NOH Sangho: THE GREAT CHAPBOOK

Arario Gallery Shanghai is pleased to announce the solo exhibition THE GREAT CHAPBOOK by Korean artist Noh Sangho from 30 June to 31 August, 2023, featuring the artist's eponymous series “THE GREAT CHAPBOOK”, as well as new works from the new series “HOLY”.

In this age of imagery, with the proliferation of various social media, sharing snippets of life or reading digital images on virtual networks has become a very common way of quickly understanding and participating in the world. This way of socializing, living and consuming is the starting point and the underlying logic of Noh’s work - to explore the production of images and their consumption by the masses in modern society. The contemporary nature of his work is undeniable, as he browses the internet and social media on a daily basis, collecting images and using his iconic language to record the contemporary aspects of popular culture and social networking.

The series "THE GREAT CHAPBOOK" is a tapestry of characters and cartoons derived from fragments of internet images. These figures, adorned in stylish or eccentric attire, appear as travelers from another time and place, each engaged in a unique act within their respective settings. While the series resembles a storybook composed of diverse images and scenes, it defies a linear narrative structure. By embarking on a journey of discovery within the paintings, viewers are encouraged to let their imagination roam and establish connections between seemingly unrelated elements, transforming fragmented images into compelling stories.

It is worth noting that in this series, Noh employs carbon paper, traditionally sandwiched between two pages, as a medium to reproduce text and images. This technique serves as a metaphor for the countless copies, pastes, transfers, and distributions of images across various digital platforms, symbolizing the vastness of the virtual world.

In a bid to capture the transient and fleeting nature of contemporary culture, Noh dedicates himself to creating a small painting based on an online image nearly every day, which he promptly shares on his Instagram page. "The core of my work revolves around the images that emerge daily on the internet, which I quickly absorb and reprocess in various ways," explains Noh. Through this process, images fluidly traverse between the two worlds.

Additionally, the "daily drawing" series, which has been created by Noh over the past year, will also be on display in this exhibition. The artist presents these drawings on hangers, reminiscent of the fashion industry, creating a unique visual representation of the public's consumption of images. Grounded in the underlying concept of the "production and consumption of images," Noh has successfully collaborated with commercial brands, designing prints for clothing companies and record covers for renowned bands, effectively merging art and commerce within his practice. "This represents the contemporary consumption of images," Noh remarks.