ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL is pleased to present a solo exhibition by LEE Jinju (b. 1980), titled Discontinuouscontinuity, from August 13 (Wed) to October 9 (Thu), 2025. Having majored in East Asian painting, LEE depicts uncanny scenes, objects, and landscapes encountered in her daily life using traditional coloring techniques. Her distinctive style, characterized by delicate coloring and meticulous brushwork, reveals the artist’s gaze and attitude, honed through prolonged observation of her subjects. The curtain-like white screens, along with fragmented hands and faces appearing in LEE’s paintings, juxtapose sensations of connection and disconnection, presence and absence. Her canvases explore perceptions of the unseen and indescribable sensibilities, serving as a space for painterly contemplation that traverses between the concealed and the revealed. Employing a poetic visual language that embraces contradiction and metaphor, her work persistently questions the very nature of “seeing.” Occupying the entire exhibition space at ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL, this exhibition features 54 works, centering on her latest creations, including her ‘Shaped Canvas’ series, ‘Black Painting’ series, and ‘Three-Dimensional Paintings’. Notable is her exploration of the integral relationship between painting and spatiality, extending beyond the flatness of the canvas. The exhibition not only offers a glimpse into the evolving trajectory of LEE’s painterly methodology but also invites viewers to complete their own narratives, shaped by their personal experiences and perceptions.

In LEE Jinju’s practice, “discontinuous continuity” emerges as a defining quality that permeates her compositional approach, narrative structure, and overarching themes. On her canvases, each subject is rendered with extraordinary precision, realism, and clarity of brushwork. Yet, through her distinctive method of composition, the relationships between these subjects reveal an unreal dissonance—like an incomplete montage. This “discontinuous continuity” also serves as a metaphor for the interconnected yet fragmented narrative structures within her paintings. While each motif stems from the artist’s intimate memories and everyday experiences, the whole remains in an ambiguous, metaphorical state rather than forming a singular, definitive storyline. Concealing the autobiographical narrative, LEE’s paintings remain as open, fluid spaces imbued with shifting meanings and allowing for free interpretation.

The exhibition title, Discontinuouscontinuity, concisely encapsulates a central thematic inquiry that LEE Jinju has long pursued. She observes the ambivalent nature of the world around her—at once uniquely independent and yet intricately connected. From the maternal bonds linking her mother, herself, and her daughter, to the vast expanses of landscapes, the beings, objects, and events she encounters in life all possess their own “discontinuous continuity.” Through the language of painting, the artist unfolds stories of things universally familiar yet newly perceived depending on the viewer’s perspective and mode of recognition. Through delicate and meticulous observation, she seeks to detect moments of estrangement and unfamiliarity that emerge from within the continuous flow of the everyday.

Occupying the entire building of ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL, this exhibition presents distinct painterly experiments on each floor. LEE Jinju’s paintings engage closely with the scale and architecture of the space, transforming it into more than a mere site for displaying works. The overall flow recalls a psychological journey intentionally designed by the artist. LEE’s ‘Shaped Canvas’ series features irregularly contoured canvases, in which parts of the background are cut away to preserve the outline of the depicted forms. Installed on the soaring walls of the gallery’s first-floor, Sorrow and Stone (2025) stands as the representative work of the exhibition and the largest Shaped Canvas she has created to date. The composition reveals, in fragments, six white ‘curtains’ arranged diagonally in a row, amidst a complex entanglement of rocks, figures, plants, and objects. Paradoxically, as the painted background is removed, the depicted forms seem to expand into the vast blank space of the gallery’s actual wall, extending beyond the canvas itself. The viewer’s gaze naturally comes to encompass the surrounding three-dimensional space.

Also on this floor, Layered-Erased (2025) is part of LEE’s Three-Dimensional Painting series. It consists of two elongated rectangular panels joined along one edge and installed upright in the gallery space like a sculpture, with a ‘Black Painting’ rendered in the concave inner side. In this work, a delicately painted figure cradles a massive stone—an emblematic motif that has endured the immeasurable passage of time, bearing countless traces of experience. In LEE’s canvases, the solid, weighty presence of rocks and stones is often juxtaposed with more fragile subjects. Through her detailed depictions of natural stone surfaces, she discovers myriad subtle “expressions” often overlooked in ordinary vision. Standing precariously within the open space, Layered-Erased can only be viewed from certain angles, prompting the viewer to contemplate the gap between the external appearance of an object and its inner essence.

