The solo exhibition “Layered” by the artist An Gyungsu, known for exploring landscapes of ruin, is currently on view at Arario Museum Seoul. The word “ruin” usually evokes traces of something long gone, but An approaches the idea from a different perspective. Rather than depicting ruins that belong solely to the past, he turns his gaze toward the forms of ruin that exist alongside us today.
For the artist, the aftermath of typhoons and earthquakes, the remains left behind in redevelopment zones, the unseen sides of glittering tourist districts, and the neglected pockets of urban space all constitute ruins. These are the peripheral scenes that sit quietly outside the focus of everyday attention.
An recalls a moment that shaped this understanding. “Years ago, I visited the site of the Eunpyeong New Town development in Seoul and saw a row of townhouses partially demolished. One of the rooms where someone had once lived was completely exposed. The sight was a shock. It felt as if an intimate and once cherished space had suddenly become a ruin. That experience led me to begin searching for these fragments of ruin that exist within ordinary life,” he said.
