Layered Time

Presenting Layered Time, a solo exhibition of Yoo Geun-Taek

Savina Museum of Contemporary Art presents the solo exhibition of Yoo Geun-Taek as its first show in 2021.

This exhibition is the fruit of the artist’s spirit who experimented with various formative

languages; and also an outcome of thought process on deepening and expanding the artist’s consciousness on the subject matter of time and space which he has explored for a long time.

The artist observes natural phenomena and everyday objects – such as land, sea, weeds,

barrier fences, newspapers, laundry, etc. – with a delicate and in-depth gaze, and asks

profound questions on the ways of recognizing the essence of existence and the nature of objects in a new light, and on the ways of presenting them into images. Furthermore, he contemplates on the cause of the conflict, confusion and transformation following the state of affairs in Korean peninsula which is undergoing a time of upheaval, and explores its problems in a various angle within the political, social, and cultural context. French philosopher Cyril Morana and Éric Oudin wrote in the chapter on Merleau-Ponty in L'art: De Platon à Deleuze which they co-authored, ‘paintings are not simply viewed in a predictable way, but it allows us to explore the invisible beyond the visible, in other words, it allows the exploration of existence.

The magic of art lies in the ability of making what exists beyond the visible – the invisible – perceptible.’ I hope the viewers will find an opportunity to recognize a true world in seeing the attempts in Yoo Geun-Taek’s works to unite time and space, reality and unreality, material and spirit, and the visible and invisible world.