Boyoung Jeong, Still Looking, 2023, Oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm
THE HARTZ PROJECT is pleased to present 歸樸：The 0 Degree of Looking, a solo exhibition by South Korean artist Boyoung Jeong, on view from 19 September through 31 October 2026 at 2301 M Place, 54 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Hong Kong.
An opening reception and artist meet-and-greet will take place on Saturday, 19 September, from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
Introducing a contemplative quietude that transforms the gallery into a living architecture of stillness, the exhibition filters out the noise of contemporary acceleration to reveal a fundamental state of visual awareness.
Drawing inspiration from Roland Barthes’ concept of neutrality, the presentation proposes a gaze stripped of narrative weight, cultural interference, and emotional projection, elevating the act of viewing from passive image consumption into an unmediated experience of pure presence.
Jeong’s artistic approach relies on subtle containment, establishing a quiet gravity within the exhibition space through a delicate interplay of light, shadow, and minimalist geometry.
By reducing the visual plane to its essential elements—the gradual shift of ambient illumination, the weight of a shadow, and the tactile friction of surface textures—her canvases effectively reset the viewer's eye.
Rather than presenting empty voids, the works function as pregnant silences, capturing transitional moments where memory lingers, the atmosphere settles, and the boundary between internal consciousness and the external environment gently dissolves.
Her creative process serves as an extended meditation, where repetitive gestures and layered tonal shifts form a physical record of decelerated time.
Boyoung Jeong, Transparent Shadows, 2026, Oil on canvas, 50 x 65.2 cm
Treating light as a dynamic, active presence rather than a simple tool for illumination, Jeong reveals the concealed textures of quiet daily life.
Her compositions capture subtle, transitional shifts—such as the descent of dusk or the soft contour of an interior shadow—inviting audiences to discover profound peace within stillness.
Born in 1973 in South Korea, Dr. Boyoung Jeong holds a BFA, MFA, and Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Hongik University in Seoul.
Since 1997, she has presented 27 solo exhibitions at major institutions, including the Kumho Museum of Art, Leehwaik Gallery, and the SpaceMOM Museum of Art.
Her rigorous practice explores the spatial dynamics between object, painter, and viewer, continuously interrogating the boundaries between the human eye, the camera lens, and the act of painting itself by staging objects, capturing them photographically, and translating those images back onto canvas.
Her works are featured in prominent public collections, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, and the SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation. Dr. Jeong currently serves as a Professor of Western Painting at Chung-Ang University.
