Jingoo Yu

Education

Graduated from Hongik University, College of Fine Arts

Solo Exhibitions

2024 Invited Solo Exhibition (Sejong Museum Gallery, Seoul)

2023 Invited Solo Exhibition WAVE (Gallery Hue, Busan)

2023 Invited Solo Exhibition (Picasso Gallery, Busan)

2023 Invited Solo Exhibition (Insa Art Plaza, Seoul)

2022 Invited Solo Exhibition (Easel Gallery, Busan)

2020 Invited Solo Exhibition (East Gallery, Busan)

2020 Invited Solo Exhibition (Samsung Raemian Gallery, Seoul)

2020 Invited Solo Exhibition (Sejong Gallery, Seoul)

2019 Solo Exhibition Joy of Light (Gallery Insa Art, Seoul)

2018 Solo Exhibition (Insa Art Gallery, Seoul)

2018 Invited Solo Exhibition (Mare Gallery, Busan)

2017 Solo Exhibition (Insa Art Center, Seoul)

2016 Invited Solo Exhibition (Palais de Seoul Gallery, Seoul)

2016 Invited Solo Exhibition Harmony (Easel Gallery, Busan)

2013 Invited Solo Exhibition Land of Silence (Centum Gallery, Busan)

2007 Solo Exhibition (Fine Gallery, Busan)

Group Exhibitions & Art Fairs 

2025

Korea Galleries Art Fair (COEX, Seoul)
 

2024

Affordable Art Fair (UK)

Dreams of Nature, Hopes of Vision (Light & Salt Gallery, Yeosu)

Facing Summer (Picasso Gallery, Busan)

Daegu Art Fair

Korea Galleries Art Fair (COEX, Seoul)

KIAF (COEX, Seoul)

2023

Art Miami Context (One Herald Plaza, Miami, USA)

Breath (Art Soombi, Seoul)

Korea–Indonesia 50th Anniversary Exhibition (Nata Citta Museum, Bali)

World Art Dubai (World Trade Center, Dubai)

KIAF, Korea Galleries Art Fair (COEX, Seoul)

Affordable Art Fair (UK)

2022

Korea Galleries Art Fair, KIAF, BAMA (Busan Annual Market of Art)

2021

Two-Person Exhibition with Kang Dae-jin (Easel Gallery, Busan)

KIAF, Korea Galleries Art Fair, Art Busan

2018

Silk Road of the Sea Exhibition (Fuzhou Art Museum, Fujian, China)

2017 

KEAD Exhibition (Landmark Art Center, UK)

2016

Tianjin Biennale (Across Gallery, Japan)

2015 

I Am an Unknown Artist (Arko Art Center, Seoul)

Participated in over 200 group exhibitions and projects

I. Prologue

The artist Jin-Gu Yoo, after going through various formative experiments, has, for over ten years until now, continued experiments in both plane and three-dimensional forms through mother-of-pearl. From the series Dance of Aloeswood, which explored the forms full of rhythmic beauty of goldfish and carp swimming underwater, to Land of Silence, which depicted rivers and islands such as Dodamsambong and Oryukdo, to Space of Circulation, which abstracted the sky containing revolving patterns, to From the Light, which explored the wavelength of light on circular panels, to Harmony, which investigated polyhedral abstract sculptures in jewel-like forms, and finally to his most recent Wave series, which delves into the surfaces of rivers and seas, all of these diverse developments have formed his experiments.

What is the achievement that Yoo’s formative experiments, in which he has attached countless delicate modules of mother-of-pearl in various ways, have accomplished. Also, what is the shared aesthetic contained in the many series he has persistently explored from his earlier works to the present. To answer such questions, this writing closely examines the various worlds of works that appear in his series, centering on his recent works.

II. The Modernization of Tradition, the Pictorial and Sculptural Transformation of Mother-of-Pearl

In Yoo’s work, mother-of-pearl becomes the most basic material that differentiates his work from others. Even in the present era of pluralistic art, when it has become difficult to measure the essential aesthetics of art through its medium, mother-of-pearl is the principal medium that penetrates his work and a yardstick for judging the aesthetics contained in his art. In other words, his experiment of introducing mother-of-pearl, one of the principal materials of traditional craft, into painting and sculpture, though starting from the root of craft, ultimately makes the medium escape the decorative attributes of craft and transform into an experimental material of fine art. It may indeed be called a pictorial transformation of mother-of-pearl or a sculptural transformation of mother-of-pearl.

