Oh Su-hwan, Silence, 1993, Oil on canvas, 259.1x193.9 cm
Shinsegae Gallery Cheongdam ( 21 Apgujeong-ro 60-gil ) is pleased to present After Gesture, a solo exhibition by Oh Su-hwan, one of Korea's most distinguished figures in abstract painting.
Running from May 8 to June 10, 2026, the exhibition explores the profound question of what remains on the canvas after the physical act of painting is complete.
Featuring works from his celebrated Silence series alongside his vibrant new Dialogue series, the showcase invites viewers into a space where form and narrative have been stripped away to reveal the raw essence of the medium.
Born in 1946, Oh Su-hwan is an emeritus professor at Seoul Women's University and a graduate of Seoul National University.
His illustrious career includes over fifty solo exhibitions at prestigious venues such as Gana Art and Galerie Maeght in Paris, as well as invitations to major international biennials in Gwangju and São Paulo.
His works are held in permanent collections worldwide, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea, the Maeght Foundation in France, and the Fukuoka City Museum in Japan.
In 2023, his lifelong contribution to the arts was officially recognized with the Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit.
The atmosphere of Oh’s studio reflects a lifetime of disciplined repetition rather than a mere collection of finished products.
Oh Su-hwan, Dialogue, 2023, Oil on canvas, 227.3x181.8 cm
For Oh, painting is a daily ritual of drawing lines with ink on Hanji paper—a persistent labor aimed not at completion, but at the systematic removal of the unnecessary.
This paradoxical approach of filling the canvas to achieve emptiness is deeply rooted in his personal history. Having served as a volunteer in the Vietnam War, Oh experienced the ultimate futility of ideology and explanation in the face of mortality.
This existential realization led him to abandon figurative representation in favor of abstraction, seeking the "minimum state of existence" that persists when all external justifications are stripped away.
While Oh has spent decades immersed in contemporary philosophy and aesthetics, he does not use these theories to add complexity to his work.
Instead, his intellectual depth functions as a tool for erasure. In his paintings, meaning is removed rather than added, and signs fade into a state that precedes language.
The brushstrokes do not point to specific objects; they are traces of an action that prioritizes "wu-wei" or non-action—a state of mindlessness where intention is surrendered to the flow of the process.
The exhibition contrasts the Silence and Dialogue series to show the evolution of this philosophy.
Silence features dark ink strokes on white surfaces, representing the peak of his minimalist efforts where tension and time are condensed into an almost empty frame.
In contrast, the Dialogue series introduces a more expansive structure characterized by bold colors and powerful strokes.
These large-scale, previously unreleased works demonstrate the artist's enduring energy.
Despite the vibrant dynamism of Dialogue, it remains an extension of the same void established in Silence.
The colors and energy do not represent an addition, but rather a new relationship made possible only after the canvas has been thoroughly emptied.
Oh Su-hwan, Dialogue, 2024, Oil on canvas, 213 x 155 cm
Ultimately, After Gesture is not focused on the gesture of painting itself, but on the enduring state that survives once the act is over.
The exhibition tracks the journey from the remnants of form to the disappearance of sign and meaning, leaving only the brushstroke behind.
Visitors are presented with canvases that no longer strive to show anything specific, yet exist with a powerful, undeniable presence.
It is an invitation to witness the point where repeated action purifies itself, prompting the final contemplation of what it truly means to leave a mark behind.
Oh Su-hwan, Variation, 2011, Oil on canvas, 198 x 200 cm
