〈Arirang〉

A 1992 touring print exhibition that travelled across three Seoul galleries — Gallery 21, Sangmundang, and Gallery Ikon. The show gathered the artist's early-1990s 〈Arirang〉 woodblock print work, presenting 62×42cm and 30×30cm editions side by side: 〈Arirang — A Joyful Day〉, 〈Arirang — Vital Force〉, 〈Arirang — Lucky Pouch〉, 〈Arirang — Hope〉, 〈Arirang — Shake the Earth, Shake the Sky〉, and others. The artist himself records the source and intent of each work — 〈Arirang — A Joyful Day〉 is rooted in the cheongsa-choreong lanterns that every performer and spectator shook in 〈Annyeong〉, the final piece of the 1988 Seoul Olympics closing ceremony, the lanterns redrawn in a contemporary key from the Dankook University Costume Museum collection; 〈Arirang — Vital Force〉 reaches back to a childhood memory of cockscombs glimpsed beneath the eaves of his grandmother's roof during a half-woken nap. For the multi-color woodblocks, he newly applied the so-myeol-beop (extinction method) of carving. Also written for the exhibition was a short essay of unknown authorship (ar-1992-005), reading the artist's practice through the concepts of "rhythm" and "vital force."