The first experiment that showed such pictorial and sculptural transformation began with the Dance of Aloeswood series. The title of this series borrows from the gayageum ensemble composed in 1968 by Hwang Byung-gi, the master of gayageum. This composition drew inspiration from the Buddhist artworks of the Silla period, which inherited Asian sentiment, particularly the Buddhist spirit of India, while sublimating foreign cultures, tradition, sense, and sensual beauty into the world of ecstasy. As the title indicates, meaning “a dance that the people of Silla perform within aloeswood incense from India,” this composition was created by building on the scales and melodies of Buddhist chants, clearly distinct from the tradition of the Joseon Dynasty, and presented a new world of tuning.

Consisting of three movements, Dance of Aloeswood changes tempo and rhythm frequently. At the end of the piece, a tremolo is played by rubbing the low strings, and as the sound gradually grows louder, it blazes like the final flame and then slowly disappears. After the tremolo fades into the distance, the piece concludes with three quiet arpeggios that ring as if in recollection. Many technical methods not used in the Joseon tradition appear here, such as plucking with both hands, starting with the fifth finger to strike the strings, playing two strings simultaneously, and rubbing the strings to make sound. Thus, this composition is evaluated as modernizing the traditional performance method by tracing the origin of the gayageum back to Silla.

Jin-Gu Yoo repeats ceaseless experiments to express within his mother-of-pearl works the spirit of Dance of Aloeswood practiced by Hwang Byung-gi. By doing so, the theme of “the modernization of tradition” takes deep root and appears in all aspects of his work. What is it.

First, the modernization of tradition appearing in his work is related to the experiment of transferring mother-of-pearl, the material of craft tradition, into the domain of contemporary fine art. That is, by stripping away the practical and decorative attributes of mother-of-pearl as craft material and penetrating deeply into the material’s inherent properties, he explores the possibilities of pictorial and sculptural transformation and aesthetics that it reveals.

Second, rather than following the traditional formative method of placing mother-of-pearl on sections of furniture surfaces, he paints on panels and then applies mother-of-pearl over the entire surface in the manner of a painting, practicing his unique approach of multiple art. In doing so, he creates a series of glass-like effects that mysteriously cover the surface of the painting, or the clusters of mother-of-pearl themselves form another field of painting or sculpture. For instance, in the Dance of Aloeswood series, he attaches countless translucent slices of thin mother-of-pearl over detailed acrylic paintings of swimming fish, so that the clustered surfaces appear like water glittering in light.

Third, he develops various methods of attaching the translucent clusters of mother-of-pearl onto panels as another form of painting. These include horizontal or vertical repetitive patterns, concentric circular expansions, and zigzag geometric abstractions. According to the diverse languages of form with which he adheres these clusters, his works experiment with possibilities beyond mere glass-like effects. He sometimes paints abstract symbols beside figurative images and arranges different modules of mother-of-pearl in varying ways so that figuration and abstraction coexist on the panel.

Finally, he extends the pictorial transformation into sculptural transformation by creating panels with relief or round sculptural volumes onto which the mother-of-pearl is affixed. This aspect will be examined in connection with the problematics of projection and reflection in the following section.

III. Projection and Reflection, Surfaces Containing Light

The pictorial and sculptural transformations of mother-of-pearl in Yoo’s works are not confined to the Dance of Aloeswood series but appear diversely throughout his oeuvre. Works such as the later series following Dance of Aloeswood, which carved the panel surface into relief, applied blue or red ground, and expressed the flow of rivers or seas dyed with sunset glow, or the more recent Wave series, which sought more advanced forms, belong here. So too does Land of Silence, which expresses river-island landscapes in a fantastical language of representation.

In his works, the modules of mother-of-pearl appear in different sizes, shapes, and types. As in the Space of Circulation series, they take concentric circles, triangles, or squares, sometimes unfolding into geometric abstraction, sometimes surreal figuration. In the From the Light series, he explores the stepwise wavelength of light on circular panels, where geometric abstraction and icon-like forms such as the shape of an eye interlock.

What about the Harmony series, consisting of relief panels or sculptures with polyhedral cuts like gemstones or crystals under a microscope. These works reveal clear reflective effects of the modules depending on the angle of light, while in the Wave series, he emphasizes the effect of ripples on river and sea surfaces by attaching translucent slices of mother-of-pearl onto carved wooden panels with iridescent coloration, evoking illusions of glimmering sunlight or moonlight on water.

Why is the effect of projection and reflection in his mother-of-pearl modules possible. First, because instead of thick shell as used in traditional inlay, he employs thinly processed slices, which impart translucency to the surface. By painting or coloring the panel or resin beneath and then attaching mother-of-pearl, the images underneath are made visible. Since the shell’s calcium carbonate is a transparent crystal, his works create effects akin to prisms refracting light. They may metaphorically be called surfaces containing the light of projection.

