Jean-Michel Othoniel deconstructs Korean imperial gardens with 'Treasure Gardens'

“Flowers play a very important role in my work. My obsession with the hidden meaning of flowers and their symbolism offers me a new way of looking at the world. For me, reality remains a source of perpetual wonder,” says Jean-Michel Othoniel. French contemporary artist Jean-Michel Othoniel’s latest exhibition is presented in a public park where its natural inhabitants are employed as glittering bits of inspiration that capture and retain the viewer's attention. Split between two locations, it comprises tiny balls brought together to form cohesive structures. Against the green backdrop of the Deoksugung Palace Garden in Seoul, these sculptures appear like pieces of jewels during the day and shiny apparitions at night. While some of these rings, spirals and knots hang from tree branches like fruits, others float on water like lotuses. Together, they form a series of sculptural installations that individually dot the entire garden, their repetition guaranteeing them membership in the lush greenery. This solo exhibition, called Treasure Gardens, spread across the vast footprint of the imperial garden, is also simultaneously being held at the enclosed Seoul Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea.

The resemblance of Othoniel’s latest creations with natural elements and geometries is not a coincidence. Instead, it is the French artist’s affinity for roses and gardens that so strongly inform the aesthetic and forms of his creations. Since he has always linked sensorial gardens and forests with his spiritual garden, this opportunity to display his work within a space that houses thousands of species and is known as the ‘palace of virtue and longevity’ served as a perfect stage for his poetic series of works. The ‘gardens’ in the title of his exhibition refer to the various sites in which his works are being presented, as well as the spiritual garden that he aims to create in the hearts of the visitors.

Within the lush Deoksugung gardens, the gleaming sculptural art pieces resemble exotic creatures that come to adorn the lakes and trees for a season or two. His sculptures help create an enchanting aura in the forest-like imperial garden.

These curvy objects, dotting the garden, also mark their attendance within the gallery walls of Seoul Museum of Art. Contained in this confined space, these 70 works, developed by the artist in the past ten years, stand out against the dimmed atmosphere of the museum. The sculptures, hanging from rooftops, appear to levitate mid-air and the La Rose du Louvre or The Rose of Louvre and the Plum Blossom painting series, fixed on the walls, appear like flattened versions of their 3-D counterparts. Another magical object that adorns the spaces of the gallery is the Riviere bleue or Blue River, a flat sheet made out of 7,000 pieces of blue glass bricks. Together, they form a sensorial exposition that can enchant and intrigue the viewer, can make them cry or laugh and can trigger an introspective session.

Othoniel’s ‘Treasured Gardens’ are particularly inspired by the plum blossom, which is a symbol of both resistance and fertility. Much like the flowers, the paintings hung on the wall and the sculptures hung from the ceiling of the museum signal the the end of winters and gloom and the beginning of joyful rebirth and a hope for a better world and future. Through his artworks, he manages to chisel out multiple emotions from the viewer.

Othoniel aims to recreate emotions felt when a breeze blows into our faces, when birds dance across the sky on their way home and when stars twinkle through the darkness of the night sky. By pouring these emotions into his work, he manages to sculpt objects that help viewers fantasise beyond their everyday. His sculptures and paintings remind one of mythical creatures, fantastical stories and dreamy landscapes.

The ‘Treasure Gardens’ exhibition will remain on display from 16 June 2022 to 7 August 2022 at Seoul Museum of Art and Deoksugung Palace Garden, Seoul.