Koo Jeong A – Ousssean

Since the early 1990s, South Korean artist KOO JEONG A (b. 1967, KR) has worked with varied materials, from found objects to large-scale public installations, to create works that play with our perception and connect us to hidden forces that lie beyond the visible, asking us to consider how we allow our senses to inform our reading of a thing, a place, or a moment. The title of the exhibition relates to Ousss, a fictional territory that the artist invented – a type of kingdom that they imagined could be perceived by the mind but not by the eye at first glance, demanding presence and patient attention. Much of their work sits within this realm, where invisible phenomena can be experienced through light, color, vibration, and smell, but only if the viewer commits to a presentness that allows for this observation. Newly reconfigured in response to KW's architecture, the exhibition brings together key works from the past decades, from shaking walls and magnet towers to drawings and phosphorescent paintings. The exhibition marks KOO's first major solo show in Germany, where they lived in Berlin during the 1990s and 2000s. Their practice draws on a wide constellation of concerns, ranging from human cognition to Taoist philosophy, from art history to the science of Qi, and every material or phenomenon – whether children's toys, a stack of magnets, or a shaft of sunlight – is handled with a sense of magic and care. Permanence is not a concern for KOO, and the works are less about being understood or interpreted than experienced – through their presence, and the push and pull of their hidden yet perceptible energy. Through modest yet enigmatic forms, the artist assembles intangible elements, such as forces, magnetic fields, phosphorescence, light, scent, sound and temperature, into multisensory environments that probe perception and the limits of our visual register. Curators: Emma Enderby & Liberty Adrien Assistant Curator: Lara Scherrieble