In the basement level, Confined Composition (2021–2023), previously shown at ARARIO MUSEUM Tapdong Cinema in Jeju, is presented. This Three-Dimensional Painting consists of four horizontally elongated canvases joined along their short edges to form a rectangular ring. Both the inner and outer surfaces of the ring are painted, creating a double-sided work. At each of the four corners, columns support the canvases so that the structure is elevated about one meter above the floor. Beneath it, a black mirror is placed, allowing the images on the inner sides to be faintly reflected. While Confined Composition constitutes a single continuous scene, its disjointed assembly prevents the viewer from ever perceiving it in its entirety at once. This fragmented visibility exposes the incompleteness of biased perspectives and the fluid, multifaceted nature of identity. Also on view in the basement is Negative Landscape (2025), along with other newly experimented Three-Dimensional Paintings. Together, they reflect LEE’s expanded attempts to encompass her entire practice under the narrative structure of “discontinuous continuity,” offering a multifaceted view of her ongoing artistic inquiries.

On the third floor, Replies (2025) presents 29 works from LEE’s ‘Black Painting’ series. While paintings depicting a hand at the center of the composition have typically been shown as standalone pieces, this is the first time LEE has assembled them into an interconnected structural installation. Replies originates from an imagined contemplation of the ways one might respond or react to various events and situations in life. Rather than offering definitive solutions, these replies are closer to ambiguous yet heartfelt gestures—akin to the movement of a hand or a bodily posture. In the paintings, the depicted hands grasp objects such as flowers, stones, charred remnants, and withered branches—motifs that have appeared repeatedly in LEE’s earlier works—each evoking meaning through symbolism or metonymy.

Arranged on the wall in a 4-by-8 grid, the sequentially numbered works—Replies 01, Replies 02, and so on—contain three deliberate absences. According to the sequence, these empty spaces should correspond to Replies 06, Replies 16, and Replies 25, yet these works were never physically created, existing only as conceptual “unseen replies.” Paradoxically, the absence renders these spaces more strongly present. In reflecting on these voids, LEE refers to Giorgio Agamben’s notion of the “interlinear”—the space between sentences in which the unwritten resides. Much like exploring the latent potential of that unarticulated space, LEE reads in these gaps an infinite possibility of emergence. The openings LEE leaves within and beyond the canvas are, in their paradoxical nature, “articulated voids” brought into being through silence.

LEE Jinju’s canvases serve as contemplative stages that probe the gaps between what is visible and what is invisible. Her work resists remaining confined—both physically and conceptually—to the flat plane, instead pursuing a more dimensional way of seeing. Using painting as a tool, she investigates the question of what it is that we “truly see.” Encountered at the entrance to the fourth-floor gallery, Concave Tears–Convex Courage (2025) proposes a new visual structure for painting through the format of a double-sided work consisting of two canvases joined back-to-back. Suspended from the ceiling and elevated above the floor, the two opposing surfaces each hold distinct yet interrelated psychological landscapes. One side, Concave Tear, depicts a valley scene from Jeju’s Hallasan Mountain, in winter: a pool of unfrozen water collected in a small hollow between damp, snow-covered ground and moss- and plant-covered edges. Looking upon this winter scene, LEE reflected on the poignant yet resilient vitality of beings that have endured. On the reverse, Convex Courage portrays a seated figure on a rock, extending a hand, while charred fragments of paper drift through the air like snow—an image symbolizing the force and courage that emerge endlessly, even in states of fragility or uncertainty. Together, the two sides form a visual tension, presenting contrasting yet connected inner landscapes. By compelling the viewer to walk around the work and encounter each face in turn, the piece makes tangible the inherent temporality required in the act of viewing a painting.

