Slit: The Eye of the Painting
d/p, Seoul Korea
June 11 – July 13, 2025
artist: Sang-ah Choi, curator: Jee Young Maeng
By examining the work of Sang-ah Choi, Slit: The Eye of the Painting goes beyond the scope of a solo exhibition to ask fundamental questions about the meaning of “seeing” in art.
Choi is a Korean artist based in the U.S.—it has been six years since Choi’s last solo exhibition in the U.S. in 2019, and sixteen years since her last solo exhibition in Korea. For this exhibition, curator Jee Young Maeng sought to approach Choi’s work in a more multilayered, three-dimensional way in terms of curation, creation, appreciation, and criticism by deeply sympathizing with the integral questions raised by the artist. Choi has created paintings that stand erect, and to physically present these works in an exhibition space, Maeng has orchestrated a route that allows viewers to move between the back and front of the paintings, to fully appreciate the works.
Despite the various media Choi has used over the years—including paintings, sculptures, installations, and pop-up books—to her, the act of creating converges toward painting. No matter what shape or form it takes, her work naturally becomes a “painting.” Using paper as her primary material, the artist carries out her work daily as if a ritual. She begins with a vague idea of what she sees, but by carefully considering the possibilities and limitations of the conditions presented before her (space, materials), she fully confronts the “painting” she creates.
Slit: The Eye of the Painting will present two large-scale paper paintings from the Untitled: Geurim (2024) series, which are over one meter in height and six meters in length, as well as another painting approximately nine meters in length, and multiple drawings from the Self Portrait (2024–2025) series.
The circles, curves, and overlapping shapes that repeatedly appear in the paintings represent a compression of the time the artist has traveled through. The circles become eyes, holes, and sometimes passages that spend time both inside and outside the frame, leaving traces as they disappear and reappear. The artist becomes one with the painting, mediating the front and back, inside and outside of the work as she reveals pre-existing limitations while simultaneously opening novel possibilities, constantly breaking down and building new boundaries.
“Slit” refers to a narrow, long hole or gap, or the act of making such a gap. It encompasses both the artist’s method and how she approaches her projects. As Choi herself puts it, she “open[s] the painting and step[s] into it.” In this sense, “slit” becomes a passage into the painting, a breathing hole that connects the inside and outside of the painting’s flat surface, turning it into a three-dimensional space.
The exhibition’s subtitle, “The Eye of the Painting,” is a metaphor for the artist’s outlook—she desperately and sincerely considers paintings as living objects, and suggests that the act of viewing a painting is also an act of looking at oneself.
catalog published: Sowhansa
writings by Jee Young Maeng, Linda Tesner, Hongki Kim, Suzi Park, Sang-ah Choi
photo: Eun Chun, Ala Mohseni
graphic design: Mojo Industry
