BYUNG HOON CHOI
Time Lock: The Silence of Byung Hoon Choi
by Glenn Adamson
It is a weighty matter, to design in time: deeper than fleeting fashion, beyond even individual subjectivity. The task demands an acceptance of infinite duration – which is what the cosmos mostly offers us – but also a decisive sense of the now, the constant blaze into and out of existence that defines the human condition.
Choi Byung Hoon’s work sits between these two opposed and equally imponderable temporalities. The duality is expressed, most obviously, in the contrast between raw and carved basalt, which is to say between materiality and intention, between geological and handcrafted form, one process that took millions of years in the earth, and another a mere course of months in the workshop. The unworked surfaces are obdurate, coarse, apparently unremarkable. Yet they become powerfully expressive in juxtaposition with the polished passages, which expose what lies within: shapes of deepest black, almost liquid in appearance, seeming to capture the volcanic action that made the igneous stone in the first place. Or, alternatively, our own momentary eruption into reality; for we can see ourselves reflected in them, as if in a glass darkly.
These extraordinary works have been a defining feature of Choi’s oeuvre, with recent examples including major commissions for the National Museum of Qatar and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In a sense they form one continuous work. All bear variants of the title afterimage of beginning, a phrase that could describe all that we know. “My basalt works are a silent message that resonates to a chaotic world,” Choi says, “offering the user the opportunity to travel and meditate in the vastness of time and space.” He invites us on a journey into the infinite, one conducted entirely with the mind and spirit.
This ambitious mode of artmaking arrived very late into the West – finding its first stirrings in the sublime landscapes of the Romantics, and its ultimate apotheosis in 20th century abstraction – but has a long history in Korea. There, the impulse is associated primarily with yangban, usually translated “literati” – scholar-officials who tried to balance their worldly affairs with the calling of philosophical contemplation.
An installation view of afterimage of beginning, 2023, by Byung Hoon Choi at the National Museum of Qatar. (Courtesy of Julian Velasquez, Qatar Museums, Design Doha, 2024)
It is no coincidence that Choi’s black abstract forms resemble the poetic calligraphy and landscape paintings of the yangban. What they expressed in ink, he renders in monumental stone. His first exhibition of basalt works was called “In One Stroke,” while the Houston installation is titled Scholar’s Way. (Serendipitously, it shares a city with the Rothko Chapel.)
Scholar’s Way, 2018. Commisioned by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Choi’s new exhibition, Voice of Silence, brings new depth to this ongoing exploration, a search for meaning that transcends language and materiality. Accompanying his monolithic carvings in stone are newly conceived works that assume the form of cabinets. They are executed in wood and natural stone – two mediums he has explored previously – and make evident acknowledgement to historic Korean furniture.
The designs may again call poetry to mind, as their vertical format and graduated masses evoke the visual phrasing of a hanging scroll. Found stones seem to be lodged into the compositions. Of course, that is the reverse of what happened: the rectilinear timber structure had to be constructed around the stones. They serve both as obstacles and armature, much as we build our own lives around and atop that which is given to us.
Black, which Choi views as a visual correlate of silence, also features in these new works. The color is achieved with a coating of urethane, so thinly applied that the underlying grain of the ash wood is still visible. The doors slide, lending the compositions a dynamism that an abstract painting can never have; their shallow paneled construction and surrounding half-round moldings serve to define the volumes and deflect light subtly across the surfaces.
As in the basalt works, there is a dramatic opposition between the natural and the made, an overall effect of extreme stillness shot through with a current of possibility. The formal repertoire is new, but Choi has arrived at the same place where we can always find him: where the momentary meets the eternal, as if a pebble of presence had been dropped into the well of time. In a world of disquiet, he gives us the reverberating sound of silence.
