I Became A Renowned Genius At My Arts High School - Chapter 259



Only Krnovel

Episode 259. Crash Landing (1)

After Jacqueline left, Su-hyeon rested her chin on her hand in a daze for a while.

First solo exhibition in New York.

Someday that day will come.

An event that I had vaguely thought of suddenly became a reality and approached us with great strides.

“That’s ridiculous.”

Su-hyeon muttered. Small galleries that are open and willing to take on challenges would also be interested in holding solo exhibitions for new artists.

You might discover a good artist by chance, and it might be something that can give the gallery a new image.

But J-House is not a gallery that needs such recognition or an image makeover.

A gallery of a different class.

A solo exhibition at J-House, considered one of the best galleries in Manhattan.

Heart pounding.

Su-hyeon’s heart was pounding.

Su-hyeon, who had been holding up one hand to feel her heartbeat, put her hand down and picked up the brush again.

And then swoosh-.

I slowly pulled the scenery that I had stopped drawing into the world.

***

“Congratulations, Soohyun. I mean it.”

“This is really great! What is happening!”

As expected, the ones who were the happiest were my friends.

“Are you crazy? A solo exhibition in Manhattan? And at J-House?”

Park Seon-hwa shook her head several times, placing both hands on her heated cheeks.

It was such incredible news, such wonderful news that I didn’t want to wake up from it if it was a dream. And.

“You’ve carefully checked the parts that need to be taken care of, such as profit distribution and promotional plans, right? Since you’re taking a commission, you have to check if they’re doing their job properly. I’m worried because Su-hyeon is weak-willed and most artists are not very good at such things.”

Henry and a few others soon regained their composure and looked at each matter one by one.

“There is no such thing as luck without a reason. Especially in New York. No matter how outrageous the proposal from J-House is, there must be a reason for it. Yes, this is a natural investment. Even the vending machine project is not simple right now.”

Jerome dismissed it as simply the result of properly assessing Soo-hyun’s worth.

“T-then Soo-hyun is going to be busy again? Uh… … As soon as the exchange student period ends, Sha… … Sha was planning on requesting a collaboration.”

Humphrey’s face turned pale as he looked at Soo-hyun’s schedule, saying that he was going to propose a project he had prepared while discussing with Jang.

and.

“Have you decided on a topic?”

Steve, the friend who knows Soo-hyun best, got to the point.

“Then you can predict the timing and scale. Is there a specific theme?”

Su-hyeon nodded to Steve’s question.

“Yes. The plan isn’t completely finished yet.”

“Huh? Really?”

Steve, whose eyes lit up immediately, said he wanted to see the painting right away, but his other friends raised their voices, saying that the celebration party came first.

Eventually, the kids who had secured the opportunity to play democratically quickly rented a nice place nearby with Henry’s help and moved there together to enjoy dinner.

After chatting away, we each went our separate ways according to our own schedules.

Jerome went to the hospital, Henry to school, Humphrey to his company where he had to work overtime, and the Korean friends went to use the concert tickets they had received as a gift from Jerome.

And Steve went to see Soo-hyun’s next work, which he had been waiting for all along.

“This is truly incredible.”

As soon as he stepped into Soo-hyun’s studio, Steve shook his head.

“I come here quite often, you know.”

Steve looked around the workshop as if he was seeing it for the first time.

“It’s different every time I come. The paintings on the wall change every time I come, so I never get used to it.”

As Steve said, the walls of his studio were now covered with sketches, doodles, and small finished works he had drawn while planning his new work, Crash Landing.

“Sit down.”

Su-hyeon smiled and pointed to the chair across from her.

“Do you know what this is?”

And he asked with expectant eyes.

“for a moment.”

Steve smiled at Soo-hyun’s quiz and looked at the painting carefully once more. When the completed painting is released to the public, the title of the work will be announced. But for now, the raw image is all there is. Soo-hyun was curious.

Will that alone reveal what you are trying to convey?

I wonder if Steve can read that.

“Surprise?”

Luckily, Steve saw right through the lines.

“It’s an experiment where landscapes and objects that seem completely incompatible meet. Are you trying to see what kind of emotions they evoke?”

“that’s right.”

Su-hyeon quickly nodded.

“I want to see the harmony of dissonance, what kind of unexpected moments are created when things that were at opposing points are placed in the same space and at the same time. So, I plan to draw a series of works with the theme of crash landings.”

“That’s fun.”

Steve laughed heartily.

“The idea is one thing, but Soo-hyun, your drawings have changed a lot. You know that, right?”

As Steve had said, and as Jacqueline had pointed out earlier, and as Soo-hyun had felt strongly earlier, Soo-hyun’s drawing was changing.

“Do you think it’s gotten brighter?”

“That’s true, but my energy has gotten stronger. This is really good.”

Steve muttered.

“White Cube, it would be a shame to only watch it in a closed room.”

“uh?”

“J-House is a big gallery, and exhibiting there is very meaningful, but I think that this kind of work would be more explosive if it were displayed in a square. Oh, of course, that’s just my impression.”

“no.”

Su-hyeon smiled and shook her head at Steve’s words.

“Actually, I was thinking something similar.”

