Alisan Fine Arts unveils Hidden Stories, a captivating group exhibition featuring six contemporary artists, including Korean American photographer Myeong Soo Kim. Running from December 3, 2024, to January 26, 2025, the exhibition explores diverse narratives through photography, with themes spanning natural landscapes, personal reflections, and socio-political realities.

Kim’s works in the exhibition highlight his signature blend of photography and collage, challenging traditional perceptions of landscape and memory. Pieces such as Untitled Green Landscape and Collapsed Landscape 004 transform familiar environments into layered compositions that juxtapose reality and abstraction. Kim invites viewers to reflect on their emotional connections to place and the evolving narratives shaped by perception.

René Balcer presents haunting imagery that merges sweeping Arctic landscapes with stories of displacement and resilience, including the 1950s forced relocation of Inuit communities in Canada. Works like Arctic Ice and Far Away underscore both the fragility of the natural world and the indomitable spirit of marginalized communities.

Stephen King captures the transient beauty of nature through painterly photography, with works such as Morning Meander and Reynisfjara Beach exploring patterns and emotions embedded in landscapes. His use of light and composition bridges the realms of photography and fine art.

South Ho Siu Nam reflects on personal and socio-political shifts in Hong Kong through his After EveryDaily VI series, while Ho Tam examines identity and cultural expectations in A Manifesto of Hair, focusing on Chinatown’s barbershops. Pixy Liao’s surreal, gender-challenging photographs, such as Space Girl Met Earth Boy, blend humor and introspection to invite audience participation in storytelling.

The exhibition is complemented by events, including an artist talk with René Balcer on November 2 and a fireside chat with Stephen King on November 26. Both discussions will delve deeper into the themes of storytelling and abstraction in photography.

Through Myeong Soo Kim’s introspective landscapes and the collective works of the participating artists, Hidden Stories reveals the profound layers hidden within ordinary moments. The exhibition challenges viewers to reexamine the familiar, offering a renewed perspective on the world through the lens of contemporary photography.

Sayart / Jason Yim, yimjongho1969@gmail.com