Osang Gwon revives his signature cut-and-paste style in this latest series of sculptures currently on display at Seoul’s Arario Gallery‘s “2011 Artists With Arario” exhibit. These three works evoke the same sensibilities his solo exhibition “Deodorant Type” did back in 2001—an awkward realism, a sense of frenzy. This time, Gwon’s life-size photographic sculptures take us to the bewildering backwoods.Depicting male figures posed in rugged natural environments, the pieces are eerily realistic yet visually disconcerting. To create them, Gwon first photographs an actual model, section by section, in extensive detail. Then he recreates the scene by adhering hundreds of printed color photographs to a lightweight mold, papier-mâché style. The final product reproduces reality reinterpreted with stunning visual impact. Gwon's depiction of the natural setting is rendered in painstaking detail–he even includes tufts of grass next to his models.
The strong 3D effect, derived from a very simple 2D source, begets a subtle visual distortion that is at once immediately familiar and strangely exotic. From live model to flat photographs to photographic sculptures, Gwon's series once again brings forth a keen look into the processes of aesthetic production and reproduction.
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