BE THERE
Meniscus SeriesPresented by ArtGate Gallery April 2, 2009- May 2, 2009Reception: April 9, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmJung su HanArtGate Gallery is pleased to present “Meniscus Series,” a solo show of Jungsu Han’s painting and installation work. The show will run from April 2nd through May 2nd, 2009. There will be an opening reception on April 9th, 2009 from 6 – 8 pm. Jungsu Han was born in South Korea, where he received his undergraduate degree from Pusan National University in 1995. Shortly thereafter he moved to the U.S. and eventually received his MFA in painting from Pratt Institute in New York. He has been included in numerous shows both in New York and in Korea. This is his first solo show with ArtGate Gallery. The most important part of the “Meniscus Series” of works is the surface of the water that is used as a medium in the floor installations. This smooth surface, held brim-full in the cubic containers that serve as stretchers for the liquid canvas, reacts with the environment in both perceptible and imperceptible ways. Due to evaporation, dust, and other things unnoticeable on the human scale, the water must be carefully refilled or changed occasionally through the life of the piece. The refilling is a very personal interaction, or performance, with the piece, which occurs on a timeframe dictated by the natural environment. The other, more direct interaction occurs when the piece is installed on a ground surface that has any slight give to it. A wood floor or carpet under the cube will mean that a viewer walking around the work will slightly disturb the perfect stillness of liquid surface tension. The work always returns to balance, however, no matter the intensity of the disturbance. Some viewers are surprised to learn that the material is simply water, as it can look like glass or ceramic tile at times, and this paradox between impression and actuality begs to be resolved in a tactile manner by the viewer. Mr. Han occasionally indulges this desire in his audience and allows the works to be touched. He believes that the satisfaction of this need to touch a perfect surface reveals two opposing aspects of human nature- the desire to preserve and the desire to destroy. The internal strife that is produced is important to him, as he believes that “…a human being’s expression comes from the balance of opposite aspects.”
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