▲ Reproduction Of Time-Travel, 1995, Mixed media, 155x327x72cm ⓒ HAN Manyoung, Arario Gallery

Han Manyoung holds his solo exhibition 'Passage Between The Real And The Unreal' in Cheonan.

Han is a senior artist in Korea who makes works based on free experimental formulas, while showing the technical properties of various styles such as surrealism and hyperrealism but without being bound by any of them. He borrows established images and objects that are not related to each other, such as old famous paintings or magazines, old mechanical parts, and smartphone parts.

▲ Origin Of The Space 76-7, 1976, Oil on canvas, 80x100cm ⓒ HAN Manyoung, Arario Gallery

He uses this as formative to build a spatio-temporal relationship and constructs works by moving back and forth between the East and the West, past and present, art and daily life, creation and remodeling, conception and abstraction, reality and unreal.

He has reproduced, omitted, and transformed the characters in the works of Western masters through the 'The Origin of the Space' series, which he worked on in the 1970s, and the 'Reproduction of Time' series, which he has been working on from the 1980s to the present.

▲ Reproduction Of Time-K Beauty, Mixed media on canvas, 193.4x130.3cm, 2017 ⓒ HAN Manyoung, Arario Gallery

Since the 1980s, he has started to construct paintings in a more complex way by actively utilizing everyday objects while borrowing not only famous Western paintings but also classic works and images from Korea and East Asia.

He built his art world through repeated experimental spirit and development, from the initial work of dividing the interior of the wooden box and arranging images and objects of different contexts in the divided space to creating installations that utilize the entire exhibition hall since the 1990s.

▲ Reproduction Of Time-Book 21, 11, Object, acrylic on canvas, 116.8x182cm, 2021 ⓒ HAN Manyoung, Arario GalleryThe artist has been working on his creation for more than half a century, maintaining a consistent style of art without being swept away by trends of the art world. This is proof that he is expanding his view of the art world by staying in his domain and acquiring new information and skills.

In the exhibition, about 70 works, ranging from the artist's early 1970s work to the latest works, will be displayed. Through the exhibition in which different images and objects collide and harmonize, the audience will experience a time of free imagination and contemplation that exists beyond reality.

The exhibition is held at the Arario Gallery Cheonan until March 3, 24.

Sayart / Nao Yim, yimnao@naver.com