Gwag is a Korean artist who enjoys working with concrete forms depicting human bodies and objects. Gwag refers that his works have “plastic sense”, which is a sense used to feel things that are hidden, fictitious, or non-essential yet bring imagination. What one sees in his works is different from reality. Everything in his work is fantasy — a man in his work is a puppet that cannot move and the fancy and lustrous clothes are imitations created with pieces of clothes. He uses brand labels for objects but none of the objects are products of those companies. His works are original in the sense that none of his works are original but they pretend to be one.
Gwag’s works usually involve the body of a woman as he uses it as a mirror that reflects the contrast between the inner and outer world of a man. Contrasting to the beautiful curves of the women’s body that looks bold and flashy, her inner world may feel small and insignificant. In the same, way each person carries on one’s life hiding or ignoring pains and sorrows that are within.
Chul Gwag was invited to several solo exhibitions at Eugene Gallery and participated in various group exhibitions and art fairs in Korea including Alternative Space Maru, Sungsan Art Hall, Sipremium Context Art Fair, KIAF Korea International Art Fair, and Daegu Art Fair, among others. Gwag has been exhibited at the Waterfall Gallery in New York over the past 5 years.
