Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present In the Continuum by pioneering Korean artist Kim Yun Shin, in Seoul
November 5– December 24, 2026
Bringing together historical and new works across the gallery's two floors, In the Continuum explores the enduring relationship between material, physical gesture, and nature in Kim's practice. Paintings, wood sculptures, and 'painting-sculptures' reveal a visual language that has remained consistent while continually evolving. Kim's return to Korea has opened a new chapter in this longstanding practice, shaped by renewed encounters with the country's landscapes and natural environment.
The first floor presents recent painting-sculptures alongside latest paintings. Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kim's painting-sculptures extend her sculptural practice through the application of color to angular surfaces, bridging painting and sculpture. Tree Full of Songs 1984-11U1 (2025), cast in aluminum from an existing wood sculpture and finished with acrylic paint, features distinct colors and patterns on each side, inviting viewers to experience the work from multiple perspectives. Also on view for the first time, Grace in the Glow 2026-35 (2026) combines geometric structures with organic motifs such as seeds, flowers, and rippling waves, evoking the connective energy that sustains life.
Kim's paintings similarly explore the rhythms and generative forces of nature through an intuitive, process-driven approach. Layering, scraping, and stamping paint onto the canvas, she creates dynamic surfaces that reflect her sustained interest in color, material, and physical gesture . cosmic realms. Rather than tracing a linear progression, the exhibition brings past and present into dialogue, revealing how her sustained engagement with material, nature, and embodied making continues to generate new possibilities.
In the Continuum considers Kim's practice not as a linear progression from past to present, but as an ongoing dialogue between different moments in time. Her return to her motherland has opened a new chapter in an artistic practice shaped by movement across cultures, places, and materials, while reaffirming the centrality of direct, physical engagement in her creative process. By bringing works from different periods into a shared space, the exhibition illuminates both the enduring continuity of Kim's artistic language and the new possibilities that continue to emerge within it.