Objects in Oscillation

Objects in Oscillation

In an era when artificial intelligence (AI) can create and transform images, we find ourselves once again questioning their authenticity. Today’s visual environment, with its blending of the real and the imaginary, has also prompted renewed questions about the role of photography as a medium for perceiving and interpreting the world through the camera. It is from these questions that this exhibition begins.

The exhibition brings together still lifes by some of the leading contemporary Korean photographers: Chung Heeseung, Jo Seongyeon, Jung Jungho, Kim Kyoungtae, Koo Bohnchang, Koo Seongyeon, Park Chanoo, and Zo Sunhi. In the process, it shows a nuanced exploration of the genre through the eight artists’ differing views on objects. Revealing the presence and materiality of objects without imposing specific meaning on them, their work guides viewers to contemplate and discover their own insights.

The show includes a wide range of artists, from those who collect small objects found in their surroundings and contemplate over time to elicit a sense of presence within, to those who show objects in extreme close-up to reveal unfamiliar aspects of their materiality. Others picture opulent decorations made from sugar to show the ironies of desire and destruction, while another explores the relationship between image and literary text. Some question what remains valuable amid the accumulation of memory and experience, while others evoke traces of death and war in discarded fragments and perishing matter.

What links these eight participating artists is their working method of immersing themselves intensely in the solitary process of confronting and reinterpreting objects. Each artist focuses on different themes and objects, as they create images by viewing things directly through the lens rather than relying heavily on digital post-production.

In contrast to the manipulated images that AI generates instantly, these photographs connect more deeply to the material world as engage directly with objects rooted in everyday life. Through their singular approaches, each observes the world, discovering and capturing moments that are at once contingent, fleeting, and decisive. The sensations that envelop us in moments beyond our control, when we enter into a dialogue with objects, may be closest to the way we experience the world. The works here crystallize the photographers’ attitudes both as individuals and artists, inviting us into a moment of reflection not only on objects but on existence itself.

– Koo Bohnchang

ARTIST: Chung Heeseung

Recording everyday objects, bodies, and spaces with her camera, Chung Heeseung (b. 1974) explores the potential of the medium at the intersections of determinacy—rooted in the rigorous optical calculations of the device—and the uncontrollable contingency of the real world. To Chung, images function as vocabulary; much like a poet combining and arranging words to compose a verse, the artist organizes images in space to form sequences and craft synesthetic narratives. Chung transposes literary texts into photographs, attempting photographic translations as she explores the inherent grammar of the medium. Her sensorially refined images encourage viewers’ interpretations while broadening the visual act of seeing into a communicative experience. 

Chung Heeseung received a BFA in Paint- ing from Hongik University and both a BFA and MFA in Photography from the London College of Communication. She was selected as one of the four finalist for the Korea Artist Prize 2020 at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and has received the Excellence Award at the SONGEUN Art Award. Her major solo exhibitions include "Faraway, so close" (Goeun|Gibson Museum of Photography, 2025) and "Inadequate Metaphors" (Art Sonje Center, 2013). She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions at institutions such as Ilmin Museum of Art (2021) and the Gwangju Biennale (2018). Her work is held in prominent collections, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Seoul Museum of Art. 

ARTIST: Jo Seongyeon

The photographs of Jo Seongyeon (b. 1971) capture a delicate gaze and an attitude of communion toward those objects, scenes, and plants encountered in daily life. By assembling mundane items from her surroundings and organizing them in new contexts, she creates unexpected sensations and visual tension. Her series "Arranging Life" and "still alive" reflect timeframes of growth and fading in plants observed while cultivating on public land. Following them, she presented series such as "A Complete Coincidence" and Become a part of "something", which distill moments of temporary equilibrium and new relationships, combining discarded objects with stones gathered from the artist’s surroundings. Contemplating coexistence among nature, life, and art, Jo’s work embodies this ongoing meditation. 

