NAMGOONG WHAN
INNER ROOM WITH A VIEW

group EXHIBITION

February.28 - JUNE.30.2021

NAMGOONG Whan is an artist whose passion for painting is intrinsically bound with a philosophy of life and utter self-discipline. His artistic process involves creating works on a daily basis in order to keep his abilities at their highest level. The artist surrounded by his brushes, his inkwell with numerous and carefully arranged personal items, applies on to moistened paper on the ground, the ink dots which spread like blood in the veins, and air in the lungs.

 “I paint at the pace of my daily breath”

- NAMGOONG Whan

There’s no room for chance or repentance. When the artist creates, his meticulous gestures are in symbiosis with his breathing. In a tremendous degree of concentration, like a trance state, Whan inscribes on paper the result of the energy flowing through his body, and  the light flowing through his mind.

Whan’s creations which can be admired individually or as a set, are like visual interpretations of microscopic cells representing physical, psychic or spiritual inner spaces. In them, the full and empty, the black and white, the centrifugal and centripetal forces balance each other out. Separately or together the ink paintings are about harmony. 

These emerging shapes are akin to entoptic phenomena. The viewers could also recognize familiar shapes or textures in them, but the references result from the natural phenomenon of pareidolia confronting  the viewer from his or her own beliefs. 

“This is a kind of transcription that comes here through the intermediary that I am.”

- NAMGOONG Whan

Whan’s artistic practice is inspired by the Far East philosophy and is related to Shi Tao’s (Chinese 1641-1719-20), artistic research (Ten Thousand Ugly Inkblots) or Chusa’s (Korean 1786-1856) but contrary to the Literati Paintings NAMGOONG Whan’s images do not depict traditional landscapes in which the viewers make an intellectual journey. What the artist presents in his works are the gestures, energy of his creation, and ultimately, an abstract self-portrait. 

Fortunately, Whan’s works do not have the austerity one may expect from an ascetic and hermetic practice. In contrast, with the artist’s extreme mastery of his process, he’s able to create multiple iterations with numerous subtle variations that engage his viewers with rich visuals.