Kosh in London Saatchi Gallery_The Oulim 2023 Festival

Here is an artist who paints in the dark.

She is not obsessed with visible colors and shapes and turns off the lights to capture only the emotions of the moment she paints on the canvas. Darkness is the best means of immersion to get to the essence. In the pitch-black darkness, the artist faces a blank white canvas. A feeling of overwhelming fear, as if standing in front of a white hole leading to an unknown world. The work begins with the first paint thrown at the canvas, as if accepting the fear or struggling in fear. The dynamic work, which feels like swallowing and spitting out paint, lasts for a long time. After a tense and immersive time, when all the energy has been exhausted, the artist says, “It’s all over.” Then the lights turn on and we encounter vivid colors and our raw selves.

Kosh's work, which involves throwing, spraying, applying, and filming paint on a stage with the lights off, in front of people, and in vivid scenes, is like a movie. Because of her unique working style of standing in front of a blank canvas and spitting out the emotions of the moment with paint, her paintings mainly contain emotion and energy beyond form or color. This is why Kosh's work is called ‘energy painting’.

A huge blank canvas with nothing drawn on it becomes an NFT and fills the monitor of Saatchi Gallery. It is said that this is the first time since the Saatchi Gallery opened that a blank canvas without any work has been submitted. In line with Kosh's work principle of 'art of process', which involves immersing oneself in the dark, breathing among people, and completing the work together, the Saatchi Gallery exhibition was also planned to allow the audience to participate in the entire process of creating the work together. After the blank canvas NFT submitted is successful at the auction, the artist plans to hold a showcase in Seoul. A vivid energy painting showcase that fills two huge canvases measuring 130.3 x 162.2 will be organized so that not only the successful bidder of the work but also many visitors can participate, and the work completed on site will be awarded to the successful bidder of the auction.

The artist's energy, breathing, footsteps, and small noises and words of the audience that occur during the process of creating the work. The energies of those doing it and those watching it will mix and collide, and all of this process will be captured on the canvas in real time. Attention is focused on how the Saatchi Gallery's unusual exhibition, which seeks to convey a sense of connection by communicating with audiences through the art of process, will be received.

This work was planned and curated by art tech marketing consulting firm ‘Kim & Kheem Partners’ as part of ‘The Oulim 2023 Festival’, a 2023 new technology convergence content world tour festival hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KOCCA. Through this project, Team 8 Partners is attracting attention as a novel project that combines art, performance, and technology.

'The Moon Labs', which is in charge of overseeing this event, is the operator of LM Project, which aims to be the global No. 1 Web 3.0 project, and is introducing 'LM NOVA', a Web 3,0 creator fandom community platform, and 'playNomm', an NFT marketplace. All NFTs for this event will be available for purchase starting October 26th at the marketplace playNomm

The Work

<Beyond Boundaries>

130.3 x 162.2 2 canvas / Mixed media on canvas

A live painting showcase is scheduled to be held in Seoul after the NFT is auctioned. After the painting is completed, the work will be delivered to the successful bidder.

The Artist

Kosh

Kosh is a painter who doesn't just paint. She uses paint to express everything out onto the canvas.

Her work, which involves throwing, spraying, smearing, and stamping paint in a live setting, is performance art. She is a painter who does not dwell on the visible colors and forms, but rather paints in the dark in order to capture the emotions of the moment on canvas.

Her unique working style, which does not involve setting a theme or going through a systematic conception, but rather involves standing in front of a blank canvas and presenting her emotions in paint, results in paintings that are dominated by emotion and energy rather than form or color.

Kosh's work, which she calls "Energy Painting," shares the "art of the process" that is created through the interaction of the artist's energy and breath in the process of painting, as well as the energy and air of the people invited into that world.