Time, in between

"in the hesitant moment… some few things remain and endure."

- Friedrich Hölderlin

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Retro and vintage sensibilities are in the limelight, and analog communication methods begin to yield a kind of consolation in the era of a full-scale digital network today. The tempo is slowing down.

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Gallery JJ is pleased to present an exhibition of recent paintings employing text by Simon Morley. Through the monochrome picture plane, he explores the relationship between word and image and the ‘in-betweens’ among media and conventions. Originally from the UK, he currently lives in Korea and often works and exhibits in Paris. His quiet and meditative conceptual works are highly praised in the art scene, and they are being collected by museums globally and gaining popularity among collectors.

The works on display exhibit images of numbers referring to a year, and manifest the materiality and tactility of pigments on the roughened surface, and are unlike the smooth canvas that did not allow any evident brushstrokes, shown in Korean Works 2010-15 (2015) exhibition at GalleryJJ. This time, Morley suggests viewers look at the text on the paintings as a tactile entity before an ideological and rational system for writing.

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This exhibition features the most recent The Years series and multimedia work as well as four works from the Korean-themed Book Painting series that have been ongoing through the last decade or so. The work ‘1948’ - also a part of this exhibition title - refers to that specific historical period of 1948. Depending on the viewer’s perspective, it evokes collective or individual memories such as the establishment of Korean government or the London Olympics. The Years series is reminiscent of old walls and other remnants of ruins in which he traces the strata of time and records a year in time. As if these text fragments permeate the picture plane, the blurry and unclear image slowly evokes the ‘in-between’ time and space by walking a fine line between word and image, reading and seeing, the past and present, and the East and the West.

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Tactile Writing

Morley’s art begins with a serene and secretive play of text and image and reading and seeing. The first visual effect of his paintings is monochrome but when the viewers move closer the ambiguity of the text-image relationship arises. They do not give themselves away easily. We need sufficient time to look.

Let’s take a quick look at his work thus far; a monochrome Korean White series referencing the covers of old Korean books owned by former British ambassador Martin Uden, is part of the Book Painting series which translates book jackets into paintings; the Paragraph series collages books and places colors on paragraphs of text, some works juxtaposing scenes from classical films with literary writing; and the Pavilion series translates the names of formerly existing Korean pavilions into the English alphabet into colorful text-image works. Some of his recent work, such as the Parallel series, explores Thomas Moore’s concept of utopia while portraying the boundaries and relations between the two Koreas he witnesses from where he lives currently near the DMZ. Since Morley started living in Korea, his work has geared inevitably towards what is unique to Korea. He derives and defines such motifs from the social and cultural surroundings and refers to numerous books and historical records to draw upon them as the subject of his art.

The works on view are no exception. Books and text are inseparable elements for him as an artist and art historian with several publications. For instance, the Book Painting series involves the translation of books into paintings, one medium to another, and reveals his interest in media migration where cultures mix and overlap. Unlike his Korean White series shown at GalleryJJ in 2015 that only consisted of white monochromes, a variety of colors are utilized this time as in his Minhwa (folk art) and Hyundae Munhak (contemporary literature) Book-Paintings. Distancing from stereotypical Korean color conventions, he picks appropriate colors from the content and context of the books. Words that protrude three-dimensionally as a result of his repetitive brushstrokes, cast shadows and evoke a tactile response.

Ruins

The years series, the most recent work, further pushes our visual experience to a tactile realm via its thick matière with granular gel built up on the canvas. The texture is rough as old walls. The inspiration comes from fragments of ancient texts mounted on architectural remnants, called spolia, that Morley witnessed during his sojourn in Rome. These are orphaned texts whose source is unknown. He also refers to ghost signs – the text, often advertisements, painted on old walls that are now peeling off and fading. Older and newer painted adverts mix and overlap like parchment full of overwritten traces.

“All around us are fragments from the past. I find texts with the years from the twentieth century written on them. They are like homeless ghosts.”  - Simon Morley

The year in the paintings is legible because it is in the universal language of numbers that directs us to that specific year in the twentieth century. However, the surrounding texts that he extracted from books, posters, or catalogs in various languages are fragmented and thus not easily comprehended. These characters arise slowly from layers of color while the color itself also changes depending on the viewer’s location. The work provides a tiny clue in these blurred figure-ground and text-image domains.

The enigmatic texts act as references to the year but never show its entirety yet induce the viewer’s response. When looking closely, ‘1917’ which includes a reference to a Czech film celebrity born in Prague, and ‘1942’ is taken from Albert Camus’ book The Stranger. ’1969’ is the cover of a book of Allen Ginsberg’s poetry, ‘1943’ is taken from a Surrealist journal Almanac and ‘1951’ from a Jackson Pollock exhibition catalog. As if to put together jigsaw pieces of historical time, The Years paintings unfold the stories from objects to the events of a century.

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By incorporating these found readymade texts into his paintings, Morley imbues his work with the cultural and historical context embedded in typography. It is a system in which pictorial and linguistic signs bilaterally converse, adding a visual dimension to writing. The typographic style becomes a crucial factor in his work, as the text plays a central role. Tiny adjustments in typography significantly alter the nuance and interpretation of his work. Image and text, foundational elements of art and civilization, have emerged undifferentiated from their inception, akin to ancient cave paintings and hieroglyphs. Thus, the integration of text into the realm of painting as a visual form of image is not surprising. Morley’s work explores cultural differences and language as a medium. As an Anglophone living in Korea, he has confronted the underlying ideas of language, encountering Chinese, Korean characters, and East Asian languages on a large scale. This experience has led to a critical examination of the reciprocal relationship between image and text, and between writing and painting.

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In Time

The legible years and the numerical forms in Morley’s paintings continually provoke questions about the past century. Unlike letters, numbers serve as a universal language, inviting viewers to engage with the work on multiple levels: as tangible objects, evocative elements imbued with specific moods, records of time or seasons, and references, both personal and historical. Each series begins with a historical reference linked to a particular year, such as narratives of the Vietnam War or World Cup, evoking personal memories when encountered by viewers.

Color plays a pivotal role in setting the mood in Morley’s paintings. He keenly observes the evolving landscape around his studio, capturing the subdued, natural hues of the four seasons in his work. Thus, his paintings embody both historical and personal time, oscillating between creation and extinction.

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In today’s fast-paced world, marked by rapid technological advancements and seamless digital experiences (e.g., real-time streaming services), life has become increasingly hectic. New things emerge daily, presenting visually polished and swiftly consumed content. Amid this excess of communication and consumption, Morley directs attention to what history suppresses or replaces: classics, printed books, noir films, analog billboards, and more. Unlike the noisy new media, these elements slow down and communicate through their presence and absence, revealing and concealing layers of narrative. Morley’s paintings, in contrast, offer a quiet yet rich engagement with slower forms of communication.

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Mark Rothko and Jeong Seon’s Geumgang jeondo posters still hang on Morley’s studio desk, just as they did six years ago. Morley continues to explore painting conventions rooted in modernist ideals, Duchamp’s creative act, and the contrasts between the West and the East. In this exhibition, his work invites us to experience retention and continuity, evoking nostalgia across different times and spaces, thereby fostering a more profound dialogue.

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Juyeong Kang | GalleryJJ Director

translated by Brett Lee

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