RHIZOSPHERE: Directions in Motion (4th Annual Exhibition of 4482, SASAPARI)

Date: 24 – 27 February 2011
Venue: Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, London SE1 9PH
Nearest Tube Stations: Southwark, Waterloo
Web: www.4482.info
Fee: Admission Free

The 4th 4482 (sasapari) exhibition is the annual showcase for Korean contemporary artists living and working in London. This year, entitled "Rhizosphere: Directions in Motion" (curated by Gyeyeon Park), it presents the latest work from 60 artists at the Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, a cavernous 4-storey building located in London’s South Bank cultural quarter by the River Thames.

A ‘Rhizome’ is a subterranean stem spreading out in any direction. It is a system of connections with no hierarchy and no order. With its features of connectivity, heterogeneity and multiplicity, the concept of rhizome was explored by Deleuze and Guattari in their book, A Thousand Plateaus. 4482 is a continually evolving voluntary group of artists and the works cover a wide variety of themes, ways of expression and mediums. ‘Rhizo + Sphere’ refers to both the space and time of the exhibition.

Many of the works reflect both the artists' internal (philosophy and faith) and external (social and environmental) influences intertwined. In this group exhibition, seemingly disparate artworks are linked by themes or materials and these connections suggest an endless network of possibilities and ideas.

The artists are each on a long personal journey, but for a short period, they share time and space together which may affect their individual future directions. Curator Gyeyeon Park who has organised the exhibition since 2010, states that “these artworks are not only inspired by being made in London, but as rhizome transforms the soil, by its very existence, this exhibition alters London.”

4482 has continued since 2007 to highlight an increasing number of South Korean artists in London and document their artistic activities. All participants created their works within a new cultural base in Britain with Korean emotion and artistic talent. It aims to represent the cross-cultural dialogue in which the artists are inevitably engaged. This meaning is connected to the name of this artist group, 4482, that is the combination of international dialing codes of the two countries. Through calling 4482 as (sasapari) which is the pronunciation of 4482 in Korean fashion, the interest for Korean art can be increased on an international level with the hope that this name will be developed into a representative cultural brand of Korea.

(Participating Artists)Jinkyun Ahn, Gyeong-Yoon An, Je Baak, Chan-Hyo Bae, Youn Joo (Dari) Bae, Kyeongmi Baek, Soo Yeoun Baek, Kyungsoo Byun, Nadia Kyung Chae, Haeree Cho, Kaneumiah Choi, Mi-Young Choi, Yoonsuk Choi, Joo Hee Chun, U Jae Chung, Seungpyo Hong, Sookyoung Huh, Jeong Mun Hur, Shan Hur, Ilsu Hwang, Sooim Jeong, Sangeun Joo, SoYoung Jung, Woon Jung, Seokyeong Kang, Chinwook Kim, Dong Yoon Kim, Gemini Kim, Ingeun Kim, Jay hyung Kim, Minae Kim, Terry Kim, YoonJung Kim, Rae Koo, Hyeyoung Ku, Soon-Hak Kwon, Bommsoon Lee, Eunkyung Lee, Jaeyeon Lee, Luna Jungeun Lee, Junghwa Lee, Locco (Jung-woo Lee), Sunju Lee, Yeon Lee, Ilsun Maeng, Jung Wook Mok, Sejin Moon, Hyemin Park, Hyung Jin Park, Jihye Park, Jinhee Park, Kye Jung Park, Kyunghee Park, Yeojoo Park, Changwoo Ryu, Kiwoun Shin, HeeSeung Sung, Jiho Won, Seoyeoung Won, Hyesoo You