The Mark of Time_Catalog by Gallery Chang

JAN8-FEB17,2026|GalleryChang,NewYork

The Mark of Time

Tracing the Origins of East West Abstraction

The Mark of Time presents abstraction not as a singular style or a linear art historical outcome, but as a way of thinking that emerged simultaneously across different cultural contexts. Rather than positioning East and West in opposition or simple comparison, the exhibition traces how artists working within distinct environments and traditions have shared fundamental questions surrounding time, material, and action.

In this exhibition, abstraction is understood not as a formal solution, but as a method of recording and accumulating experience. What appears on the surface is less a finished image than a residue of time spent, gestures repeated, and decisions made and unmade.

The exhibition unfolds through two interconnected dialogues.

The first dialogue brings together the practices of Ed Moses and Cho Yong Ik, examining abstraction as a trace of time. For Moses, painting is not a means of representation, but an event shaped by action and choice. His canvases retain not only visible brushstrokes, but also erased gestures, hesitation, and the duration of the painting process itself. Similarly, Cho Yong Ik’s work is formed through repetition, restraint, and a disciplined, almost meditative approach. His paintings do not arrive at an image all at once, but gradually accumulate density through sustained and deliberate acts. For both artists, abstraction becomes a vessel that holds the sensation of time rather than a depiction of visible form.

The second dialogue connects the works of Kim Kang Yong and Jimi Gleason, extending abstraction into a constructed world of material. Kim Kang Yong’s brick paintings are the result of accumulated labor, weight, and time layered meticulously onto the canvas. While they resemble physical structures, they function not as representations, but as painterly investigations into material, structure, and illusion. Jimi Gleason similarly builds his surfaces through repetitive gestures and layered paint, allowing resistance, reflection, and material tension to shape form. In their works, abstraction does not signal an escape from reality, but a means of forming memory through material presence.

Through these parallel conversations, The Mark of Time reveals abstraction as neither a regional invention nor a culturally isolated phenomenon. Time leaves traces, materials hold memory, and actions continue to resonate beyond the moment of their execution.

Opening Gallery Chang’s 2026 exhibition program, this exhibition serves as a point of departure for reconsidering abstraction’s shared origins and the depth of human thought that transcends geographic and cultural boundaries.

JAN8-FEB17,2026|GalleryChang,NewYork

The Mark of Time 시간의 흔적

동서양추상의기원을따라

〈TheMarkofTime시간의흔적〉은추상을하나의양식이나선형적인미술사적결과로바라보지않고,서로다른문화적맥락

속에서동시에형성된하나의사유방식으로조명합니다.본전시는동서양을대비하거나단순히비교하는데그치지않고,각기 다른환경과전통속에서작업해온작가들이시간,물질,행위라는근본적인질문을어떻게공유해왔는지를추적합니다.

본전시에서추상은형식적해답이아니라경험을기록하고축적하는방법으로이해됩니다.화면위에드러나는것은완결된이 미지라기보다,시간이축적되며반복된제스처와수없이내려진선택과철회의흔적입니다.

전시는두개의상호연결된대화를중심으로전개됩니다.

첫번째대화는에드모지스(EdMoses)와조용익의작업을함께조명하며,추상을시간의흔적으로바라봅니다.모제스에게 회화는재현의수단이아니라행위와선택에의해형성되는하나의사건입니다.그의캔버스에는가시적인붓질뿐아니라지워 진동작,망설임,그리고회화가지속된시간의흔적이함께남아있습니다.조용익의작업역시반복과절제,그리고명상에가 까운엄격한태도를통해형성됩니다.그의회화는단번에이미지를완성하지않으며,지속적이고신중한행위를통해서서히밀 도를축적해나갑니다.두작가에게추상은가시적형태의묘사가아니라,시간의감각을담아내는그릇으로기능합니다.

두번째대화는김강용과지미글리슨(JimiGleason)의작업을연결하며,추상을물질적으로구축된세계로확장합니다.김강 용의벽돌회화는노동과무게,그리고시간이캔버스위에정교하게층을이루며축적된결과입니다.이작업들은물리적구조 물을연상시키지만,재현이라기보다물질,구조,그리고환영에대한회화적탐구로작동합니다.지미글리슨또한반복적인제 스처와중첩된물감을통해화면을구축하며,저항과반사,물질적긴장이형태를형성하도록합니다.이들의작업에서추상은 현실로부터의도피가아니라,물질적존재를통해기억을형성하는방식으로나타납니다.

이러한병렬적인대화를통해〈TheMarkofTime시간의흔적〉은추상이특정지역의발명이나문화적으로고립된현상이아 님을드러냅니다.시간은흔적을남기고,물질은기억을품으며,행위는그순간을넘어지속적으로공명합니다.

갤러리장의2026년전시프로그램의시작을여는본전시는,추상이지닌공유된기원과지리적·화적경계를초월하는인간사 유의깊이를다시사유하는출발점이되고자합니다.