Dangrim Museum unveiled two new paintings from Song Jin-uk’s Ornament series when it announced the invitational exhibition Revalued: 가치와 시선 on October 6. Gold-colored borders, red hearts and green clovers scatter across a dark ground, mixed with everyday objects such as keys and safety pins.
The works
Ornament 26-1 measures 97 × 97 cm and Ornament 26-3 is 72.7 × 72.7 cm. According to the museum, both square paintings were made in 2026 in acrylic on canvas.
The jewel-like elements are painted, not actual jewelry attached to the surface.
Composition
In the supplied images, 26-1 disperses small clusters across the whole canvas, while in 26-3 decorations curve around a dark open space near the center.
Common objects such as keys and safety pins sit among the ornate motifs. The originals differ in size, even when shown at the same scale on screen.
From portraits to pattern
In a 2025 interview with YTN Art Square, Song discussed his interest in socially defined standards of beauty and portrait details that emerge only on close looking.
The museum presents Non-Mainstream Beauty, Unsorted and the new Ornament series as one line of work, tracing the artist’s shift from people to objects and patterns.
