In her new studio on the 14^th floor, Yoo Hye-Sook enjoys a 270-degree opening.
There, she sets her pace to the sun, between dawn, zenith, and the grand evening finale. Basking in that light, the artist seems to have absorbed it to translate it into her paintings. Covering the entire spectrum —from the golden pinkish beige of dawn to the luminously deep blue of dusk, from electric yellows to nocturnal greens—, shades are juxtaposed like fine gauze to create vibrant surfaces. Either through bare brushes or powerful strokes, her work shows humility, seeking simply to faire présence —to create presence. It materialises some resonance of the hours, the emotions, and the sights that alternated, cumulated, and stratified. Yoo Hye-Sook conveys the idea of an internal light, either dark or bright, akin to some electricity that would express itself through brush strokes. The works thus born strike by their intense luminosity, by their ability to go to the gaze, like a persistent quiver, a jubilation which cannot be ignored.

From figurative works with a black cast, where the only light, mirror-light, was brought in by the lead pencil lines, colour has been gradually integrating Yoo Hye-Sook’s paintings since 2021. Starting with a variation of indigo blues, some shy glimmers of light, often barely perceptible, would come through those works. During a residency in the autumn of 2023 at L’H du Siège, brushes replaced pencils, and powerful strokes replaced repetitive lines. Certain indicators of a possible change of space were already present in some paintings, but the very essence of the compositions, one of a depth perspective, remained yet unchanged.
Later on, such indicators became more apparent, and works characterised by “apparitions” arose: Luminous shapes and gestures coming through the profoundness of dark shades—Prussian blue, bottle green, and variations of black. Some of them are barely perceptible, whilst others prevail by their fizzy light, as though inviting the gaze to follow. Traces, outlines, reminiscences? Architecture, topography, or glimpses of images? The questions remain pending: The audience’s gaze must continue navigating this world, through senses, with barely any points of reference.

As an artist, Yoo Hye-Sook works by instinct. Her gestures and lines are a way of being. Simply. Because painting equals existing —creating presence. Thus, she only truly discovers her works in retrospect. The exhibition Acte II gathers several paintings, some akin to a forewarning night, a slow end of winter —the apparitions—, others like the invincible blossoming of spring and summer and of the day, bringing life and rebirth —the resonances. Like a promise kept, Acte II comes as a natural continuation of the artist’s previous exhibition at Galerie Maria Lund: Le Jour vient (2022) (The Day Comes). The day has now come, has established itself, and has brought another infinite. Whilst Yoo Hye-Sook shows the path she travelled with great honesty, she also seems to tell us that the space of light cannot be ignored. She has inverted perspective.