Abstract exhibition to kick off series of expat art shows

Expat artist Michael Corra will hold a solo exhibition in Seoul from Nov. 4, kicking off a series of shows by expat artists at the venue.

The show, titled “At Angles With Each Other,” features abstract images that incorporate a variety of media, including wood, fabric and concrete.

Corra works and reworks these materials to create awkward and thought-provoking arrangements in which they form interesting visual relationships with each other. 

“I Can’t Understand the Lyrics but I Love This Song” by Michael Corra

“That’s my highest interest, developing a relationship with the work that I have and trying to show it off through the material,” Corra said.

They include hexagons made from fabric he found in Dongdaemun Market, the discovery of which he said had an important impact on his art.

“It completely changed my work. It made it feel more crafty and homely ― my mom would always have fabric around the house from making quilts and things like that,” he said.

“I went there (Dongdaemun), and there was this explosion of color and saturation that I could choose from. I just build on that and ... make them feel like they are ready to go out and be shown.”

The work often has whimsical titles such as “If I lived Here I Would be Home by Now,” and “How Do Aliens Do It?”

“Most of them have to do with things that people in a relationship might say to each other or how I feel about it at a certain time,” Corra said.

“There is one of them called ‘I Can’t Understand the Lyrics but I Love This Song.’ It’s about not really knowing why you like something so much, but it (being) within you and just going with it.”

The exhibition is the first in a series of expat exhibitions at the gallery run by Art Network Korea, which will run until the end of November, with a solo show by Sarah DeRemer and a joint exhibition by Andy Brown and Rosalie Knaack to follow.

The Corra exhibition runs Nov. 4-10 at the Jang Eun Sun gallery in Insa-dong, Seoul. A formal opening will be held Nov. 7 from 4-6 p.m.

By Paul Kerry  (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)