‘Fold & Unfold’ by Jeon Byeong Sam

The Columns Gallery is pleased to present ‘Fold & Unfold’, its first solo exhibition of the works by Korean contemporary artist Jeon Byeong Sam. The exhibition – based on David Bohm’s quantum theory – features four series of framed mixed-media, diptych prints, a video, and some NFT pieces, exploring the intertwined relationship between sculpture, print, and image-making.

Many half-folded photographic prints, stacked and layered in various uniformed arrangements, serves as the primary construction for the serial works of Moment, Cosmo, Wave, and Blossom. Jeon reduces the formal qualities of an image to a mere thin line of ink exposed through its straight edge, similar to a single row of stuck pixels on a glitched screen.

In Unfold, a pair of square prints feature a central glowing light flare made out of texts extracted from books. Words are resized, arrowed and highlighted to appear as tiny bursting rays of yellow lines against a starkly contrasted background – bright and gleaming ethereally.

These unconventional manipulation and qualities are also present in his NFT works and Lost, a framed video display of moving, vibrant elongated stripes derived from a warped image of a tower bridge in London. Played in a loop, the lines constantly vibrate, emerge and disappear in various linear configurations to capture the hypnotic experience of walking across one.

Through Jeon’s deconstructive approach, all representational subjects and the original context of the print, image or text becomes rendered insignificant, distorted and repeated to create a unique spread and echo of gradient blurs and colours. Yet, visually, they are a materialisation of freedom – calming waves, blooming flower forms and inviting wormhole-like portals to other worlds, which serves as an immersive space for one’s introspection on life.

Transforming the materiality of media, the inventive and playful works in ‘Fold & Unfold’ creates a dynamic installation that fully immerses the viewer in a sensorial experience, poetically tackling themes of entrapment and freedom in the daily lives of individuals.

The Columns Gallery is also featuring 5 NFT (Non-Fungible Token) works from Jeon Byeong Sam. Click here to view the artwork in motion as a mesmerising looped video.

All images © The Columns Gallery