PBG presents The Furnace Within, the first exhibition of 2026 at The Hyundai Seoul, featuring a solo show by artist Kim Sousou. Beginning from the artist’s “impressions of a blast furnace,” this exhibition introduces works that explore the roots of human spirit and creation through painting.
Kim Sousou is an artist who seeks to express his aesthetic sensibility and artistic vision through abstract painting. He constructs his own brushes over two meters long and employs a one-stroke method, drawing a single decisive line in one motion. This process is not merely an act of painting but a meditative practice in which the mind and body become one. His uncompromising brushstrokes—allowing no retouching—inherit the spirit of East Asian calligraphy while expanding it into his own visual language.
His work originates from a moment he encountered in front of a blast furnace. As fire burst forth and filled the air, he discovered within it the fundamental force of humanity and the essence of craftsmanship. The cycle of metal melting and solidifying resembles the creation and dissolution of life, and his paintings distill these impressions into color and texture. The contrast of red and white on the canvas moves between fire and metal, ash and life, extinction and rebirth. Built through hundreds of brushstrokes and layers of drying, the surface holds traces of time, revealing the transformation of matter into energy and experience into contemplation.
The Furnace Within is an exhibition that evokes human inner passion and creative instinct through the metaphor of fire. It offers a warm resonance amid the cold air, allowing visitors to discover the flame burning within themselves.
Kim Sousou is an artist who seeks to express his aesthetic sensibility and artistic vision through abstract painting. He constructs his own brushes over two meters long and employs a one-stroke method, drawing a single decisive line in one motion. This process is not merely an act of painting but a meditative practice in which the mind and body become one. His uncompromising brushstrokes—allowing no retouching—inherit the spirit of East Asian calligraphy while expanding it into his own visual language.
His work originates from a moment he encountered in front of a blast furnace. As fire burst forth and filled the air, he discovered within it the fundamental force of humanity and the essence of craftsmanship. The cycle of metal melting and solidifying resembles the creation and dissolution of life, and his paintings distill these impressions into color and texture. The contrast of red and white on the canvas moves between fire and metal, ash and life, extinction and rebirth. Built through hundreds of brushstrokes and layers of drying, the surface holds traces of time, revealing the transformation of matter into energy and experience into contemplation.
The Furnace Within is an exhibition that evokes human inner passion and creative instinct through the metaphor of fire. It offers a warm resonance amid the cold air, allowing visitors to discover the flame burning within themselves.
