SON Munil

Son presented a series focusing on the texture of the fabric. Son Mun Il expressed the rough texture of the suit, the dropping of the soft fabric, and the clinging feeling and the layering of the thin fabrics, in various ways. What he portrays through this series cannot be considered to be the exact representation of the existing object where ‘preparation1′ and ‘relationship2′, the unrelated geometric shapes are presented.

What needs to be pointed out is that Son Mun Il does not limit his work only to be the medium between the objects and the artwork. In order to re-present and to express the essence, Son does not curtail himself but he stands himself out by separating the figures, or by adding the geometric shapes of the basic elements. For revealing the artist on the work, the objects partially lose their basic identity by being hidden behind the fabric and other distortions. But the objects willingly sacrifice themselves for the new image of the artwork.

Son Mun Il’s work repeats the process of ‘creation, extinction and the change’. This repetition resembles the law of the jungle, In order to create the desired image; Son first chooses the objects in the surroundings. Then he collects data on the chosen objects and goes through the editing process. Like the law of the jungle, only the stronger images survive. The reason for the artist to choose the images is very intuitive. The objects were chosen only because they existed in the surroundings. Son never clearly explains the particular reason for choosing the objects or the images. But Son states that the reason for the absence of the faces in the men in suits is because the facial expressions would break the visual balance.

The images that Son Mun Il presents is the newly created entity, it cannot be defined in certain way and it rejects any kind of regulation. Therefore, the viewers only can show the sensual, intuitive reactions. The viewers focus more on the image that the artwork gives, than focusing on what type of object it is or who the person wearing the suit is. And the viewers naturally draw sensual feelings, and they cannot be actualized nor defined in a word. ‘Grotesque’ cannot conclude the shape of the work without face and the abnormally portrayed shoulder, ‘ambiguous’ cannot define the image of the red silky textured object.

Intuitively selected covered images and the lined fabrics are granted with the new life and the viewers ignite the visual, auditory and sensual languages and contribute to the energy that the unfamiliar images spurt. The young artist’s passion to create the image that reveals the ‘Essence’ finally creates an image that portrays his own ‘essence’. And the artists who were seeking to express the essence exist not merely as a medium but now exist as one significant flexible existence.

The ambiguousness and the unpredictability is the strength that Son’s works have. The chosen images go through the change process in order to have the new image and this is expanded like the cell division. One more interesting thing to be pointed out is that Son’s work are done on flat surface but they portray the three dimensional images, and they are all intentionally created through modeling the actual object then painting on the top. Also, the objects seem to lose their essence but instead it frankly suggests. In ‘relationship’ and ‘preparation’ series, the mixture of the suit and dress with the geometric shapes are all related to the essence part, for example, the geometric shape from ‘relationship 1′ is silicon crystal which is one of the basic elements and the top of the ‘preparation 2′, there exist the brush which is the essence of the painting. This is the result of Son never limiting his work in representation, recreation but he penetrates the whole work. This proves that Son enjoys studying the topic ‘Essence’, rather than being obsessed or agonizing. Therefore the viewers, we can finally accept the artist’s twist and play on mixing the geometric shapes with the objects.

Son Mun Il gazes the plane over the actual visualization. This is the noumenon of the essence. Son explores the area of substantial existence and he suggests through his work. Son Mun Il’s work evolves. Genuine yet inexorable approach, elaborate observation on the object and the details are Son Mun Il’s strength in exploring the ‘Essence’.

Preface to <Fun with Essence> Exhibition (2011, Gong Art Space, Seoul, Korea)

SON Munil
Born in 1980, Seoul, Korea

EDUCATION
2012 M.F.A., Mural Painting, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2005 B.F.A., Oriental Painting, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITION
2016 Material Language, Form Gallery, Busan, Korea
2013 Illusion, Space SUN+, Seoul, Korea
2011 Fun with Essence, Gong Art Space, Seoul, Korea
2010 Sonmunil, Gong-Gallery, Bejing, China

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
2015 Color & Concept, Black Stone, Icheon, Korea
2013 Primavera, AMWAY Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
2013 “第五季节”, AsianArtWorks, Beijing, China
2012 Clothing-Making Selling Dressing Undressing, Ewha Womans University, Ewha Art Center, Seoul, Korea
2012 Don’t Trust Artist, Space K, Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, Korea