Artist: Ahn Doo Jin

KIWA London presents Imaquark, a solo exhibition by Korean artist Ahn Doojin.

The exhibition introduces a new body of work that encapsulates the artist’s search for painting beyond representation, developed through more than two decades of inquiry.

Ahn situates his practice in response to the paradox of the 2000s art world: an era that proclaimed “everything is possible,” yet simultaneously revealed the void in which “nothing seems possible anymore.” From this contradiction, he formulated the notion of Imaquark—a neologism combining “image” (Ima-) and “quark,” the fundamental particle of physics.

For Ahn, the Imaquark signifies the smallest unit of imagery, formed by the collision of matter and concept, circle and triangle. These encounters produce folds and traces that echo the quantum coexistence of opposing forces. Such accumulations structure the I-form, which emerges on canvas as Picture X.

The artist describes these works as “ownerless paintings.” Rather than reproducing a subject, they are generated through repetitive, mechanical gestures—brush, pigment, and motion under minimal conditions. Random overlaps, probabilistic arrangements, and iterative layering produce Drawing X, which, through accumulation, becomes That Kind of Picture. These works embody a process of self-generation, akin to natural phenomena, and position painting as an autonomous occurrence rather than a representational medium.

Imaquark thus marks a pivotal step in Ahn’s exploration of painting’s potential as a field of generative autonomy. Through this exhibition, Gallery KIWA reaffirms its mission to present the originality and depth of Korean contemporary art to international audiences, and to underscore the continuing relevance of painting as a space of experimentation and renewal.