Furthermore presented in this exhibition are smaller works such as Silence (2025), The Act of Retrieving (2025), and The Hidden Side of Weight (2025), each mounted at a tilted angle. Constructed with wooden supports affixed to the back of the canvas, these works protrude from the wall at specific inclinations and are installed near the artist’s eye level. The angle causes them to appear differently depending on the viewer’s position, creating a shifting perceptual experience. Extending outward from the flat wall, the paintings cast shadows into the surrounding space, engaging in layered and multidirectional relationships with the gaze—almost like living presences inhabiting the world beyond the plane.

The “curtain,” a recurring element in LEE Jinju’s paintings, serves both as a barrier that separates subjects and as a shelter that protects them. LEE began to delve deeply into the concept of the ‘curtain’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by severed communication and relationships. In her work, the curtain—light and fragile like a sheet of paper—functions as a pictorial device that reveals psychological and physical boundaries. At the same time, it hints at a hidden connectivity between segmented scenes, making it a visual embodiment of the exhibition’s title and theme, “Discontinuouscontinuity.” As a form of negative space, the curtain becomes a symbol of creative potential, inviting the imagination to explore what lies concealed.

Installed in the inner section of the fourth floor, Chasing (2025) belongs simultaneously to both the ‘Shaped Canvas’ and ‘Black Painting’ series. Here, the curtain expands into a three-dimensional form that more distinctly separates the exterior and interior of its subjects. Curved into an arc like a thin sheet of paper, the inner surface of the curtain is painted in deep black. Against this dark background, the overlapping backs of two figures are revealed: the one in front tracing the outline of their own hand with a pencil, the one behind holding in their clasped hands a quickly melting piece of ice and a pencil. Beneath their feet lies a bird with broken wings, intensifying the sense of fragility and precariousness that permeates the scene. The darkened interior of the curtain forms a psychological stage, condensed with memory and emotion. Like an abyss, this depth of darkness draws the viewer’s gaze inward, compelling an immersive engagement with the work.

Venue
ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL, 85 Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea 03058, B1F, 1F, 3F, 4F (All Floors)

Artist
LEE Jinju

Exhibition Dates
August 13 – October 9, 2025

Gallery Hours
Tuesday – Saturday | 11 AM – 6 PM

Website
https://www.arariogallery.com

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/arariogallery_official/

Contact
info@arariogallery.com 

About Artist

LEE Jinju has held solo exhibitions at the Yuz Museum Project Space of Art (Hong Kong, 2025), ARARIO MUSEUM Tapdong Cinema (Jeju, Korea, 2022–2024), ARARIO MUSEUM in SPACE (Seoul, Korea, 2020), Triumph Gallery (Moscow, Russia, 2019), Edwin’s Gallery (Jakarta, Indonesia, 2018), and ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL (Seoul, Korea, 2017). She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including those at Esther Schipper (Berlin, Germany, 2024), Marres House for Contemporary Art (Maastricht, Netherlands, 2022), White Cube Seoul (Seoul, Korea, 2023), SONGEUN (Seoul, Korea, 2023, 2022), Jeju Museum of Art (Jeju, Korea, 2023), Korean Cultural Center in Belgium (Brussels, Belgium, 2021), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (Seoul, Korea, 2021), Jeonnam International Sumuk Biennale (Jeonnam, Korea, 2021), Museum of Moscow (Moscow, Russia, 2021), ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN (Cheonan, Korea, 2021), Gyeongnam Art Museum (Changwon, Korea, 2021), Asia Culture Center (Gwangju, Korea, 2019), Gangwon International Biennale (Gangwon, Korea, 2018), Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea, 2015), Doosan Gallery New York (New York, USA, 2013), OCI Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea, 2011), and Ilmin Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea, 2010). LEE was awarded Second Prize at the 2009 JoongAng Fine Arts Prize and Second Prize at the 2014 Songeun Art Award. Her works are in major public and private collections, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul Museum of Art, Gyeongnam Art Museum, ARARIO MUSEUM, SONGEUN, OCI Museum of Art, as well as international collections such as Long Museum (China) and Yuz Museum (China).

(Text and images courtesy of ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL)