展览 EXHIBITION | 蔡成珌 CHAE Sung-Pil「上善若水 - from the soil」| 杜梦堂 上海
蔡成珌: 上善若水 - from the soil
2023.06.10 - 2023.07.29
上海市衡山路199号永平里105栋Bldg 105, 199 Hengshan Rd. Shanghai杜梦堂荣幸呈现蔡成珌(CHAE Sung-Pil)个展 “上善若水 – from the soil”。此次展览是这位定居法国的韩国艺术家在国内的首次个展，共计展出二十件艺术家最新布面色粉创作，全面呈现艺术家在东方哲思的引导下，以“自然之土”引导“自然之力”探索“自然之像”的独特创作方式，以及在异乡追寻故土的所思所感。
DUMONTEIL Shanghai is pleased to present "上善若水 - from the soil" (the highest excellence is like that of water), the solo exhibition of Korean artist CHAE Sung-Pil. This is the first solo exhibition in China for Chae, who resides in France, featuring his last twenty works created with natural pigments on canvas. Under the guidance of Eastern philosophies, the artist explores the "dynamism of nature" with soil and minerals guided by the “forces of nature”, while conveying his thoughts and feelings triggered by nostalgia for his distant homeland.
CHAE Sung-Pil | 蔡成珌 (b.1972)
艺术家：他是陪伴者、提供者和引导者，但他绝不是成就者。只有大自然才能成就一切。所以对蔡成珌而言，‘画’这个动词并不是传统的‘我画，你画，他画’，而是一个反身动词，‘我画自己’，这幅画‘画自己’。
—— David Rosenberg艺评人、策展人 Art critic and curator
CHAE Sung-Pil | 蔡成珌 (b.1972)
正如我们可以从任何角度去欣赏一道风景，观者也可以从任意视角进入蔡成珌的作品，去感受大自然的万千姿态在不同时间和空间的维度中交汇：从巨浪滔天的瞬间到地质沉积的万年，从海浪逐岸的起伏到麦田迎风的舞蹈，从骤雨泛起的涟漪到树纹刻画的肌理……
CHAE Sung-Pil | 蔡成珌 (b.1972)
Chae works with several distinctive rhythms, among which the most fascinating is the process of a sudden change. For instance, he flings the paint with a broom-like brush, leaving several trails across the pre-layered canvas on the studio floor; he uses a hose shooting jets of water on a canvas with soil or ink drops. Whereas another rhythm is more "undulating": as he stands behind the canvas, holding the stretcher in his hands, he constantly changes the position of the canvas, directing the flow of water up, down, left and right... The most gradual pace occupies the preparation phase: the artist invests an enormous amount of time in collecting soils, making his own pigments (a technique that Chae has researched and mastered while studying Oriental painting at university), carefully filtering and refining the muddy water, and finally applying several coats of silver powder made from pearl powder to the canvas.
CHAE Sung-Pil | 蔡成珌 (b.1972)
在这些同时包含了“控制”与“偶然”的创作过程中，蔡成珌将其中主要的技术概括为“流动”的技术：“水满则溢。当我们从高空俯瞰时，满溢的水被称为河流，在流经各地的同时留下空的印记，就和屏幕一样。”而他正是在以画布为屏幕的虚拟空间里，让材料、创作过程和最终的呈现协同作用，共同创造 “一种诗意的，对自然之‘道’的绘画类比”。
CHAE Sung-Pil | 蔡成珌 (b.1972)
This attempt of approaching the essence of Nature is influenced by Eastern philosophy, especially Taoism and the doctrine of the five elements. It builds an unusual connection among materials, techniques, and subject matters, making Chae’s work stand out from both Dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting) and Western abstract expressionism. This coincides with Chae’s remark on the boundary, The word “boundary” is not only the point that distinguishes this and that, but also the point where they meet, and I think that the boundary is the point of change and creation, especially from a creative perspective.
CHAE Sung-Pil | 蔡成珌 (b.1972)
Among the five elements, "water" is the closest to the "Tao", 上善若水, the highest excellence is like that of water, which nourishes all things gently without competing with them and is always content to stay in a humble place that no one seeks after, thus it is the closest to the “Tao”. Whereas the “earth" is the closest element to the artist and the most connected element between Eastern and Western cultures. Chae Sung-Pil, who left home for study at a young age, uses soil as the "medium" of home, evoking not only his carefree childhood memories — rolling in the hills, playing in the dirt, accompanied by the sea breeze from the mountains — with all kinds of sounds, smells and touches, but also his longing for family, among which Chae’s mother is his most concern during all these years of living overseas.
CHAE Sung-Pil | 蔡成珌 (b.1972)
对于自己的创作，蔡成珌每天都会有许多新的想法，但如果说有一个主题是他始终想保留的，那就是“关于母亲的作品——它是土，是水，是自然，是土地”。用蓝色来表达水也是再自然不过的选择，艺术家曾说 “蓝色是拥抱土地的大海，是注视着地球历史的天空”，同时蓝色在艺术史上也有着重要的一席之地。
As for his creations, Chae comes up with new ideas and changes his mind on a daily basis, but if there is one theme that he would like to keep, it would be works about his mother, which means "creating works that represent Earth, Water, Nature, and Land". Using blue to express water also comes to him naturally. The artist once wrote "Blue is the sea that embraces the land and the sky that has watched over the history of the earth.” Besides, blue also has a prominent place in the history of art.
CHAE Sung-Pil | 蔡成珌 (b.1972)
这些由土壤和矿物构成的“土”与“水”，棕与蓝的视觉冲击将这些图像在我们的观感中无限放大，试图唤醒我们与“天地原初”的连接。而这也正是蔡成珌渴望达成的普遍，过去二十年在法国的创作和生活让他深信，艺术家存在的理由便是用创作去跨越语言、文化、乃至时空的藩篱，在各种边界寻求属于自己，又能与他人分享的那一片天地。
The visual impact of these "earth" and "water" composed of soil and minerals, brown and blue magnify these images infinitely in our perception, trying to awaken our connection with the "Origin of heaven and earth". This sense of universality is what Chae Sung-Pil aspires to achieve, and his life in France over the past twenty years has convinced him that the raison d'être of the artist is to create works that transcend the barriers of language, culture, and even time, while constantly experimenting at various boundaries to seek a world that belongs to him and resonates with others.
CHAE Sung-Pil | 蔡成珌 (b.1972)
杜梦堂(上海)此次蔡成珌个展「上善若水 - from the soil」的开幕酒会定于6月10日(周六)下午4时至7时举办。欢迎大家关注这次展览。
The opening reception of CHAE Sung-Pil's solo exhibition 上善若水 - from the soil at DUMONTEIL Shanghai is scheduled for Saturday, June 10th from 4 pm to 7 pm. You are more than welcome to visit this exhibition.
关于艺术家
ABOUT THE ARTIST蔡成珌 CHAE Sung-Pil (1972年出生于韩国)在首尔大学(Seoul National University)取得东方绘画的本科和硕士学位后，目前在巴黎第一大学(University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)研读艺术博士学位，同时在法国奥维尔(Auvers-sur-Oise)创作生活。他的创作以结合东方哲学和技术的方式探索绘画的边界，以及西方艺术表达中 “对新思想的追求”，蔡成珌正迅速成为韩国最知名的艺术家之一。
CHAE Sung-Pil (Korean, b.1972) is currently studying for his Ph.D. in plastic arts at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, while living and working in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, after receiving his undergraduate and master's degrees in Oriental painting from Seoul National University. Combining the philosophy and techniques of Oriental traditions and the “quest for new ideas” expressed in Western art, Chae Sung-Pil is quickly becoming one of Korea's most established and well-known artists.
Chae Sung-Pil's soil palette, collected from various trips around the world and then filtered, and diluted into color powder or pigment, creates a reminiscence of the earth's own texture. The soil is specially prepared on mulberry paper and often mixed with ink and powdered silver and gold dust, then interacted with tools or running water guided by the artist through gravity, his movement, and the rushing of water.
Chae Sung-Pil’s work has been featured in exhibitions of varied art institutions such as Musée Cernuschi, Paris (2015); Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul(2012); Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art (2016 and 2011), etc. Chae’s work has also been included in multiple institutions including the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Korea), Seoul Museum of Art (Korea), YoungEun Museum (Korea), Government Complex Sejong (Korea), Hôtel de Ville de Paris (France), Musée Cernuschi (France), Sinhan Bank (Korea), BNP Bank (France), Majestic Hotel (France), Citroen (France), KaKaoDaum (Korea), Fnac (France), SK Group (Korea), etc.