ART OnO 2025

BEAK Jungki (b.1981) explores both the essence of materials and his specific areas of interest through his work. His artistic practice is shaped by a process that bridges scientific experimentation and artistic outcomes, grounded in such inquiries. BEAK places great importance on experimenting and producing by hand through various methods, which leads to the creation of the visual results in his work. In the is of series presented at Art OnO, BEAK photographs natural landscapes and prints the images using pigments extracted from plants collected in those very locations. For this series, the artist captures scenes of landscapes at the peak of autumn foliage, then extracts pigments from the fallen leaves gathered on site to use as printing materials. Unlike conventional photography, BEAK’s works incorporate actual elements of nature as direct materials, capturing the presence and uniqueness of ever-changing nature within the image. In today's context, where digital image processing and AI technologies make image replication and generation effortless, BEAK’s approach can be seen as a sincere attempt to restore the uniqueness that photography has lost. BEAK gives particular attentive to the nature of plant-based pigments, on discoloration and deterioration. To delay these natural changes, BEAK has developed and experimented with various preservation techniques such as vacuum sealing, nitrogen substitution, and resin coating. This aspect of his work reveals the tension between humanity's fundamental desire to control nature's transformation, the inherent limitations of that desire, and the acceptance of change and disappearance.

BEAK’s work goes beyond the mere outcome of photography, emphasizing the meaning of the natural materials constituting the image. His process itself, which embraces temporality through change and disappearance, functions as a crucial form in the work. The is of series is not simply a collection of landscape photographs but a body of work that raises ontological questions about nature, human desire, and the medium of photography itself.

BEAK received his BFA in Sculpture from Kookmin University in 2004 and his MFA in Fine Art from the Glasgow School of Art in 2008. He has held solo exhibitions at institutions including ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL (Seoul, Korea, 2023), Whiling & Dealing (Seoul, Korea, 2021), OCI Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea, 2019), and Alternative Space Loop (Seoul, Korea, 2012). Since 2004, he has participated in exhibitions at major Korean art institutions such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul Museum of Art, Amorepacific Museum of Art, Ulsan Art Museum, Songeun, Leeum Museum of Art, Nam June Paik Art Center, Posco Museum of Art, Daegu Art Museum, and Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art. Internationally, BEAK has also been active in Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, Venezuela, Israel, China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. BEAK has received the Songeun Art Award (2012), the Kim Sejoong Young Sculptor Award (2019), and the IFVA Gold Award for Media Art from the Hong Kong Arts Centre (2023). BEAK’s works are part of major collections such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Busan Museum of Contemporary Art, Ulsan Art Museum, OCI Museum of Art, and Songeun in Korea.

OK Seungcheol (b. 1988) explores the issue of originality in the post-digital era. Using digital images as his primary source, he works across various media, including painting and sculpture, while also navigating the boundaries between reality and virtuality, art and non-art. His work emphasizes the irony of the intersection between "light" (digital originals) and "heavy" (artworks) images. By highlighting the contradiction between infinitely reproducible digital images and the uniqueness emphasized in art, OK Seungcheol investigates the notion of originality from a fresh perspective. His work captures the process in which images do not settle into a single form but instead interact inside and outside their given format, materializing in multiple textures and variations. The coexistence of lightness and seriousness is a recurring theme in his art, with the external shell of an image often producing a striking contrast. His works not only shift perspectives but also attempt to depict the essence of a subject with subtle differences. This variation follows a method similar to character customization in video games, where minor elements such as hair color or skin tone are altered while the fundamental character remains the same.

OK Seungcheol was born in Seoul in 1988. He received his received his BFA in Western Painting from Chung-Ang University in 2013. He has held solo exhibitions at venues such as PARCO Museum Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan, 2024), Gallery Kiche (Seoul, Korea, 2023; 2020; 2018), and Art Sonje Center (Seoul, Korea, 2022). He has participated in group exhibitions at institutions including the Cheongju Museum of Art (Cheongju, Korea, 2023), K11 (Shanghai, China, 2023), Daejeon Museum of Art (Daejeon, Korea, 2021), Unit London (London, UK, 2020), Daegu Art Museum (Daegu, Korea, 2019), and Space K (Daegu, Korea, 2017). He has also collaborated with a range of brands, organizations, and artists including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (2021), Kakao Friends (2020), and the band Adoy (2019; 2018; 2017).