untitled 9750000-3, 1975
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Untitled, 1974
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Forêt
25 May - 17 July 2021 Seoul -
CHOI Byungso: 意味와 無意味 SENS ET NON-SENS_Works from 1974-2020
26 November 2020 - 27 February 2021 Seoul -
VOICE OF ASIA
1 July - 27 August 2017 Shanghai -
CHOI Byungso
5 March - 26 April 2015 Seoul -
Between the Lines: Korean Contemporary Art Since 1970
1 March - 6 May 2014 CheonanBetween the Lines: Korean Contemporary Art Since 1970 Period | 2014. 3. 1(Sat) - 5. 6(Tue) Venue | ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN Artists | Ku-lim Kim, Myung-ro Youn, U-fan Lee, Hee...Read more
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[Fair] West Bund Art & Design 2022
8 November 2022Arario Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in West Bund Art & Design 2022 from 10 to 13 November. The booth will feature the...Read more -
[Art Fair] Art Basel Hong Kong 2022
17 May 2022Arario Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in the Satellite Booth and Online Viewing Room section at Art Basel Hong Kong 2022. Welcoming onsite...Read more -
[Art Fair] Art Busan 2022
4 May 2022Arario Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in the Art Busan 2022, which will run from 12 to 15 May. Visit Arario Gallery’s booth...Read more -
[Exhibition] CHOI Byungso: The Poetic Collection
27 April 2022The group exhibition, The Poetic Collection, taking place at Seoul Museum of Art explores the correlation between contemporary art and “the poetic” along with two...Read more -
[Art Fair] Galleries Art Fair 2022
12 March 2022Arario Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in the Galleries Art Fair 2022, which will run from 16 to 20 March. Works that respond...Read more -
[Artist Talk] CHOI Byungso
4 December 2021'MMCA Artist Talk' presents CHOI Byungso, who represents the spirit of Korean experimental art. The talk is presented on YouTube channel of the National Museum...Read more -
[Exhibition] CHOI Byungso: New Ways of Living for ( )
10 February 2021CHOI Byungso participates in 'New Ways of Living for ( )', a group exhibition, which is currently on view at Suwon I-Park Museum of Art....Read more -
[Exhibition] CHOI Byungso: KBS World Radio
4 February 2021Find out more about CHOI Byungso's solo exhibition '意味와 無意味 SENS ET NON-SENS: Works from 1974 to 2020', which journalist Andy St. Louis discusses in...Read more -
[Gallery] Arario Gallery Seoul: Christmas Day
25 December 2020We wish you all a Merry Christmas! CHOI Byungso's solo exhibition '意味와 無意味 SENS ET NON-SENS: Works from 1974 to 2020' will be open as...Read more -
[Gallery] Arario Gallery Seoul: Entry by Appointment Only
17 December 2020Please make an appointment to schedule your visit to Arario Gallery Seoul starting from Wednesday 16 December. CHOI Byungso 意味와 無意味 SENS ET NON-SENS: Works...Read more -
[Exhibition] CHOI Byungso: Moment of Gieok
12 November 2020CHOI Byungso's group exhibition 'Moment of Gieok' is open until next month . 'My entire practice is erasing everything printed on the surface of newspapers...Read more