Installation view of
《August
is the cruelest》 ©DOOSAN Art CenterDOOSAN Art Center DOOSAN Gallery presents
Hyeree Ro's solo exhibition, 《August is the cruelest》
on view through May 10.
Hyeree Ro (b. 1987) interweaves personal
narratives and contemporary history to create installation, performance, and
video through a blend of language, objects, and physical movements. These
elements, complementing and reinforcing one another, create multilayered
narratives that reveal the artist’s experiences and memories.
In this exhibition, Hyeree Ro shares
memories associated with summer, traveling and drifting, partings, and loss. Items
that allude to travel and movement are positioned in the gallery in inverted or
twisted forms that render them unable to perform their proper function. A car
that cannot be driven, a tent that cannot be slept in, a kayak that cannot
sail—and the memories of Hyeree Ro and her father mingling within them.
Installation view of
《August
is the cruelest》 ©DOOSAN Art CenterSituated at the gallery’s center, the work
Niro (2024) is modeled on the Kia Niro car that Ro’s father
used to drive. This work originates from childhood memories of sitting in a
seat arranged in the back of a car, endlessly gazing at streams of water
pouring beyond the window. It constantly evokes the sensation of transience, as
if in perpetual movement toward somewhere.
Meanwhile, Carry (2025)
is a small tent, seemingly just large enough for one person to lie down in.
Typically designed for portability with flexible wire, this tent, however, is
constructed by joining rigid steel pipes one by one, making it impossible to
fold. This imperfect shelter, now difficult to move or settle in, holds within
it a space-time dimension far greater than what it originally possessed.
Installation view of
《August
is the cruelest》 ©DOOSAN Art CenterAt the end of a long, narrow corridor, we
find Catalina (2024). A kayak is a means of traveling over
the ocean, but it also carries the risk of death or a similar fate. Because of
that, it necessitates the presence of two people who trust each other fully and
coordinate the movements of their hands and feet.
But in its upright position with its bare
hull suspended from the ceiling, Catalina cannot exist as it
is supposed to either on land or in the water. Hovering in the cramped space is
the sense of a “togetherness” that has drifted while crossing the ocean.
A performance and screening program will be
held during the exhibition. Details and the schedule will be announced on the DOOSAN
Art Center website and SNS.
