Gallery IHN is pleased to hold the first solo exhibition of Kim Myeongbeom titled 'SEESAW'. The work 'SEESAW' is considered as the central work in this exhibition. 'SEESAW' is made with the structure and form of a seesaw. When we remember our childhood, we usually think of the symbols of our past memories such as being in the playgrounds or playing with our favourite toys, while we indulge in nostalgic thoughts. The emotions of nostalgia generally reflect optimism. However, it is limited in the sense that the past is simply irreversible.

Even when a seesaw is not ridden by anyone, one can still imagine the movement of it; as one end goes up, the other goes down. Seesaw almost feels like a living creature. The artist culminates the life and death. Through continuous sanities of new life, life and death is no longer a confronting concept, it is the circulation of life.

Kim Myeongbeom has been intensively using woods in his work. In human civilisation, trees always have been symbolised as the presence of life. Life shines the most when reached its peak and then slowly declines towards death. The legend that trees with many branches are closer to death is similar to the legend that when antlers of a deer extend upwards, it's closer to death. When the mating season approaches, the caparison of deer antlers reaches its climax. After they have ossified, the antlers fall apart and as a result, they provide calcium to other creatures on earth. Similarly, In Kim Myeongbeom's work the relationship between life and death, prosperity and decline, is not a tragedy, but is the story that has not ended yet.

The wood combined with shovel, hammer and pickaxe indicates the artist himself who is growing older and that the art is also a labour. The abundance of human is completed when benefits of nature and human labour meet. Likewise, art reveals the ideal beauty through the artist's labour. The tools are made with stainless steel that exposes the glossy effect, which never rusts. The monumental sculptures demonstrate that the life, art and labour are not different. The artist himself knows this better than anyone else. This series of works are almost a self-confession of the artist.

*image (left)
courtesy of the artist and Gallery IHN