Where the sea ends is a three person exhibition of works by Young-Il Ahn, Gabriel de la Mora and Shim Moon-Seup which explores abstractions of the sea and sky. The exhibition brings together artists from cross generations and cultures, each with a distinct visual expression, united by an enduring inspiration that the natural world has provided them.
Young-Il Ahn (b. 1934, Gaeseong, Korea) lived in Los Angeles from 1966 until his death in 2020. The landscape, light, and atmosphere of California profoundly influenced his artistic journey. His painting practice was deeply affected when, in 1983, a motorboat that he was operating whilst on a fishing expedition became engulfed by fog off the Santa Monica coast. Unable to get his bearings, Ahn drifted into the Pacific Ocean. As he later recalled, “I lost all sense of direction. I cut the engine and let the currents take me.” When the fog finally cleared, Ahn’s experience of sunlight rippling on the waves was an epiphany: “I became profoundly aware of the surface of the sea being reborn in each and every moment. What I witnessed was engraved deep in my heart. From that day on, the sea lived inside me and I became part of the sea.” Ahn’s paintings from the Water series, created with subtly varying densities of impasto oil paint applied to the canvas with a palette knife, mimic the play of light on water, which would remain an ongoing concern for the rest of the artist’s life. Perrotin will feature Ahn's work in a solo presentation at the FOG Design + Art Fair in San Francisco from 21-25 January. A survey of the artist's practice will be mounted at Perrotin New York in September.
Gabriel de la Mora (b. 1968, Mexico City) collects, fragments and organises organic material such as feathers to create patterns and effects inspired by the natural world. Subtle and precise, de la Mora’s works illuminate the transformative potential of his material to weave visual rhythms that are elemental and complex. Dissolving boundaries between materiality and perception, the works become sites of introspection and reflection. On his practice, the artist has articulated “My work takes something that has already accomplished its function so it is a remnant of something, yet becomes the beginning of something new through transformation. My definition of art, in a way, is a parallel to that of energy: art is not created or destroyed, it is transformed.” Gabriel de la Mora is the subject of a current mid-career survey exhibition at Museo Jumex in Mexico City, curated by Tobias Ostrander, running until 8 February. The exhibition will travel to MARCO in Monterrey, Mexico in April.
Shim Moon-Seup (b. 1943, Tongyeong, Korea)’s paintings from The Presentation series take as their starting point the seascapes of Tongyeong, a coastal city in South Korea where he spent his childhood. After decades living in Paris and Seoul as an adult, Shim relocated to his hometown in 2012, aged 69. This return to familiar bodies of water and a slower pace of life not only allowed the artist to reconnect with the seascapes which have nurtured his curiosity and sensibility since childhood, but also allowed for a vital reengagement with the core of his personal and artistic belief. In the works, undulating brushstrokes layer and dissolve in an expression of the artist’s deep reverence for nature, its tempo and cycles. Shim will be presenting a major retrospective at Ca’ Faccanon in Venice opening in May. The exhibition will offer a comprehensive overview of his artistic journey, bringing together key works from across his career and highlighting the depth and evolution of his practice.
“The sea is a place where visual and auditory spaces merge, shaped by light, scent, and sound. I was deeply moved by the way in which light is reflected on the ocean—it left a spiritual impression on me. It is through the colours reflected from light that the sea becomes truly beautiful. Light flickers, colour carries, expands, and leads us into the realm of imagination.”
