Thomas Park New York opens its doors Thursday, the latest addition to the city’s gallery scene, and it is a sign of the intellectual curiosity and commercial courage of principal Mimi Park that her first show is an off-the-wall deconstruction of the modest white cube itself. Jaena Kwon, who was born in Seoul in 1986, incorporates the origami and pop up books of childhood to generate forms that correspond with visualizations of a body’s movement around the room. The flapping protrusions bring to mind a cross between Dan Graham, Sarah Oppenheimer and a Kurt Schwitter merzbau. Park, who is also a literary translator (with a well-received Korean collection of James Salter’s short stories under her belt), quotes Gilles Deleuze on surfing in the press release to describe the effect of Kwon’s interpretation of her new space: “The key thing is how to get taken up in the motion of a big wave, a column of rising air, to ‘get into something’ instead of being the origin of an effort.” And don’t expect a diet of minimal reductivism from this gallery: The cover of her Salter volume sports a painting by Duncan Hannah, who along with Bruce Gagnier she has showcased in her Seoul gallery, and up next will be a show on humor, curated by Ken Johnson. DAVID COHEN Photo: Sebastian Bach
Reception, Thursday, November 8, 6-8PM (thru’ December 16)
195 Chrystie Street #403D, between Stanton and Rivington streets, New York City, thomasparkgallery.com