Kim Ilhwa, SEED_universe 8, 2015, hand dyed hanji, 164 x 264 x 15cm

Opera Gallery is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition titled The Assembly: Cumulative practices in Contemporary Art, showcasing fascinating accumulation artworks by a selection of established and emerging artists, including David Mach, Joe Black, Michael Mapes, Chris Wood, Zhuang Hong-Yi, Federico Uribe, Suh Jeong-Min, Seo Young-Deok, Isabelle Scheltjens, Vincent Poole, Esther Naor, IIhwa Kim, Kim Dong Yoo, Nick Gentry, Emilio Cavallini and Bahk Seon Ghi.

The Assembly: Cumulative practices in Contemporary Art will feature works using mass-produced objects or unconventional materials created through the cumulative act of collection and re- organisation. Every day materials like matchsticks, coat-hangers, charcoal, toys, candles, fishing net, iron chains, glass, tights and papers are turned into something artistic, expressive and communicative. These common materials are given new identities and new meanings through the artists’ act of cumulative re-creation. Small pieces of ordinary goods are assembled by repetition to form new lines, shapes and compositions thus endowed with a new rhythm, power and vitality. The works are interactive - the viewers become part of the installations, bringing their personal perception to the work thus developing new ways of seeing.

BAHK SEONGHI, An Aggregate 201103

FEDERICO URIBE, The Eyes of Knowledge

The topics explored are varied from nature, people and society to media, politics and pop culture. The materials are also rich and diverse: Korean artists like IIhwa Kim and Suh Jeong Min use Korean hanji papers, combining traditional materials with modern aesthetics to create abstract, kinetic artworks. British artist Joe Black uses thousands of hand-sprayed mass-produced toys (toy cars, toy soldiers etc) to form impressive, large scale pieces that, with a sense of humour, point to the history of the mosaic. Zhuang Hong-Yi, a Chinese artist based in Netherlands, creates impressive floral compositions made out of rice paper that require the viewer to move past the work, to produce different effects from various angles. The work exudes a rhythm as the colours and shade of each tiny scroll moves and changes with the viewer. David Mach’s installations present us the most recognisable pop icons made of painted matchsticks, making sarcastic remarks on famous individuals and commercial consumption.

About the exhibition

Dates: 17 Nov - 08 Dec 2016

Venue: Opera Gallery

Courtesy of the artists and Opera Gallery.