URBAN SKIN

Noncontempo, Seoul, South Korea
2026.08.16 - 2026.08.23
Solo Exhibition

The city resembles a living organism. New buildings rise, weathered exteriors are repainted, and ancient traces are relentlessly erased. Yet, no matter how many new surfaces are overlaid, the time that preceded them never truly vanishes. Cracks, abrasions, and corrosion accumulate beneath the new layers; the landscape of today thus becomes a singular surface where disparate timelines are folded into one another.

Rather than focusing on completed architecture or the planned order of the city, Byungsub Kim fixes his gaze on the surfaces that people absentmindedly pass by. Peeling paint, rusted metal, repeatedly applied coatings, and marks of wear are often perceived as signs of aging and imperfection. To the artist, however, they are the records of time inscribed upon matter. Traces once deemed meant to be removed or concealed emerge as the very landscapes that most vividly reveal the history the city has endured.

Photo (c) Younghyun Lee