afterimage of beginning 024-619, 2024
Black urethane on ash, natural stone, aluminum
80 3/4 x 47 1/4 x 18 1/2 inches
205 x 120 x 47 cm
afterimage of beginning 024-621, 2024
urethane on ash, natural stone, aluminum
71 3/4 x 34 1/4 x 17 3/4 inches
182 x 87 x 45 cm
Black
afterimage of beginning 024-620, 2024
Black urethane on ash, natural stone, aluminum
36 1/4 x 65 3/4 x 17 3/4 inches
92 x 167 x 45 cm
afterimage of beginning 024-613, 2024
29 1/4 x 136 1/4 x 29 1/2 inches
74 x 346 x 75 cm
Basalt
afterimage of beginning 024-615, 2024
24 1/2 x 120 x 29 1/2 inches
62 x 305 x 75 cm
Basalt
afterimage of beginning 024-617, 2024
27 1/4 x 123 1/4 x 24 inches
69 x 313 x 61 cm
Basalt
afterimage of beginning 023-605, 2023
26 x 104 x 32 3/4 inches
66 x 264 x 83 cm
Basalt
afterimage of beginning 024-609, 2024
24 1/2 x 110 1/4 x 31 1/2 inches
62 x 280 x 80 cm
Basalt
afterimage of beginning 024-610, 2024
24 1/2 x 72 1/2 x 24 1/2 inches
62 x 184 x 62 cm
Basalt
afterimage of beginning 024-614, 2024
23 1/4 x 78 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches
59 x 200 x 60 cm
Basalt
afterimage of beginning 024-611, 2024
Overall: 20 1/2 x 62 1/2 x 26 3/4 inches
52 x 159 x 68 cm
Two parts: 20 1/2 x 33 3/4 x 26 3/4 inches
52 x 86 x 68 cm
20 1/2 x 28 3/4 x 26 3/4 inches
52 x 73 x 68 cm
Basalt
I am interested in using natural materials such as stone and wood, seeking a realism that excludes artificiality and embraces natural beauty. Nature is tremendously tenacious and powerful, and humans cannot hope to conquer it. While seemingly opposite materials, wood and stone are the conceptual foundation of my work, for they each accomplish different things and have complimentary structural and gestural qualities; one is mild and soft, the other cold and rough. When I’m finishing my work, I make one side coarse and one side polished. I suppose that represents my own ‘middle way,’ achieving harmony through the values of different material qualities. The dark hues in my wooden cabinets and basalt benches evoke a sense of stillness and silence. This resonates with a Korean understanding of beauty, which prioritizes the pursuit of inner beauty emerging from the depths of the heart. I aim to acknowledge and accept nature as it is, continually seeking a deeper connection with it.
In my basalt works, the raw, ancient surface of the stone—formed millions of years ago—contrasts with the contemporary black sheen created by my touch. This interplay of material qualities opens a new realm that transcends time and space. I use the title Afterimage of Beginning because when considering the process of the Earth’s evolution since the Big Bang, stone is like a lingering afterimage of the origin. I’m drawing upon that material created by the eons and making it part of my own work; we’re sharing that immense time. My basalt pieces serve as silent messages that resonate in a chaotic world, inviting viewers to experience a meditative pause amidst the vastness of existence.
The wooden cabinets draw inspiration from the rich cultural heritage of Korea, particularly the classical scholar aesthetic of the Joseon Dynasty. With great regard for simplicity, structure, and proportion, they often eschewed the extravagance of ornamentation. In my work, I seek to reflect their deep connection with nature, capturing the essence of mountains through the patterns found in wood grain and the raw beauty of stone bases. By embracing the unadorned qualities of these materials, I hope to convey a profound appreciation for the inherent beauty of the natural world.
Byung Hoon Choi
b. 1952
Present Honorary professor, College of Fine Arts, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
1990-2017 Professor, College of Fine Arts, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
2009-2011
2008-2010
Director, Hongik Museum of Art, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
Dean, College of Fine Arts, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
2007-2008 Director, Hongik University Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Specialist of the Cultural Heritage Committee, South Korea
2005-2007 President, Korea Furniture Society
2000-2002
Director, Institute of Art & Design, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
1989 Visiting Professor, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1988 Research Professor, Aalto University, School of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland
1979 M.F.A, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
1974 B.F.A, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
1952 Born in Kangwondo, South Korea
Public Collections
Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea
Cascada Resort, Hongcheon, South Korea
Centropolis, Seoul, South Korea
CHA Medical Center, Ilsan, South Korea
Chung Wa Dae, Office of the President, Republic of Korea
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, NY
Daegu University Museum, Daegu, South Korea
Deoksugung Stone Wall Path, Seoul, South Korea
Fondation Musee Barbier-Mueller, Genève, Switzerland
Four Seasons Hotel, Seoul, South Korea
Haesley Nine Bridge, Yangju, South Korea
Hannam THE HILL, Seoul, South Korea
Hoam Museum of Art, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Hoam Museum of Art, Yongin, South Korea
Hongik University Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Hwadam Botanic Garden, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Korean Culture and Art Foundation, Seoul, South Korea
Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Lotte Castle Klasse, Seoul, South Korea
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