“really?”

“I came to New York and became interested in contemporary art. After that, I turned my attention to public art.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Steve nodded vigorously, showing understanding.

From the Big Wave Art Fair to mind maps at Lisa, collaborations with Humphrey, and the vending machine project, Su-Hyeon’s paintings have never been confined to a specific space.

Rather, it was gradually expanding its territory to parks, streets, and spots all over New York.

“I think my work has changed as I keep seeing things like that. But I think this is a very good direction. Why, back when we first painted murals in England.”

Su-hyeon brought up a story from her pre-school days.

“It was incredibly cold outside and my hands were stiff, but it was still a great feeling to draw on the street. It was also fun to see people wake up in the morning and be surprised to find the drawings we had finished overnight.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Steve chuckled.

“Was that the beginning?”

Su-hyeon’s eyes became dizzy.

“Maybe a tiny seed was planted in my heart at that time. And it grew slowly. Art that came out onto the streets, art that breathes together. We talked about that back then.”

“You’ve always had it in your heart, and it blossomed when you came to New York. And you found a way to do it?”

“That’s right. Just like you said, White Cube has become a bit stuffy.”

People who have come to see Su-Hyeon’s work have tried to evaluate it with a solemn expression, but more often than not, they have accepted the feeling the work gives them and shared what kind of impressions they got from it.

That came back to Soo-hyun and became new nutrients. And it made her want to communicate more.

To do that, art needs to go where people are, rather than just invite them to galleries.

That was the direction of the work that Soo-Hyeon was thinking of.

“Look at this.”

Soo-hyun took a sketch off the wall and placed it in front of Steve.

“What are your legs?”

“Yeah. This is the picture of a tree blooming on a bridge pier. Can it actually be realized?”

“huh?”

“What if we put these reliefs on the piers of an actual bridge?”

Su-hyeon’s eyes lit up.

“And this is a public phone booth.”

Su-hyeon flipped over the drawing of the exterior of the phone booth and showed a sketch of the interior.

“and.”

At the same time, Steve cheered.

“You’re going to draw on the glass? Different for each section?”

Outside is an ordinary public phone booth.

But the inside was different.

A space designed like a passageway connecting the carriages of a train.

Outside the glass window, a vast grassland or a dazzling snowy field could be seen.

The inside of the booth was decorated like a train and the scenery outside the window was painted separately, so that when you entered to make a phone call, you felt as if you had suddenly fallen into a different space.

“There’s more.”

Su-hyeon’s eyes sparkled.

“It’s a flower.”

Su-hyeon showed a sketch of a giant tulip poking through the asphalt between buildings.

“Is this an installation?”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t it be cool if something like this stood tall between the buildings?”

“The city will become incredibly vibrant.”

Steve sympathized with a big smile on his face.

“How much more thought did you have?”

“There are some that use mirrors, and I’m thinking about putting little people’s apartments on top of pillars. I have so many ideas. I’ll have to choose a few.”

“It’s going to be a treasure hunt.”

“uh?”

“If these are released at the same time, sometimes it will look like something crash-landed in New York, and sometimes someone will experience a crash-landing. If such events happen simultaneously, there will be a considerable reaction. There will be a lot of people looking for them. It’s like a treasure hunt.”

“Is that really true?”

“of course.”

Steve nodded.

“I feel a bit uneasy.”

And Steve narrows his eyes.

“what?”

“At some point, Soo-hyun, I felt like you were going at an incredible speed. Oh, of course, I’m not saying I don’t like that. It’s something to celebrate and I’m so happy about it. But.”

“… … ?”

“I think I shouldn’t be taking it easy either.”

“What are you talking about?”

“To continue to be recognized as your friend, your closest person, your artistic comrade, I have to keep up with you. Ugh. Actually, I haven’t been to my studio for three days because I felt like I was hitting a wall with the painting I was working on. But I was full. I have to go right now. I have to go and see if I break or if the painting breaks. Fiercely, I mean.”

Soo-hyun waved her hand at Steve’s joking words.

“Aren’t you expecting too much? It’s still just a concept in my head, and I don’t know how it will be implemented. It’ll be quite complicated to get permission for the installation, and I doubt the gallery will welcome such an exhibition. So, are you saying that these are just random thoughts that I came up with without any knowledge?”

“no.”

Steve dismissed it.

“This is going to be a huge project. It’s not going to be just a 20-something Asian female artist from the outskirts doing something a little different.”

“… … .”

“I thought that Jacqueline was going to make a big investment because Soohyun saw your potential earlier, but that wasn’t the case.”

Steve shrugged.

“Jacqueline will be the one who benefits. There will definitely be people who see the value of this project. And if they do, the procedures you are worried about won’t be a problem. It’s something the gallery should do, and above all, there is Mayor Bloomberg.”

“Can you really do it?”

“of course.”

Steve was sincere, so he immediately got up from his seat and headed to his studio.

Swish.

When I checked my watch, it was already past 5 p.m.

“It’s too early to go home.”

Su-hyeon, who was mumbling, continued sketching the new project that had become even clearer than before.

It was the moment when the crash landing series that would surprise everyone in New York was born.