Byun Ung Pil, Park Bosun

Byun Ung Pil, SOMEONE, 2024, Oil on canvas, 97 x 145.5 cm

Gallery Joeun is pleased to present Invisible Someone, a duo exhibition featuring Byun Ung Pil (b.1970) and Park Bosun (b.1995), on view from July 10 to August 9, 2025. This exhibition invites viewers to follow intimate narratives concealed behind expressionless faces and anonymous landscapes, ultimately confronting the unseen presence that lies beyond what is visible.
Invisible Someone moves beyond simple portraits and scenes of daily life to explore the invisible emotions and traces of existence. Nameless faces, blurred figures reminiscent of mosaics, and the layered stories embedded within pose the fundamental question: “Who am I, really?” Tracing the subtle textures of emotion that emerge through anonymity, the exhibition offers a quiet invitation to reflect on our inner worlds.

Byun Ung Pil, SOMEONE, 2024, Oil on canvas, 90 x 75 cm

Byun Ung Pil: Portraits of the Inner Landscape
Byun Ung Pil began to explore themes of identity and boundary during his time in Germany over two decades ago, reflecting on his own experiences as a foreigner. Employing realistic oil techniques interwoven with distortion and omission, his works evoke a mysterious atmosphere. Minimalist in execution, they embody the Eastern aesthetic of “emptiness,” prompting contemplation of the self in relation to others.
His paintings delicately capture fragments of everyday life with emotional nuance, gently drawing viewers to listen closely to the quiet stories of daily existence.

Each piece, layered with the artist’s subtle emotional tone and brushstrokes, is created through horizontal brushwork that results in a refined, smooth surface. Byun experiments extensively with pigments to achieve his desired hues, and his ability to evoke deep resonance through minimal expression is a hallmark of his practice.

Byun Ung Pil, SOMEONE 2021 Oil on canvas 73 x 61 cm

A Presence That Is No One, Yet Could Be Everyone
Byun’s simplified figures emerged during the “mask era” of the pandemic. He reflects, “In the COVID era, masked individuals revealed no facial expressions. We could only imagine what emotions they held based on what we could see.”
In recent works, the figures are depicted embracing closely, revealing deep affection. Whether it be tenderness or relief, various emotions are palpably conveyed. His serene, noise-free compositions—marked by clear colors and fine, precise lines—invite a moment of solace for the viewer.

In Byun Ung Pil’s visual language, we are reminded that we are “no one, and yet potentially everyone.”

Byun Ung Pil (b.1970) studied Western Painting at Dongguk University and earned his MFA and Meisterschüler degrees at the Münster Academy of Fine Arts in Germany. He has held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in over 100 group shows. His accolades include the Münster Academy Art Prize, DAAD Scholarship for Foreign Students, Kunststück Art Prize, and the ADO Art Award (2005). His works are in major public and private collections, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul Museum of Art, Jeonnam Museum of Art, OCI Museum of Art, Incheon Foundation for Arts and Culture, MARTa Herford in Germany, and the High Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia. Notably, his works have also been featured in six Korean secondary school art textbooks

Park Bosun, 휴식, 2024, oil on canvas, 100 x 72.7 cm

Park Bosun: Portraits of Emotion Woven in Mosaic
Park Bosun (b.1995), the newest represented artist of Gallery Joeun, explores themes of existential emptiness and disillusionment with human relationships through depictions of empty, anonymous human figures. In her paintings, gender is only vaguely implied, and identities remain concealed—emphasizing anonymity through a mosaic pattern, reminiscent of strangers passing by on the street.

Park Bosun, Not Quite There, 2025, Oil on canvas, 72.7 x 53.0 cm

Park uses mosaic as a visual language to interpret the complex emotions and inner timescapes of individuals. The blurred faces and translucent forms evoke the transparent layer pattern familiar from digital imagery, ironically giving visual form to “transparency.” This technique symbolizes the hidden emotional layers we often do not reveal, and suggests the impossibility of fully knowing another person’s inner essence.

Park hopes viewers will recognize themselves in her figures, projecting their own emotions and experiences onto the works in a moment of deep empathy. The mosaic becomes more than a stylistic device—it represents life’s multiplicity, formed by countless fragments meeting in endless, ever-shifting patterns.

Park Bosun, Unspoken, 2025, Oil on canvas, 80.3 x 116.8 cm

While her subjects may appear engaged in ordinary moments—walking, sitting, or resting—they are imbued with personal emotions and the passage of time. Park’s mosaic works suggest both the infinite potential for becoming anyone, and the persistent impossibility of being fully seen by others.

Park Bosun studied Painting at Chung-Ang University and completed graduate coursework in Fine Arts at the same institution. Since her first solo exhibition in 2021, she has held three solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows and art fairs. In 2025, she was selected for the Young Artist Exhibition at the Korea Galleries Art Fair, where her works received significant attention from collectors and art enthusiasts alike.

Gallery Joeun
3, Itaewon-ro 55 ga-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
+82-2-790-5889

WEBSITE  Instagram  ARTSY