THEO present 『Sleepless Moon』, a solo exhibition by David Surman from January 30 to March 8, 2024.

Sleepless Moon

The land is a laboratory. Experiments in cutting-edge technology and politics foster a belief that today will surely be more advanced than yesterday. Seoul has become a cosmopolitan city emblematic of the resulting growth achieved during the ‘Miracle of the Han River’, the short period of time after the division of Korea into North and South. Throughout this boom era of high industrialisation and urbanisation–driven by the values of convenience, efficiency, and rationality–we have experienced comforts that previous generations have not. Lingering doubts remain as to the stability of this growth. Was Icarus’ quest to fly faster and higher all important? By the time his one-way flight evoked visions of the Tower of Babel, the concrete jungle ethics of winner-takes-all and survival of the fittest had become the laws governing society. We were so caught up in appreciating the sweet caricature of growth that we failed to ask ourselves what we were exaggerating and what we were losing.

‘Sleepless Moon’, Surman’s first solo exhibition in Korea, invites us into the primal abyss of nature, which stems from his childhood experiences in rural environments. Beginning with ancient cave artworks, imagination has consistently been the method to contemplate our relationship with nature. Just as the magic of the cave artist could imaginatively turn a figure into an animal and create a cycle of life and death, the wildness of Surman’s depictions of animals and their habitats reminds us of a long-forgotten way of life. The return of humanity to the life of the poor peasant who survived, animal-like, according to the movements of their arms, legs, head and hands, and with a relationship to nature as “both an object of worship and of sacrifice” is completed on the canvas as a response to the thoroughly modern viewer facing the gaze of the moon, rocks, trees, grasses and flowers, and the creatures that comprise “the first group to surround man,” such as cows, crows, mice and cats. As humanity resolves its technological separation from nature that arose from fear and confusion, it does so under the watchful gaze of the landscapes and animals of Surman’s memories. The artist stresses the importance of the audience as a crucial part of the work, completing its communication and extending it into the world, as in Taoism’s 無爲 ‘wu wei’, where nothing is done but nothing is left undone. The painted image of the animal conveys a sense of vitality to the network of viewers, engaging them and directing empathy toward the living world. His paintings become landscapes of the past, reconstructed in the distant future where humans have disappeared.

Does the landscape have eyes? And if so, how does it look at us? The ecological questions and attitudes expressed by David Surman shed light on the direction and values that humanity should consider when confronted with the choices that lie ahead. His artistic practice, which is both literary and reflective of a broader social context, invites us to experience a prophetic expression of human history that transcends geopolitics and reflects on the struggles of being a global citizen in a constantly changing world. Through this quiet yet energetic exhibition, we hope to discover ourselves in the wild world of memory that he invites us to explore.

Written by Dopple Kim

References

Mark Bertness. A Natural History of Civilization, 2021

H.W & D.J Janson. A History of Painting, 1983

Jinzaburo Tazaki. How to See Nature Now, 2007

John Berger. The Meaning of Seeing, 2020

Jongchul Kim. From Modern Civilization to Ecological Civilization, 2020

And, Of course, Interview with David Sullman, 2023