MOON-PIL SHIM

Born in 1958 in Daegu, South Korea.

 “When examining the list of exhibited works, two terms recur constantly: first, ‘Plexiglas,’ then ‘reflection.’ The master material and the key word, one might say, for Moon-pil Shim uses this transparent plastic to create countless reflections across two levels of the gallery, in works of sometimes disarming simplicity. With basic geometric shapes painted on a single layer—or multiple layers to create relief—and with incisions in colored paper glued beneath a layer of Plexiglas, the Korean-born artist plays with what the eye perceives. Her frames are minimalist, her angles sharp: how can one analyze the artistic value of these ostentatiously simple works?… The abundance of reflections is also accompanied by a certain culture of secrecy, of the unexplored. Indeed, the artist paints beneath the layer of Plexiglas rather than on top of it.” It is always through an intermediary, transparent certainly, but still a physical barrier, that her colors reach us, thus giving us a glimpse of the other side of the mirror. Before a painting by Moon-pil Shim, are we truly ourselves when we see ourselves, or are we already another person, a plastic avatar living in a parallel world? The question is legitimate, because the clean lines and basic geometry seem to eliminate all extraneous questions in order to focus on the major enigmas of existence

Excerpts from a text by Florent Toniello, 2021

“In his work, the painting doesn’t appear to us directly, but rather reveals itself to us, presented ‘veiled’ behind one or more translucent Plexiglas panels. The layering of these panels draws us into the artwork; sometimes the Plexiglas reflects and invites us to become aware of the surrounding space. Moving around reveals the work in its entirety, allowing us to see what lies behind. We are not in the realm of Vasarely’s optical approach, nor in the participatory experiments of GRAV, but rather in an almost metaphysical thought that questions what lies beyond, what lies behind the surface of things. It is the light that passes through or reflects the painting that allows us to cross the threshold.” At Moon Pil Shim, we are in the space of in-between, a back-and-forth between above, below, inside, outside; we are simultaneously literally in the infra and in the supra. Our desire before these works compels us to seek to see beneath the surface, but also above, what is hidden there

Excerpts from a text by Céline Berchiche (2019)