Seung Yi Oh: Jum Jum
October 6 – November 1 2008

Starkwhite is pleased to present Jum Jum, an exhibition of paintings by Seung Yul Oh, from 6 October to 1 November 2008.

Oh works in a wide range of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, sound and video, often combining them in quirky installations of objects staged as improvisations on a chaotic, indecipherable theme. He glides from hard-edged sculpture to representational painting, from painterly abstraction to 3D anthropomorphism, with humour as the unifying theme.

Over the past few years painting has become an increasing important strand in his practice. His last exhibition at Starkwhite, Ssengddong, featured a large, three-panel fantasy-scape of a sky borne island overgrown with lush plants and inhabited by shaggy, humanoid creatures and cute fauna. The trademark curvy, vaguely alimentary forms that surfaced occasionally in the painting suggested the island had a pulse of its own - a small Oh world hosting a variety of quirky, mutating life forms.

With Jum Jum Oh takes a different approach, animating the glossy black surfaces of the paintings with multi-coloured pools of paint dribbled onto the canvas. Compared to earlier works they are pared back, less chaotic, but at the same time retaining the improvisational character of his installations. Oh's materials also add a random factor. He says he likes to let his creations guide themselves, suggesting what to do next. The paintings are a good example of his process, shifting between abstract, blobby shapes and strange, sketchy creatures.

Seung Yul Oh completed his Master of Fine Arts at Auckland University in 2005. Recent projects and exhibitions include Oddooki, with curator Charlotte Huddleston, Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand, 2008; The secret life of paint, curated by Justin Paton, Dunedin Public Art Gallery (2007); Telecom Prospect 2007: New Art New Zealand, curated by Heather Galbraith, City Gallery Wellington (2007); 5 4 3 2 1, curated by Ngahiraka Mason, Auckland Art Gallery (2006); Bearing, with curator Emma Bugden, Te Tuhi The Mark (2006); Break: Construct, curated by Rhana Devonport, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (2006); CHEW CHEW Tongue, Starkwhite (2005); Compelled: Annual New Artists Show, curated by Rhana Devonport, Artspace (2005); and Snake oil, Recent Acquisitions from the Chartwell Collection, curated by Robert Leonard, Auckland Art Gallery (2005). He has also won several art awards, including the Waikato National Art Award in 2004 and the Goldwater Art Award in 2003.

Located in New Zealand on Auckland's Karangahape Road, Starkwhite presents a programme of artists' projects, solo shows, independently curated exhibitions and occasional forays into new music and other interdisciplinary practices. Starkwhite also represents artists from New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific rim.

Please contact the gallery for photographs or further information on this exhibition.

Starkwhite
510 Karangahape Road, Auckland, New Zealand
Tel. 64 9 3070703
Monday to Friday: 11.00am to 6.00pm
Saturday: 11.00am to 5.00pm
starkwhite@starkwhite.co.nz
www.starkwhite.co.nz