Kate Oh Gallery presents a photography exhibition “Urban Landscapes” featuring works of two artists: Kristen Whitchurch from New York and Paul Inhae Kim from South Korea. Mounted on aluminum panel, the selected works will demonstrate how two different artists interpret urban experience and envision their ideas by using photography as a medium.

Paul Inhae Kim’s works capture pictures of walls to manifest memory of places. Through many years, he has been interested in reinterpreting images of which spatial sense is taken into a flat surface from a three dimensional one. His practice is based upon lining up, arranging, and exploring those fragmented elements to achieve a substance of the entity. This sense, the artist finds a wall as a compound layers which compresses the track of time and space. Each exposed wall with weathered colors, old stains and textures in his work symbolize an archive that tells each unique story.

Kristen Whitchurch has been a photographer for over 10 years with a particular interest in architecture and urban landscapes. After moving to New York City in 2011, the artist was captivated by the towering structures that would rise from the ground in a matter of months to short years. Working in real estate has given access to some of the cities’ most beautiful and staggering views and unique perspectives that are often only afforded by those who build the structures and the few who can afford to buy them. Photography missions often referred to as “urban exploration” are a unique challenge that requires one to venture in to restricted areas and can often be dangerous. All of the photos from this series were taken from construction sites or completed buildings by gaining access through “alternative means” than traditional views of the city. After being arrested for trespassing in 2017 Kristen has since retired from “urban exploration” missions but continues her photography around the city with legal and permitted access.