Park Jun-seok's solo exhibition, Black Light, White Shadow: The Perception of Color
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LeVide르비드 _르비드TV)
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- Gallery
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Park Jun-seok's first solo exhibition
Black Light, White Shadow: The Perception of Color
December 9, 2025 - January 4, 2026
From Objects to Values – Another 'Translation'
Park Jun-seok's paintings always begin with "objects." Everyday objects like smartphones, cups, dolls, and vases are deconstructed and reassembled into black and white patterns in his paintings. Beyond the mere representation of objects, they function as a medium for exploring the "structure of perception." For the artist, black and white are not simply a contrast of colors; they represent a boundary of perception where light and darkness, visibility and invisibility, presence and absence intersect, and the very system of human vision through which we perceive objects.
In this exhibition, Park Jun-seok expands his existing black-and-white work with expanded color interventions, continuing his exploration of the "moment when color is perceived." Within the paradoxical space created by black light and white shadow, color is no longer a decorative element, but rather a condition of perception, a new layer that expands the senses. While the canvas remains rigidly ordered in black and white, the color that permeates it allows us to perceive objects and space with a completely new sense.
A particularly striking change in the 2025 work is the full-scale introduction of metallic colors, including gold. Amidst the economic uncertainty that spread throughout society starting in late 2024, people began to explore symbols of "value" and "ownership" with greater clarity than before, and this sentiment translated into a preference for gold throughout the art market. Indeed, the recent surge in gold prices is the result of a complex interplay of global economic instability, monetary system instability, geopolitical crises, and a collective desire for safe assets. It goes beyond a simple market phenomenon and becomes a symbolic indicator of contemporary anxiety.
The addition of gold metallic color to Park Jun-seok's works this year isn't simply a visual shift or a reflection of trends. By substituting objects with gold metallic color or crowning his signature teddy bear with a golden crown, he questions how the desires, anxieties, and values of our time are shifting. The crown on the teddy bear, in particular, suggests, before becoming a symbol of power or wealth, the "illusion of value" and "longing for stability" that humans cling to in uncertain times. This metallic color clashes with the existing matte black and white patterns, creating a powerful visual tension and sharply highlighting the relationships between materiality and value, sense and desire. Here, gold is no longer a decorative color, but a symbolic color that encapsulates the unconscious of the times.
Park Jun-seok's work has expanded beyond individual objects to encompass "space." Sometimes a single object is placed on a canvas, while other times, multiple objects are arranged within a display case, creating another virtual space. Furthermore, by applying consistent patterns and structures throughout the exhibition space, the boundaries between painting and reality are increasingly blurred. In this case, the display case functions not as a mere backdrop, but as a "stage" and "frame" upon which objects are placed and perceptions are formed.
This exhibition, in particular, actively incorporates traditional Korean sculptural elements into the motif of the decorative cabinet. The application of traditional decorative patterns to the four corners of the canvas, as well as the direct application of actual metal corner decorations, further strengthens the boundaries between flat and three-dimensional, painting and object. This transcends the mere dimension of sculptural decoration; it is a process of "translation," layering Korean sculptural sensibilities upon Western perspective and modern objects.
Park Jun-seok's work appears to repeat the same themes each year, but within it, subtle changes and quiet evolutions are constantly taking place. The structure remains, but the colors change; the patterns repeat, but the arrangement of objects and the depth of space are subtly altered. From black and white to color and then metallic gold, his color is not a simple expansion, but rather an accumulated time that records the sensibilities of the times and human perception. This accumulation of detail creates a clear trajectory of "upgrade" between his early works and his current work, proving that his paintings remain an ongoing exploration.
〈Black Light, White Shadow: Perception of Color〉 showcases the current state of Park Jun-seok's paintings, which began with objects and expanded images into space, adding new layers of color and metal to the black-and-white perceptual structure, and further transitioning to the concept of "value." Everyday objects are rearranged within the canvas, space is reconfigured into patterns and structures, and color is transformed into symbols reflecting the psychology and anxieties of the times. This exhibition is a process that forces us to reread the objects, colors, and value systems we are accustomed to viewing, quietly yet clearly presenting another "translation" scene, moving from objects to value.
Park Junseok's painting always begins with the notion of the "object." Everyday items such as smartphones, disposable cups, dolls, and vases are dismantled and reassembled through black-and-white patterns on his canvas, functioning not merely as representations of objects but as mediators for examining the structure of perception itself. For the artist, black and white are not simply contrasting hues, but boundaries of perception where light and darkness, visibility and invisibility, presence and absence intersect.
In this exhibition, Park extends his longstanding monochrome-based practice through an expanded intervention of color, continuing his inquiry into the very moment when color becomes perceptible. Within the paradoxical space created by black light and white shadow, color appears not as a decorative addition but as a condition of perception and an additional sensory layer. While the pictorial order remains grounded in strict black-and-white structure, the colors that seep through this order compel viewers to re-encounter objects and space through an entirely new sensory mode.
A particularly notable development in Park's 2025 works is the full emergence of metallic colors, including gold. Since late 2024, amid the widespread economic downturn, society's intensified search for symbols of "value" and "possession" has also been reflected in the growing preference for gold tones within the art market. The unprecedented surge in gold prices is not merely a financial phenomenon, but a symbolic indicator shaped by global economic instability, fluctuations in currency systems, geopolitical tensions, and collective psychological reliance on safe assets.
The introduction of gold into Park's recent works is therefore far from a superficial stylistic shift or a response to popular trends. By transforming objects themselves into metallic gold or crowning his signature teddy bear motif with a golden crown, Park questions how contemporary desires, anxieties, and notions of value are being reformulated. The crown, in particular, signifies not simply power or wealth, but rather the illusion of value and the longing for stability that humanity refuses to relinquish in an uncertain age. In collision with the matte surfaces of black-and-white patterns, the metallic gold generates sharp visual tension, heightening the relationship between material and value, sensation and desire. Here, gold ceases to be decorative and instead becomes a symbolic color in which the unconscious of the era is condensed.
