Koo Jeong-a illuminates the invisible

Korea Herald

31-07-2025

A overview of Koo's recent work runs through Jan. 4 at LUMA Arles in southern France
ARLES, France — At first, 'Seven Stars,' an installation of 10 paintings by Koo Jeong-a, also known as Koo Jeong A, on view at LUMA Arles in southern France, appears to be a set of abstract paintings.
But in a single moment, the space turns into a cosmic world with stars appearing to glow in the dark — like the stars in the sky that are invisible in daylight, but always present.
Only 10 people at a time are allowed into the maze-like space at Koo's new solo exhibition. When the light fades out, people freeze — unsure of what is to unfold. Then they soon fall into a meditative state, gazing at the glowing stars before them. When the light comes back on, visitors move again, like players in a game of freeze tag.
'It is a very different cognitive and sensory experience shifting between light and dark — you feel like you are in different worlds,' said Eimear Martin, independent curator at LUMA Arles. 'The silent partner in this work is light. They (paintings) gather energy in light to re-emit.'
The 10 paintings from the series were first shown to the public in 2020 at PKM Gallery in Seoul. The works have evolved at LUMA Arles as the curatorial team and the artist incorporated architectural elements — a curtain has been installed behind the works that are concave or convex in shape, like the harmony of yin and yang.
'It is about creating a new space for the work. If the work travels elsewhere, the experience from here remains and that leads to something different. I think that is how the work continues to evolve,' Koo said during an interview with The Korea Herald on July 5 at Drum Cafe at LUMA Arles.
Koo — who describes herself as 'living and working everywhere' — incorporates intangible elements or unseen forces, such as light, gravity, magnetic fields and scent into her works in a poetic way.
'Because I move around a lot, I just take my body and my mind — I have spent 30 to 40 years making work, letting it go and moving on, which has been years and years of practice,' Koo said.
Scent knows no boundaries — the levitating figure 'Kangse SpSt,' shown at the Venice Biennale's Korean Pavilion in 2024, gives off a scent of the combined olfactory memories of people from the two Koreas — countries split by a single line. The figure, leaping upward as if defying gravity, welcomes visitors at the entrance to the arts center's signature building, The Tower.
The East Gallery at The Tower — infused with fluorescent pink, again taking people to an unusual different space — shows Koo's 222 whimsical drawings, created on a regular basis, that offer a glimpse into the artist's mind.
Some drawings show moments like eating noodles alone, lying in a bed lost in thought and scrubbing a body with a scrub glove, a common scene at public bathhouses in Korea.
"When I draw, I go into a room. But if things don't progress in that room, I take a few sheets of paper — enough for maybe three days — and head somewhere else,' she said. 'When there's no creative energy, no momentum, there's nothing you can do. In those moments, I have to change the air somehow.'
Some of Koo's works are quirky with a sense of subtle humor and playfulness — something that can also be felt in the way she speaks. For instance, a snowman pierced with 14 acupuncture needles, shown alongside the drawing series, humorously evokes the absurd.
'The snow mass is in the shape of the figure 'eight,' but also in the shape of the symbol of infinity. All these numbers (in Koo's art) have a very particular private significance,' Martin said. The snow mass was created during a residency at the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado in 2007, according to LUMA Arles.
During the interview, Koo's 'OooOoO,' painted with fluorescent pigment that illuminates the structure at night, at the public terrace could be seen from the Drum cafe in the building. The skate park is a permanent installation at LUMA Arles, offering people free access.
Koo's glowing skate park was first shown in 2012, titled 'Otro,' as part of a landscape project at Vassiviere Island in France. The project aimed to revitalize the area for communal use, she said.
'It (creating art) is how I exist in the world. it is a way of living for me,' she said. 'It is a means of how I communicate with people.'
The looping, continuous forms of wooden sculptures, reminiscent of Mobius strips, invite people to sit on them, perhaps to take a break between works at the exhibition. On the surface of the fluid architecture designed by Frank Gehry, are Koo's site-specific rock sculptures '[Ever] [Vast],' created in 2025 inspired by the soaring rock clusters found in the nearby Alpilles Mountains.
Next year, Koo will have a solo exhibition at Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, where the artist hinted that the exhibition will be shown in a way that has not been presented before. An artist with over 30 years of career, Koo candidly said her practice was shaped by continuous trial and error.
'As an artist, you have to be tough. A maestro? An artist is nothing like that," Koo said. 'The failures are many, but it is those small successes that give you the strength to keep failing.
"When I was younger, even the smallest mistakes would scare me — but the difference now is that I know that I will have to take those risks and jump anyway. When you're trained, you don't become fearless, but you learn how to move through fear," she said.
Marking the largest presentation of Koo's works in France to date, the exhibition 'Koo Jeong A: Land of Ousss [Kangse]' at LUMA Arles brings together the artist's works dating back from 2007 to the present. The exhibition opened on July 5 and runs through Jan. 4, 2026.