Second, because he diversely employs shells of different types, colors, and origins according to each series, the reflective properties vary. Abalone, winged pearl, trocas, green snail, and mop shells are each used to maximize the effects of reflected light, creating shimmering surfaces akin to Pointillism or Op Art. His works thus may also be called surfaces containing the light of reflection.

Third, because he attaches mother-of-pearl onto relief or three-dimensional sculptural surfaces, thereby maximizing projection and reflection. Light striking the polyhedral relief or sculptural facets is visualized differently on each surface, producing a spectrum that disperses white visible light into mysterious and brilliant multicolored rays.

Thus, Yoo’s surfaces that hold projection and reflection arise from three causes: thinly processed mother-of-pearl slices, the diverse types of shells used according to the series, and the sculptural volumes of relief or three-dimensional form.

IV. Multiple Wave, the Creative Labor of Hylozoism

In my view, the effects of projection and reflection in Yoo’s recent works reach their fullest in the Wave series, where he expresses the flow of water. The countless thin slices of mother-of-pearl confronting the carved relief surfaces reveal multiple waves. But waves are originally multiple in nature. Indeed, the English word wave refers to the grain-like pattern that appears on the surface of water. Grain denotes the underlying structure or pattern formed by the gathering of states in wood, stone, water, skin, or mind.

This grain is both the external state of relief repeating in multiple fashion and the physical state of troughs and crests recurring in multiple repetition. When trough and crest repeat as multiples, we attend to wavelength. Wavelength is the distance connecting one trough to the next or one crest to the next. Though appearing as horizontal extension, the wavelength also entails vertical expansion in its patterned repetition.

When horizontal and vertical movements interlock in such multiplied repetition, we call it a wave motion. Remembering that the word wave expresses not only water but also the vibrations of light and sound, the multiple wave discovered in Yoo’s works is no different from wave motion. It is the transmission of energy through vibration across media such as air, vacuum, water, or objects. It is movement continuing through the repetition of troughs and crests. Thus, wavelength is a static form capturing the essence of wave motion, and Yoo’s works, though immobile, embody the dynamism of wave motion.

Look at the Wave series. His wooden panels carved with crests and troughs already contain the form of wavelength, and when overlaid with countless translucent mother-of-pearl, they reveal reflective and projective effects that transform still patterns into moving wave motions. Although they do not exhibit actual kinetic movement, like Kinetic Art, they reveal virtual movement, like Op Art, appealing to our retina. Though unmoving, the countless modules of mother-of-pearl attached onto relief surfaces visualize the colors of projection and reflection so effectively that they firmly establish the movement of waves as living existence.

The Space of Circulation series, with its small lighthouse, shows a horizon full of rippling seas and swirling concentric skies glowing with shimmering atmosphere. Depending on the viewer’s movement, the colors shift continuously in brilliant variation. The circular panels of the From the Light series similarly reveal dazzling visual effects of gradated color through the shimmering mother-of-pearl. In the later works following Dance of Aloeswood and in the Wave series focusing solely on ripples, and in the Harmony series combining relief and polyhedral sculpture, this virtual movement is intensified even further.

I choose to call Yoo’s labor of drawing light into his works and endlessly varying potential movement the creative labor of hylozoism, the worldview that believes all matter possesses life. His practice of slicing shells into thin modules, attaching them one by one with tweezers onto wooden panels, and thereby breathing the soul of light into matter is indeed arduous labor. Though begun in the joy of creation, the work inevitably demands painful effort. It is rightly called creative labor that breathes life into dead material.

V. Epilogue

For a long time, Jin-Gu Yoo has explored the modernization of tradition within fine art through the pictorial and sculptural transformations of mother-of-pearl. Through painstaking methods of attaching countless thin slices onto wooden panels or resin, he has continuously experimented to maximize the effects of projection and reflection inherent in the material. These experiments explore optically the operations of light presupposing wave motion. They may indeed be called multiple waves woven through projection and reflection.

In metaphorical terms, Yoo’s works may also be described as the world of hylozoism attained through arduous labor, for through the iridescent and mysterious potential movements that vary according to the viewer’s position, his works breathe life into inanimate matter.

• National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

• National Maritime Museum, Korea

• Embassy of the Czech Republic in Korea

• Busan District Court and Prosecutor’s Office

• Busan Government Complex

• Durae Raum Apartments

• Changwon Cultural Foundation

• Jeoldusan Martyrs Museum

• Dongnae-gu Office

• 21st Century Foundation (Japan)

• The Golf Club

• Sammi Construction

• Dongbu Construction

• And Many Others