Budo Wido: Suejin Chung

S2A is pleased to present the solo exhibition “Budo Wido (不圖為圖)” by Suejin Chung, on view from November 11, 2025 to January 10, 2026. This exhibition marks a new phase in the artist’s ongoing painterly inquiry, featuring 18 new oil paintings.

The title “Budo Wido (不圖為圖)” literally means “to paint not painting.” Rather than reproducing visible forms from reality, Chung visualizes the invisible structures of consciousness through her own chromatic–formal system. She explores and expresses emotions, thoughts, the unconscious, rhythm, and balance—elements that exist beyond external appearance. As Professor Yeon Shim Chung (Hongik University, Department of Art Studies) explains, “Suejin Chung’s painting emerges at the intersection between the world of reality and the world of forms—where the realm of objects and the multitude of perspectives that regard them converge.” From this vantage point, the exhibition unfolds as a critical statement that reveals the structures of things imperceptible to human cognition, expanding painting into a new field of perception. Moving beyond the expression of emotion, Chung approaches painting as a language system in itself.

Born in 1969, Suejin Chung received her BFA in Painting from Hongik University and her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has participated in major institutional exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, the Seoul Museum of Art, Espace Louis Vuitton Paris, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, among others, and has participated in residencies at Ssamzie and Doosan. Following her acclaimed solo presentation at Frieze Seoul 2025, this exhibition presents the first comprehensive realization of her long-developed theoretical thought in pictorial form. Through this presentation, S2A highlights a pivotal transition in Chung’s practice—from earlier works centered on color and form toward a deeper engagement with the structural and relational dimensions of painting.