Park's practice does not remain confined to individual objects but continuously expands into "space." A single object may occupy a canvas, while in other works, multiple objects are arranged within a display cabinet to form an illusory interior. This expansion extends further as identical patterns and structural orders infiltrate the entire exhibition space, blurring the boundary between painting and reality. In this context, the cabinet serves not merely as backdrop but as a "stage" and "framework" where objects are placed and perception is activated.
In this exhibition, particular attention is drawn to the incorporation of traditional Korean structural ornaments as tangible sculptural elements within the cabinet motif. Traditional decorative patterns applied to the four corners of the canvas, along with actual metal corner fittings affiliated directly onto the surface, forge a tighter connection between flatness and volume, painting and object. This is not a purely decorative gesture, but rather another act of "translation" through which contemporary Western perspective and modern objects are overlaid with Korean formative sensibility.
Although Park appears to return to the same themes year after year, subtle transformations and quiet evolutions continuously unfold within his work. While the structural framework remains, colors shift; while patterns repeat, the arrangements of objects and spatial depths are gradually reconfigured. From black and white to full color and now to metallic gold, his use of color is not simple expansion but an accumulated record of perception shaped by the sensibility of each era. These minute accumulations trace a clear trajectory of "upgrade" from his earliest works to the present, affirming that his painting remains an active, ongoing inquiry.
Black Light, White Shadow: The Perception of Color presents the current phase of Park Junseok's artistic practice—a process that begins with objects, expands into space, layers color and metal upon monochrome perception, and ultimately shifts toward the notion of value. Everyday objects are reconfigured within the pictorial plane, space is reconstructed through pattern and structure, and color is transformed into a sign reflecting the psychology of the present age. This exhibition invites viewers to reread the familiar systems of objects, color, and value, quietly yet distinctly revealing another scene of "translation" from objects to value.
Park Jun-seok
Education
March 2018. Doctorate in Painting, Department of Fine Arts, Graduate School of Hongik University
February 2015. Graduated from Hongik University Graduate School, Department of Painting, Master of Fine Arts
21st solo exhibition
2025.12 Black Light, White Shadow: The Perception of Color (L'Vid Art & Lounge)
2025.10 Reframed Reality (YK Gallery)
2025.05 Objects Re-seen (Milky Way Seoul)
2025.01 Translated modern objects (Anto Art Space - 'Old Paraspara')
2024.07 Illusionary Solo Exhibition (Gallery Picagos)
2024.05 Memorial Color Park Jun-seok Solo Exhibition (Korea National University of Education Museum, Cheongju)
2024.04 Black & White Park Jun-seok Solo Exhibition (Colored, Seoul)
2024.02 LIGHT AND SHADOW" Abstracts Opening Park Jun-seok Invitational Solo Exhibition (GALLERY ABSTRACT, Busan)
2023.11 The Materialized Gaze (KMJ Gallery, Incheon)
2023.07 A Moment to Ordinary Things (Sems Gallery, Jeonju)
2023.02 Translated object Park Jun-seok Invitational Solo Exhibition (Youngmu Parade Art Space, Busan)
2022.07 Home Table Deco Fair Busan Park Jun-seok Special Exhibition Translation (BEXCO, Busan)
June 2022 The Maison Park Jun-seok Special Exhibition Translation (COEX, Seoul)
October 2021. Ordinary Things (Hankyung Gallery, Korea Economic Daily, Seoul)
July 2021. The Act of Translation (Geumbosung Art Center, Seoul)
February 2021. Image spacing (Maru Art Center, Seoul)
November 2020. Translation (Geumsan Window Gallery, Seoul)
September 2020. Horizontal Relation (Jemulpo Gallery, Incheon)
February 2020. Analytic Research for... (Dain Art Gallery, Asan)
June 2018. Translated structure exhibition (Alternative Space Noon, Suwon)
August 2016. Shadow in the Morning Exhibition (Daam Art Museum, Damyang)
April 2015. Same face, different idea exhibition (Hwaseong City Cultural Foundation, Dongtan Art Space, Hwaseong)
Special exhibitions and art fairs
2023.BAMA and many others
2021. Young Artist Exhibition (Geumsan Gallery, Seoul) and many others
More than 80 group exhibitions
Award
2019. First Half Naver Grafolio Creative Support Project Painting Category
2016. 'Shadow in the Morning' Exhibition / Selected for the Gwangju Biennale Commemorative Exhibition (Daedam Art Museum, Damyang)
Other experience
2024. Welcome to My Dream (Hwaseong City Cultural Foundation, Gallery Art JB)
2023. Participation in the Youth Culture and Arts Group Support Project, MAP4, Part of the Starting Space, Incheon Cultural Foundation
2022. Dong-A Pharmaceutical Orthomol Immune Art Campaign
2020. Lee Sang-bong Collaboration Artist
2020. Thousand Cultural Oasis Instructor (Attic, Incheon Jung-gu Office, Incheon Metropolitan City Hall)
2020. Public Art Project: Our Neighborhood Art, Participating Artist, Incheon Namdong-gu Office, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
2020. It's OK Project Participating Artist, Lee Sang-bong
Many others participated
Collection of the work
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Lee Sang-bong Co., Ltd., Blank Space Gallery, Arko Art Center ('I am an unknown artist' exhibition), Osan Museum of Art, Alternative Space Noon, Incheon Michuhol-gu Office, Book-Eating Museum, and many other private collections.
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