Artcube 2R2 to Hold Oh Ji-yoon Solo Show After Back-to-Back Venice Biennale Invitations

Seoul's Artcube 2R2 gallery said on April 20 that it will hold a solo exhibition by artist Oh Ji-yoon, "Dignity: Accumulated Time," for about two months starting April 24.

The show centers on Oh's "Dignity" series, a body of work she has presented consistently over the years. The artist layers materials with distinct physical properties — including charcoal, gold, hanji paper and pearls — onto the surface. Tens of thousands of brushstrokes and a lengthy production process leave multiple material states within a single work, creating a dense surface, the gallery said.

At the center of Oh's work is a question about human existence. Her paintings accumulate anguish, pain, compassion and reflection on the canvas, offering viewers a chance to empathize and contemplate, according to the gallery. The "Dignity" series in particular is regarded as a concentrated expression of the central theme of her practice.

Oh drew international attention after being invited to the Venice Biennale in 2024 and again this year. Artcube 2R2 said it scheduled the exhibition to coincide with the opening of the biennale. Presenting in Korea the same series shown at the biennale gives the exhibition added significance, a gallery official said. The show also offers a rare chance to experience in real time the contemporary discourse taking shape in the global art world, the official added.

The exhibition will be held simultaneously on the first floor of Artcube 2R2's main gallery and in its basement space. The gallery said it planned the show so visitors can experience the materiality and structure of the works across contrasting spaces and in multiple layers.

Hong Ji-sook, head of Artcube 2R2, said the exhibition focuses on the theme of dignity that Oh has explored continuously. It also gives visitors in Seoul a chance to see the same series shown at the Venice Biennale. Hong said she hopes viewers will encounter in person the texture of the materials and the depth of the surfaces — qualities difficult to fully convey through images — and experience the difference directly before the works.