Jo Seongyeon received a BFA and an MFA in Photography from Sangmyung University. Her major solo exhibitions include "A Complete Coincidence" (SPACE SO, 2021) and "KISIKAM" (Gallery Dam, 1999). She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions at institutions such as the Daegu Art Center (2024), Incheon Art Platform (2022), Wooyang Art Museum (2021), and the NamSeoul Museum of Art (2006). Her work is represented in the collections of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Art Bank and the Datz Museum of Art. 

ARTIST: Jung Jungho

Jung Jungho (b.1981) draws from folktales and hidden narratives to explore how regional and geographical specificity shapes individual beliefs, capturing these moments in photography and video. His images are the outcome of a sustained process in which Jung rigorously researches his subjects and further assembles, processes, and recombines what emerges over time. Recently, his anthropological and ethnographical interests have expanded to "feng shui", shamanism, and the existence of female deities in Korean mythology and their connections to the land. 

Jung Jungho studied Journalism as an undergraduate and received an MFA in Photography. His major solo exhibitions include "Sacred Site" (ARTSPACE BOAN, 2025) and "Topography of Beliefs" (Seoul Art Space Geum- cheon, 2024). He has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including "Come Back Home" (Photography Seoul Museum of Art, 2026), "Coexist" (Mittelrhein Museum Koblenz Germany, 2024), "The Printed World" (Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, 2022), and "Conservator C’s Day" (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Cheongju, 2020). His work is held in prominent collections, such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Seoul Museum of Art, and the Cheongju Museum of Art. 

ARTIST: Kim Kyoungtae

Exploring the surfaces of objects through photography, Kim Kyoungtae (b.1983) focuses on the conventions and conditions of human vision by utilizing close-up and composite techniques. He captures small items such as stones, nuts, and books in ways that strip away perspective or enlarge them to the point where their actual size can no longer be fathomed. He employs what is known as “focus stacking,” a process that involves taking hundreds of images as he brings his camera closer and closer to an object before combining the sections where all their focal points merge. The hyper detailed results reveal the inherent materiality of the object captured through its shapes and textures. 

Kim Kyoungtae received a BFA in Visual Design from Chung-Ang University and an MA in Art Direction from the École cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL) in Switzerland. His major solo exhibitions include "A Finite But Unbounded Force" (HITE Collection, 2024), "Bumping Surfaces" (DOOSAN Gallery, 2021), and "Dropping to the Surface" (Whistle, 2019). He has also participated in group exhibitions at institutions such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (2023), SONGEUN (2021), and Ilmin Museum of Art (2021). The artist was the recipient of the DOOSAN Yonkang Art Award in 2020, and his work is held in the collections of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Seoul National University Museum of Art. 

ARTIST: Koo Bohnchang

As both an artist and a curator, Koo Bohnchang (b.1953) played a pivotal role in laying the groundwork for contemporary Korean photography, establishing a unique place for himself with a concise and minimalist photographic language. Since adopting photography as a way of communicating with the world, he has undertaken various unconventional experiments, later progressing to a contemplative framing of nature and subjects that explore Korea’s traditional culture within a modern sensibility. His photographs have focused on subjects as diverse as porcelain, gold crowns, traditional masks, "dancheong" patterns, and other cultural heritages, along with objects that he encounters by chance. His images reflect poetic allusions and the marks of time harbored by his subjects. 

Koo Bohnchang graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in Business Administration before earning a Diploma in Photographic Design from Fachhochschule Hamburg in Germany. In 2025, he became the first photographer to receive the Samsung Ho-Am Prize, and he was also honored with the Presidential Commendation at the Korea National Culture and Arts Awards. His major solo exhibitions include Koo Bohnchang: "The Look of Things" (National Asian Culture Center, 2024) and "Koo Bohnchang’s Voyages" (Seoul Museum of Art, 2023). He has also participated in numerous group exhibitions at institutions such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales (2021) and the Museum of Photography, Seoul (2012). His work is held in prestigious permanent collections worldwide, including the British Museum in London, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. 