M+ Museum, Hong Kong
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar
NHN Entertainment Play Museum, Pankyo, South Korea
Seoul Art Center-Design Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Seoul, South Korea
Shinbanpo XI, Seoul, South Korea
Shinsegae Art & Science, Daejeon, South Korea
Shinsegae, Seoul, South Korea
Total Museum, Seoul, South Korea
UN Secretariat International Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany
Awards
2016 The Okgwan Order of Cultural Merit, South Korea
2008 Korean Society of Furniture Technology Award
2007 Grand Prize, Seoul Living Design Fair Award
1996 ’96 This Year’s Design Award
1996 Korean Society of Furniture Technology Award
1989 Korean Craft Council Award
1987 The 2nd Korean Craft Competition, Grand Prize
1973-1981 Special Prize and Accepted, The 22nd – 30th National Art Exhibition
Select Solo Exhibitions
2025 Voice of Silence (upcoming), Friedman Benda, New York, NY
2022 Flowing Moon, Embracing Land, Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju Biennale, Jeju, South Korea
2021 A Silent Message, Gana Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Seat of Silence, Johyun Gallery, Busan, South Korea
Objects 9: Craft Arts Installation, Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Seoul, South Korea Craft, Moving Beyond. Time and Boundaries, Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Seoul, South Korea
2017 Matter and Mass, Gana Art Center, Seoul, Korea
2016 Eternite & Instant, galerie DOWNTOWN françois laffanour, Paris, France Water Meditation, Friedman Benda, New York, NY
2014 In One Stroke, Friedman Benda, New York, NY
Korean Beauty, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
2013 Gwangju Design Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea
2012 Yido Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2011 Choi, byuung hoon, Johyun Gallery, Pusan, Korea
2010 gallery DOWNTOWN françois laffanour, Paris, France
2008 Hangil Gallery, Heyri Art Valley, South Korea
gallery DOWNTOWN françois laffanour, Paris, France
2007 Seoul Living Design Fair, COEX, Seoul, South Korea
2006 gallery DOWNTOWN françois laffanour, Paris, France
2002 Johyun Gallery, Pusan, South Korea
2001 gallery DOWNTOWN françois laffanour, Paris, France
2000 Choi, byung hoon, Johyun Gallery, Pusan, South Korea
1999 Ellen Kim Murphy Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
1997 gallery DOWNTOWN françois laffanour, Paris, France
1996 gallery DOWNTOWN françois laffanour, Paris, France
1995 Gallery Pusan, Pusan, South Korea
1994 Seoul Art Fair, Sun Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
1993 Sun Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Select Group Exhibitions
2024 80 Canes from The Ashes, JEVI hanok, Seoul, South Korea
2023 KIAF, Gana Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Honglim, Woong Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2022 A Chair and You, MUDAC, Lausanne, Switzerland
All about Attitude: Culture Station Seoul 284, Seoul, South Korea
ART-IST: Ways of seeing, Huue Contemporary/Boon The Shop Chungdam, Seoul, South Korea
Flowing Moon, Embracing Land, Jeju Museum of Art: Jeju Biennale, Jeju, South Korea
KIAF_ Gana Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, NY
PAD, Laffanour galerie DOWNTOWN, Paris, France
The Art of Living Design, Gana Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
2021 Art Busan, Busan, South Korea
Gwangju Design Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea
KIAF_ Korea Craft and Design Foundation, Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Craft Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea
2018 Art Mining-Seoul THANK YOU, DDP, Seoul, South Korea
Art Vacance, Gana Insa Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Korean Crafts_The Art of Workmanship, Pyungchang, Beijing, Hong Kong, Osaka
2017 DNA10, Friedman Benda, New York, NY
2016 DOWNTOWN@MC II, Galerie 11 Columbia, Monaco, France
Korea Now! Korean Crafts & Design in Munich 2016, Bayerische Making is Thinking is Making, La Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy Nationalmuseum, Munich, Germany
2015 Korea now! Design, Craft, Fashion and Graphic Design in Korea exhibition, Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, France
2014
2013
2012
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
Vanities: Art of the Dressing Table, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
The Page Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Gwangju Design Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea
Design Miami Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Hand of Dreaming, Gallery Wooduk, Seoul, South Korea
Design Days Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Flow, Hongik Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
2011 Curator Project, Hongik Museum of Art, South Korea
TABLE+booktopia, Heyri, South Korea
KIAF, Seoul, South Korea
Design Miami Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Chung-A Art Center Grand Opening, Chung-A Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Pavillon des Arts et du Design, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2010 Design Miami, Miami, FL
Seoul Design Fair, Seoul, South Korea
ART GWANGJU, Gwangju, South Korea
Design Miami Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Contemporary Korean Design, R20th Century Gallery, New York, NY
Moments in Between, Museum of Vancouver, Canada
2009 Design Miami, Miami, FL
FIAC, Paris, France
Design Art London, London, UK
The Seoul Art Exhibition, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
