WANG GUANGLE

Pace is pleased to present a focused exhibition of new works by Wang Guangle at its Seoul gallery.

September 4 – October 26, 2024

Wang presents three never-before-exhibited paintings within a site-specific construction in the gallery space, bringing together works from his Untitled and Coffin Paint series. Wang’s presentation with Pace in Seoul sheds light on his interest in exploring time as a universal element that can only be experienced, rather than described.

Known for his process-based paintings centering on temporality and physicality, Wang has long been interested in the tension between form and meaning, a relationship that informs his unique syntax of abstraction. Much of the artist’s work originates from deeply personal and existential ideas from mundane sources.

Inspired by a tradition from his hometown Fujian, where elders annually lacquer their coffins in an act of contemplating death, Wang’s Coffin Paint series examines themes of life and mortality, capturing memories and intuitive emotions through his repeated and ritualistic application of pigments. In these works, layers of paint produce distinctly textured and intricate surfaces. For a colorful new composition from this body of work, Wang experimented with a new technique, orienting the canvas vertically when applying paint to this vibrant work, ceding a great degree of control to gravity.

Wang’s specially built installation for his three paintings offers visitors to Pace’s Seoul gallery a window into his world. Emphasizing organic forms and enactments of interconnectedness, the installation cultivates a free and unconstrained space that invites thought and contemplation.