As a continuation of Beak's Is of series, which are photographic works that are printed with pigments extracted from the actual subjects in the work, the works in this exhibition include 16 recent photographs in the series Contagious Magic: 16 Reservoirs (2015), 4 works in the series Contagious Magic: Sprout, Forsythia, Azalea, Satuki (2015), as well as installation works Untitled: Egg Incubator and Candle (2015), Homeopathic Magic: Blossom (2015), and Pray for Rain (2015). Contagious magic means that even if a part has been separated from its whole, its inherent energy continuously links the part to the whole. Beak summons subjects in his photographs that are actually severed from time and space. For instance, Beak extracted actual pigments from sprouts, forsythia, azalea and Satuki to print his photographs, and also extracted lake water from reservoirs to print photographs of 16 reservoirs constructed at four major rivers in Korea. As litmus paper changes color according to the acidity of the ink, the photographs look sharp at some parts while faded in other parts, according to the level of pollution in the lake water. In Untitled: Egg Incubator and Candle (2015), Beak converted candle light into electronic energy to incubate eggs and hatch chicks, and in Homeopathic Magic: Blossom (2015) Beak painted blossom using conductive ink, transforming the painting into an antenna that transmits radio frequency to produce sound out of simple sound waves. Filling dried up cracks in the soil with Vaseline, Pray for Rain (2015) makes autobiographical analogy to the artist, and is a performative work which comprehensively penetrates Beak's work. The artist transforms the seemingly superficial subject into a medium with symbolic meaning. Protecting and recovering the artist's skin, Vaseline is solidified gas which helps skin cells to regenerate by keeping the skin cells moist. In the exhibition, the Vaseline functions as the water in the ritual for rain. Filling the cracked earth on the entire wall of the exhibition space, this work expresses the aspirations to return to the state before the rupture.

  

Jungki Beak (b. 1981) received his undergraduate degree from the School of Fine Arts at Kookmin University, studied fine art at Chelsea College of Arts, and received his M.F.A. from Glasgow School of Art. He has held solo exhibitions at Alternative Space Loop (2012, Seoul, Korea), Bridge Guard Art and Science Residence Centre (2011, Sturovo, Slovakia), and Insa Art Space (2010, Seoul, Korea). He has participated in a number of group exhibitions, including Beijing Commune (2014, Beijing, China), Art Sonje Center (2014, Seoul, Korea), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (2014, Seoul, Korea), Westergasfabriek (2014, Amsterdam, Netherlands), DOOSAN Gallery (2013, Seoul, Korea), Songzhuang Art Museum (2013, Beijing, China), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon (2014, Gwacheon, Korea), and Turin Museum of Natural History (2012, Turin, Italy).