In his current show “Memory Architecture” at Perrotin Gallery, Seoul, Daniel Arsham evolves his distinctive concept of Fictional Archaeology, which symbolizes the core of his artistic universe. The exhibition explores the artist’s interpretation of time and material, presenting works in which forms reminiscent of classical sculpture coexist with artifacts of contemporary civilization.

These works evoke the appearance of relics excavated by future archaeologists, visualizing stratified layers of time that exist between the past and the future. Featuring paintings, drawings, and sculptures, the exhibition
showcases Arsham’s unique sculptural language that traverses the boundaries of reality and imagination, history and contemporaneity.

Through this presentation, viewers are invited to encounter the possibilities of a visual archaeology that seeks
to interpret and reconstruct the world anew.

Daniel Arsham and Perrotin gallery have been sharing a common story and collaboration for 20 years. During his carreer, Arsham has come up with multiple approaches and a great variety of series that draw inspiration from his artistic practice of the past two decades.

Renowned for visually transforming cultural objects into subtly eroding artifacts, Arsham showcases the power of nostalgia by conflating past, present, and future.

He returns again and again to his oeuvre to examine and reflect on his appreciation for the complexities of materiality and space.

Especially of interest is Arsham’s latest return to painting, his early primary medium, from which he diverged with an ambitious program of sculpture, architecture, and design.

Sculpture is another key theme of the artist’s portfolio: In 2019, Arsham was given unprecedented access to the statuary molds at the Réunion des Musées Nationaux Grand Palais, including Venus de Milo, for his first Classical Antiquity sculptures.

He expanded this series with Veiled Classical Antiquity sculptures, consisting of sculpted drapes over his antiquity sculptures, and Stratified sculptures, where Arsham combines organic and inorganic materials in an alchemic process, including wood, bronze, and polished stainless steel.

Another recent seriees of interest is Split and Anatopism. Split uses Artificial Intelligence to juxtapose images of his Classical Antiquity busts alongside Anime characters, pairing two iconic forms of figuration from distinct time periods.

In his Anatopism paintings, Arsham uses the vernacular of print and digital animation to reference important moments from his own career, including Hellenic busts, drawings of eroded cars and Pikachu figures, as well as references to his collaborations with Porsche and Dior.

DANIEL ARSHAM
MEMORY ARCHITECTURE
PERROTIN GALLERY
SEOUL, KOREA

https://www.perrotin.com/
https://www.danielarsham.com/

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