Gallery Hyundai is pleased to present a solo exhibition, Couturage, Nouage, by Shin Sung Hy (1948–2009) from February 5 to March 16, 2025. The relationship between Shin and Gallery Hyundai began when, upon the recommendation of Kim Tschang-Yeul (1929–2021), Gallery Hyundai visited Shin’s studio in Paris, France, where he was working as a full-time artist. At that time, Shin Sung Hy’s paintings stood out in the Korean art world for their vibrant colors and distinctive techniques, such as “tearing up thick cardboard to create collages” and “pierced space.” In 1988, Gallery Hyundai hosted Shin’s first solo exhibition, featuring his latest works at the time, accompanied by an essay written by a renowned art critic Lee Yil (1932–1997) in the exhibition catalogue. During the IMF financial crisis, Gallery Hyundai transported dozens of his new nouage paintings by renting a truck in Paris to showcase them at Art Basel in Basel, setting a sold-out record, and maintaining a valuable relationship that continues to this day.

Couturage, Nouage marks Shin Sung Hy’s 10th exhibition organized by Gallery Hyundai, revisiting the artist’s formative vision of deconstructing the flat canvas to create multidimensional spaces where events unfold, delving into the essence of painting. The exhibition features the first public presentation of Shin’s Empty Heart (1971) triptych, a work that left an indelible mark in the Korean art world when it received a Special Award at the 2nd Korean Art Grand-Prix Exhibition. Notably, this was the same event where Kim Whanki (1913–1974) won the Grand Prize with for his iconic work, Where, in What Form, Shall We Meet Again 16-IV-70 #166 (1970). Furthermore, Couturage, Nouage showcases thirty-five major works spanning over forty years, offering a retrospective look at the artist’s evolving creative journey, marked by significant shifts in Shin’s practice approximately every decade.

Shin’s practice can be broadly categorized into four distinct periods: the “hyper-realistic painting” series, Jute paintings (1974–1982), “collaged paperwork” series, collage, (1983–1992), “sewn-canvas” series, couturage, (1993–1997), and “knotted-canvas” series, nouage, (1997–2009). In the Jute paintings series, Shin painted hyperrealistic jute on actual jute, creating a coexistence of the real and the imaginary on the same canvas. Shin continued to expand his artistic vision with works like collage, a series of cardboard collages characterized by their bold, vibrant color, and couturage series, which involves cutting a painted canvas into uniform strips and sewing them together. This led to the emergence of nouage series which integrated surface and volume by gathering strips of colored canvas and tying them to a frame or other support structures. The nouage series, in particular, represents the culmination of the artist's struggles, explorations, prolonged experiments, and challenges as a painter. It transcends the flatness of traditional painting, introducing a new concept that unites two-dimensionality with three-dimensionality. In a process that seems to compensate the pain of destruction as Shin cuts and tears the canvases by hand, the nouage works also brought Shin profound aesthetic discoveries and the exhilaration of creation.

Over the span of his 40-year career, Shin Sung-Hy has remained devoted to the canvas. His exploration of deconstructing the two-dimensional plane with one-dimensional lines and reassembling the torn canvas into a dynamic space that resonates in both vertical and horizontal dimensions delves into three-dimensional painting as a space where numerous events and times intertwine. The painterly spaces constructed through sewing and weaving represent a significant evolution within the legacy of 20th-century artists, pushing the boundaries of the medium. Shin Sung-Hy’s work is deeply rooted in Korean traditions, yet boldly embraces Western influences, creating a unique and compelling dialogue between the two.