Shim Moon-seup  



Elemental forces
are channeled into the sculpture of Shim Moon-seup. Water, rocks and wood interact with light in a garden of energy. Two exhibitions concurrently feature the art of Shim, a noted Korean sculptor who has exhibited often Japan over the past three decades.

At the INAX Gallery is a sculptural installation. A stroll away through the fashionable Ginza, is an exhibition of his drawings at the Muramatsu Gallery.

Understanding Shim moon-seup's sculpture is enhanced greatly by seeing his drawings. These are brush and ink sketches for a selection of his installations. The drawings articulate the 'circulatory' nature of his art.

Shim's sculpture has an air of simplicity. Yet, like the line of the optic cables wrapping around the rocks it is often a more complicate tangle of ideas. The installation at the INAX Gallery flows across the floor.

At one end a number of drinking glasses are stacked on a shelf attatched to the wall. At the other end of the gallery, a large log of wood is hollowed out to form a basin into which water is bubbling. Between these two ends of wood and glass, about twenty or so rocks are arranged about the floor in a circle.

Emanating from a ball of cables in the glasses and then cascading in tangles across the floor, tied in various knots, wrapped around rocks and then dipping into the water, is a trail of fiber optic. Many of the ends of these cables glow bright white. As a result of the pumps and light transformers the installation hums with electricity.

The arrangement and the nature of the materials suggest a circulatory system. As in a Zen garden, there is a dynamic flow between the elements.

Similarly, energy is captured in the quick and practiced brush-strokes of Shim's large drawings. Using soft, hand-made papers, black ink and a calligraphic style the paintings of sculptural installations have an air of more traditional Korean and Japanese art.

The best of the drawings evoke a clamness of a temple garden. A few sparse elements connected by a tension derived from their size and shape and space.

The two exhibitions build upon each other. The drawings and sculptural installation go together to strengthen our appreciation of the whole. However, maintaining that Zen moment as you walk the Ginza between them, may test your aesthetic strength.









INAX Gallery , Kyobashi
Muramatsu Gallery Hirakata Bldg 2F 7-10-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku Tel: 03.3571.9095 11:00 Ð 19:00