Installation view of "To meet the sun" at White Cube Seoul (Courtesy of the gallery)


When Korean artist Rhee Seungda flew to France in 1951, she carried not only the trauma of the Korean War (1950-1953) but also the deep sorrow of having left her three young sons behind in Korea.
Arriving alone in 릴게임모바일 Paris, Rhee forged her creative practice through exchanges with artists and educators in the city, gradually shaping her artistic identity, exploring abstraction. Her paintings, characterized by laye 릴게임종류 red brushstrokes in pastel-toned colors, evoke a poetic sense of longing shaped by her separation from family.



A visitor views "To meet the sun" at White 황금성슬롯 Cube Seoul (Courtesy of the gallery)


White Cube Seoul sheds light on Rhee’s works for the first time as the world’s leading commercial gallery in Seoul, alongside the 황금성오락실 works of Lebanese artist Etel Adnan, whose artistic practices likewise evolved through experiences of migration, exile and philosophical inquiry.
Adnan spoke out on social and political iss 바다이야기고래 ues, including the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), migrating to France and the US.
“White Cube Seoul has shown a sustained interest in Korean artists and saw the pairing of Rhee and Adnan as a compelling way to open the new year,” Yang Jini, director of White Cube Seoul, told The Korea Herald on Thursday.



"The Vivid Dews" by Rhee Seundja (Rhee Seundja)


“Although both artists have passed away, they share notable parallels. Their lives were shaped by migration, and they developed their artistic practices through abstraction without following a conventional path of formal art school training.”
The first Moon landing in 1969 and the era’s expanding planetary perspective also proved pivotal for both artists.
For Adnan, celestial imagery entered her paintings and tapestries in a more visible way, with circular forms evoking the sun and moon and broad bands of color, simplifying the pictorial space. Just before Adnan died, her retrospective “Etel Adnan: Light’s New Measure” took place at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, spanning the 60 years of her artistic career.



"Plage Deserte" by Etel Adnan (ADAGP, White Cube)


For Rhee, the period laid the conceptual groundwork for her later “Cosmos” series in the late 1990s to early 2000s, extending her artistic inquiry to the sky and, finally, the astronomical realm.
The exhibition title “To Meet the Sun” is taken from Adnan’s 1968 poem, written as an elegy for the world’s first cosmonaut. The reference resonates with Rhee’s long-standing artistic exploration of cosmological themes in her paintings, according to the gallery.
“As White Cube’s Seoul space, the gallery has made continued efforts to research Korean artists and introduce them alongside international figures,” Yang said.
“Despite the hardships both women endured in their lives, their works convey a sense of positive energy. We hope the two master’s works will offer strength and inspiration to audiences at the start of the new year.”
The exhibition “To Meet the Sun” at White Cube Seoul runs through March 7.