ARTIST: Koo Seongyoun

Koo Seoungyoun’s (b.1970) photographs are records of objects she crafts herself with materials such as candy and sugar, imbued with visual metaphors to reflect on human life. These are created out of ephemeral materials—popcorn in the form of plum blossoms, candy modeled on peonies, sugar resembling jewels, and so forth—and arranged in compositions that evoke genre paintings. Whether they are images of traditional "Maehwado" (plum blossoms) and "Morando" (peonies) or vanitas still-lifes, her photographs present imitations that look like the real thing while also toying with their disparity, leading the viewer to suspend judgment. Situated at the boundaries between the real and the staged, the eternal and fleeting, and the ideal and illusory, her work captures philosophical reflections on the nature of photography and the conventions of viewing, as well as human desire. 

Koo Seoungyoun studied Indian Philosophy at Dongguk University before graduating from the Department of Photography at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. Her major solo exhibitions include "The time it takes for sand to become rocks" (Gwangju Shinsegae Gallery, 2025), "Un-vanishing" (sahngupgallery, 2024), and "Candy" (Trunk Gallery, 2009). She has participated in prominent group exhibitions, including the Daegu Photo Biennale (2025), the Gwangju Museum of Art (2019), and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (2014). The artist was the recipient of the Grand Prize at the Gwangju Shinsegae Art Prize Gwangju Shinsegae Art Prize, and her work is held in the collections of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Art Bank and the Gyeonggi Museum of Art. 

ARTIST: Park Chanoo

In his work, Park Chanoo (b.1963) uses photography to frame the reality and presence of material objects. In series such as "Stone", the artist sensually explores the reality of geological forms and the way they evoke worlds that stretch beyond their materiality, documenting their long complex history in a unique and meditative style. Another series, "Engram", combines books with printed characters, bookshelves, and other objects to explore material traces, personal memories and the sedimentation of time. 

Park Chanoo graduated from the Department of Photography at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. Starting with "Stone" ( Joong Jung Gallery, 2013), his major solo exhibitions include "September 24, 2024" ( Joong Jung Gallery, 2024) and "Frame" ( Joong Jung Gallery, 2021). He has also participated in group exhibitions such as "2016 Art Gyeonggi START UP" (Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation, 2016) and "Encountering Happiness" (Gallery Moiso, 2014). His work is represented in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Art Bank, the Gwangju Museum of Art, and Museum Art. Plus in Germany. 

ARTIST: Zo Sunhi

Building on the distinct visual grammar developed in fashion and advertising photography, Zo Sunhi (b.1971) explores the depths of existence and the essence of matter beyond representation. Through images that touch on the temporalities of dissolution—subjects that include withered flowers, lifeless birds, and decaying fruits—she traces the accumulated layers of time and the remnants of memory. For the artist, the creative process is performative, allowing a gaze that gives objective form to the origins of loss and captures the ephemeral instance when an object exists as pure matter, freed from its signifying function. In this surplus time where collapse is suspended, the artist replaces absence with presence and traces the quiet language of objects. Her photographs invite the viewer to reflect on what objects are and how they endure between creation and decay. 

Zo Sunhi graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in Clothing and Textiles and served as a professor in the Department of Photography and Motion Picture at Kyungil University for 16 years. Her major solo exhibitions include "Frozen Gaze" (Museum Hanmi, 2025), "姬: Cosmos Mea" (New Spring Project, 2022), and "The Painter’s Memorandum" (Park No- soo Art Museum, 2021). She has participated in prominent group exhibitions at institutions such as the Ilmin Museum of Art (2022), the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (2016), and Art Sonje Center (2007). Her work is held in the collections of Museum Hanmi and the Amorepacific Museum of Art. The artist was the recipient of the Harper’s BAZAAR Fashion Photographer Award and the Fashion Journalist Award (Photography category) from the Fashion Group Korea Association.