OUTDOOR FURNITURE, Lio Gallery, Heyri Art Valley, South Korea
GaNa Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Le Salon du Collectionneur, Grand Palais, Paris, France
DESIGN High, Gallery Seomi, Seoul, South Korea
Design Miami, Basel, Switzerland
Pavillon des Arts et du Design, Grand Palais, Paris, France
TEFAF Maastricht, The Netherlands
2008 Seoul Design Olympiad, Seoul, South Korea
Design Miami, Basel, Switzerland
GyeongGi International Ceramic Fair, Kintex, Seoul, South Korea
Wood Scent of Daily Life, Gallery Wooduk, Seoul, South Korea
Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea
2007 Korea Best Design Culture Selection, Seoul Art Center-Design Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Korea International Art Fair, COEX, Seoul, South Korea
Living Object, Lio Gallery, Heyri Art Valley, South Korea
2006 National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
Design Miami, Miami, FL
Modernism: A Century of Style and Design, New York, NY
S.O.F.A, New York, NY
Busan Biennale, Busan, South Korea
Re-birth of Artist’s Hand, Sun Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Korean Art College, Ansan, South Korea
2005 Chongju International Craft Biennale, Chongju, South Korea
2004 Korean Art College Professor’s Work, Ansan, South Korea
2003 Korea International Art Fair, COEX, Seoul, South Korea
2002
DURU Art space, Seoul, South Korea
Art Bench Marking, A Korean-Swiss Cultural Project, Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Design Festival, Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
2001 Art Chicago, Park Ryu Sook Gallery, Chicago, IL
The Good Design Festival, COEX, Seoul, South Korea
Mannam, Korean Craft Promotion Foundation, Seoul, South Korea
2000 Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, Australia
San Francisco International Art Exposition, San Francisco, CA
Art London, Buschlen Mowatt, London, U.K.
Art Palm Beach, Buschlen Mowatt, Palm Beach, FL
Art Miami, Park Ryu Sook Gallery, Miami, FL
Seoul Craft Exhibition, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Craft+Furniture Exhibition, Gallery Doll, Seoul, South Korea
New Millennium, Gallery Mok Kum To, Seoul, South Korea
1999 Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Chongju International Craft Biennale, Chongju, South Korea
Decoration & Design, Verona, Italy
Korean Contemporary Art: Trends in the 90’s, Ellen Kim Murphy Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Nature and Dialog, Park Ryu Sook Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
21st Pre-Vision Furniture Design Best 13, Seoul, Korea
Gallery Mok Kum To, Seoul, South Korea
99 Contemporary Craft, Gong Pyung Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Craft, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Korean Contemporary Art, Museum of Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
Eco – Craft, Mok Kum To Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Good Design, Gallery Mok Kum To, Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Living Design Fair, COEX, Seoul, South Korea
1998
Basel International Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland
Melbourne International Art Fair, Melbourne, Australia
Decoration & Design, Verona, Italy
Seoul Crafts, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
International Furniture Fair, COEX, Seoul, South Korea
Contemporary Woodworking Exhibition, Seoho Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
1997 Decoration & Design, Verona, Italy
Seoul Crafts, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Objects for Commemorative Days, Craft House, Seoul, South Korea
Korea - Japanese Art Furniture, Batanggol Museum, Seoul, South Korea
Today’s Korean Fine Art, Winter Universiade, Chonju, South Korea
1996 Decoration & Design, Verona, Italy
The 1st Asian Exhibition of Arts and Crafts, Fukuoka, Japan
The Exhibition of The Present and Future of Contemporary Korean Art, Museum of Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
Korean - Japanese Contemporary Artists, Itami, Japan
Seoul Crafts, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art
Objects for Commemorative Days, Craft House, Seoul, South Korea
1995 Seoul Crafts, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
1994 Seoul Crafts, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Korean-Japanese Contemporary Artists, Osaka, Kyoto, Japan
1993 Seoul Crafts, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Korean Contemporary Art, Museum of Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
1992 Seoul Crafts, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
1991 The Contemporary Arts, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea Seoul Crafts, Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
1990 Contemporary Korean Arts-An Exhibition of Artists in 1990, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea The 3rd International Asian-European Art Biennale, Ankara, Turkey Museum of Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
1989 The Contemporary Arts, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
1984 Hongik Contemporary Arts, Museum of Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
1983 Korean Wood Crafts, Korean Cultural Center, Tokyo Japan
Byung Hoon Choi Voice of Silence
515 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
Tel. + 1 212 239 8700
www.friedmanbenda.com
All content copyright of Friedman Benda and Byung Hoon Choi. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Byung Hoon Choi: Voice of Silence, March 27 - May 23, 2025
Published by Friedman Benda
Photography by Bae Bien-U.