Moon, In-Soo
Formative Beauty of Pure Abstraction and Material Peculiarity
April 26 - May 10. 2000

 In-Soo Moon 's sculptures are a formative monument symbolizing the essence of contemporary life. The Basic materials of iron and cement in his sculpture are as easily seen as anything in our daily life, representing the scenes of today's industrialism. In fact, the characteristics of both are ambivalent, emblematizing at one and at the same time the bright side of city construction and the dark power of destructive nature.
  Seeing Moon's abstract sculpture, one finds a most unique formative language that is composed of simple but perfect constructive beauty. On every side, what catches our eye is the abstract form of the monotonous configuration with irregular tetragonal sides and rectilinear lines. There is no concrete form and the surface texture is somewhat rough. The rugged and unrefined mass of cement and iron reminds one of a junkyard. And yet, in time, all of these create a strange harmony and everything comes to be clear, leading viewers to meditate calmly on the fundamental truth of beauty pertaining to our age. Surely Moon's sculpture contains a certain restrained order and balance in its powerful heaviness, facing us as his own personal monument.
  Moon's sculpture is far from the practical or perfect forms made by machines. Instead. naturalness is emphasized by letting the iron bars, the cement masses, and the iron plates lone as they are, contorted, twisted or smooth. These formation done in achromatic tones of black and gray are not artificial. Those unfinished shapes give the impression of accidental landscapes.
  Quite different from the decorative monument, the rough and unshapely appearance of Moon's sculpture contains the expression and sensibility of our age. Rejecting all the ornamental quality, it is full of powerful energy instead, which drives from the harmony between horizontal stability and vertical ascension. Moon combines in the most natural way the different materials and succeeds in displaying their cohesive power. Thus assimilated into the cityscape, his sculpture comprehends the spirit of this item. As an explorer into visual art and intellectual adventure, Moon's search for selfhood has been a record of our time condensed with the individual artistry.

Jae-Kil Yoo / Art critic, Professor of Hongik University